COVID-19 Travel to Dubai

Our family traveled to Dubai during COVID in November 2021 as part of our extended trip around the world. We flew into Dubai and visited the adjoining emirates of Sharjah and Abu Dhabi. This post is simply to share our experience of traveling within the United Arab Emirate (UAE) during COVID and not prescriptive for your travel plans. Always check the latest official updates before booking any travel details.

Flying to Dubai

We had to have a PCR test from within 72 hours of departure from Hungary. This was easy to obtain in Budapest and was only required for adults. Neither of our kids (ages 7 and 9) had to be tested. This was Jon’s first ever COVID test! However, it is very important to print out the negative PCR results! Often when traveling, we are unsure if it is really required to print certain items like tickets. However, the airline (due to UAE protocols) did require the results to be printed. Jon went ahead and printed both the English and Arabic results just to be safe. A local copy shop in Budapest printed our documents for about 10 cents a page.

Arriving at Dubai Airport

The passport control line took about 30 minutes, but the staff at the airport was very gracious. One employee even  apologized to us as we neared the front.  He said he didn’t see we had kids earlier or he would have moved us to the front of the line! Pro tip: if traveling with kids, maybe put them on your shoulders when you arrive at the line? We each had a picture taken, our passports stamped, and were given a free 1GB SIM card for use in the UAE. We didn’t use them, but it’s a nice gesture for international arrivers who don’t have an international cell plan.

Moving between Emirates

There’s more to the story, you can read about part of it here (coming soon), but we booked our first 3 nights in Dubai in Sharjah… as in, not Dubai! There is no public transportation between Dubai and Sharjah, but there were also no COVID issues with taking taxis across the “border”. There is a single bus that transits between Dubai and Abu Dhabi. We did not attempt it. However, we did see that you have to show both a vaccination certificate AND a negative PCR from the last 30 days to use it. We took several taxis between Sharjah, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi without any COVID-related questions or issues.

Wearing a mask

At the time of our trip in early November 2021, masks were obligatory: even outside! This was a first for us, and we didn’t see everyone wearing them. However, most locals did tend to keep it on, even if most had it around the chin. Masks were not obligatory in either Wild Wadi or Atlantis Aquaventure waterparks. We did not always know/remember that we needed to wear them outside, but nobody ever said anything to us.

Vaccination and PCR Test

Many places do require either a vaccination certificate or a negative test. The Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi required both! Apparently, in Abu Dhabi, a negative PCR test is required every 30 days to remain “green” on the local COVID tracking app. This is required for access to many venues, restaurants, and some public transportation. We showed pictures of our CDC vaccine cards and screenshots of our PCR tests when entering the palace for dinner. Pro tip: plan to keep both documents handy during your trip to the UAE!

General travel advice for the UAE

Taxis are only allowed to pick up in their home emirate. For example, when a Dubai taxi dropped us off at our Sharjah hotel, he was not allowed to take waiting customers and had to drive directly back to Dubai. The Sharjah taxis are cash only, while every taxi in Dubai accepts credit cards. Jon missed that nuance (and never investigated Sharjah taxis, because why would he? … we weren’t really planning on going there!) and had a fun extra ride with a cab driver to find an ATM in the Dubai souk market area! It is not advisable to get in Dubai/Sharjah traffic during the morning, afternoon, or evening. Very late at night is not horrible.

Taxis in general are very inexpensive and can be hailed by waving on the street or by using the Careem app. The app was quite useful for us.  Your destination is pre-confirmed with the driver, and it allows you to pay directly within the app. Taxis were easier and nearly comparable in price to public transportation.

We did ride the metro one time. Keep your ticket with you, because you are required to scan it at the entry and exit to the metro system.

Leaving Dubai

We were able to easily obtain PCR tests at a local clinic 2 days before leaving Dubai for Uganda. The test results were promised within 24 hours, but ours came through about 8 hours after testing. Our hotel printed the results (they needed to be printed again for entry to Uganda) for us at a cost of about 25 cents a page.

We had a great time in the UAE and did not feel like our travel to Dubai during COVID was adversely affected at all! Everything was open.  We followed the rules as best we knew and enjoyed knocking several items off our bucket list. You can read about our top 5 adventures in Dubai with kids here!

Dubai was one of our stops during a year-long trip around the world!  To see all our travel adventures, head over to our Instagram page.

If you have questions or tips for visiting Dubai during COVID, let us know!