Dubai Desert King home
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Valentine's Day in the Dubai desert

Valentine's Day in Dubai usually means a restaurant. This is the other option: your own table out on the sand, fifty minutes from the city, with the sun going down behind the dunes and nobody at the next table. We set it up, we drive you both ways, and we quote on your date.

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A close view of a desert table setting: white plates on woven mats, glassware and a dried flower centrepiece
The short version
How privatePrivacy
A table nobody else shares
On open sand with nobody else in sight, or a reserved table at a camp evening.
Timing
Set for sunset
Sunset falls around 6 PM through February.
Pickup
Free in Dubai and Sharjah
Collected from your hotel or home, and driven back.

How private it is

Will anyone else be there?

The honest answer, both ways, so you can pick on it rather than find out on the night.
Nobody at the next table
A private setup is one table placed away from the camps, out of sight and out of earshot of other guests. The only people there are the two of you and the team setting the table and serving the food, and they step back between courses.
Or atmosphere, if you want it
A reserved table at a camp evening puts you at your own table with table service, inside a camp where other guests are also having dinner. It is a good evening and it is not a quiet one. Couples who want atmosphere pick it.
Discretion comes with it
Affection in public is expected to stay discreet anywhere in the UAE, including at a camp. A private setup takes that question off the table completely, because there is nobody to be discreet in front of.
Fifty minutes from the city
Open sand off the Dubai to Hatta road, E44, about fifty minutes from central Dubai. You arrive about an hour before sunset, so you get the light first and dinner after dark, and a private 4x4 drives you both ways.

What it looks like

Set and lit before you arrive

These are the tables we set, the candles we keep in glass so the wind cannot take them, and the fire we light once the sun is down. Your own setup goes on open sand, away from the camps.
  • A long dressed table with cane chairs beside a lit lantern sculpture at sunset, fairy lights strung overhead and the camp glowing behind
  • A long white table running away from the camera at dusk, set with woven chargers, folded napkins and glass candle boxes down the centre
  • A close view of a place setting on a white cloth, with gold cutlery, a folded napkin on a rimmed plate, mercury glass votives and small potted succulents
  • Close view of a round cane table with a stone vase of dried pampas grass, lit lantern towers out of focus behind it at sunset
  • A curved cushioned sofa set in a half circle around a round fire pit on the sand
  • Shade canopies hung with warm festoon lights over sofas and low tables on carpets, candle lanterns across the sand after dark

Three formats

Three ways to spend the evening

Pick the scale. We fill in the detail on your date.
  • Round and long tables with cane chairs under crossed strings of festoon lights at blue hour, a buffet counter at the back

    The camp evening

    A table for two at a camp dinner

    From ≈ $ 51 per guest

    Couples doing this for the first time, and anyone bringing family along.

    • Private 4x4 pickup from your hotel or home, both ways
    • Your own reserved table, laid when you arrive
    • Dinner from the camp kitchen, halal, with soft drinks
    • The camp's live shows
    • Photos of the two of you at the camp
  • A long banquet table set for dinner beneath a brass and glass pavilion hung with lanterns, on the sand at sunset

    The private setup

    A private desert dinner, just the two of you

    Quoted on your date

    A proposal, an anniversary, or any evening you do not want to share.

    • A private 4x4 and driver for the evening, pickup both ways
    • Your table, rug, cushions and lanterns, set before you arrive
    • A set menu cooked for the two of you, halal, with soft drinks
    • A team who serve and then leave you alone
    • As much of the sunset as you want before dinner
  • The same open lounge after dark, its shade sails and day beds lit by strings of round festoon bulbs and lanterns

    The whole night

    Dinner, then stay out there

    Quoted on your date

    A milestone anniversary, or a couple who want the morning light too.

    • Your dinner, private setup or camp table
    • A private room for the night in the desert
    • Breakfast in the morning
    • Pickup from Dubai or Sharjah and the drive back the next day

Every figure above is a starting point. We quote on your numbers, your date and what you want the night to include, and the quote is the price.

How it runs

How the evening runs

Enquiry to the table, in six steps.

  1. Tell us your date

    Send the date, how many of you, which format you want and anything we should know about food. No deposit yet, and nothing here books anything.

  2. We quote on your numbers

    The quote comes back with the figure, what is in it, and flowers, a cake, music or a photographer priced separately, so you can take any of them off.

    A single place setting of white plates on a woven mat with a folded napkin and upturned glasses, beside a low arrangement of white gypsophila and yellow billy buttons

  3. We confirm the time

    Your pickup time moves with sunset. We aim to have you at the table about an hour before the sun goes down, and we confirm the exact time on WhatsApp the day before.

    Place settings with woven chargers, white plates and upturned glasses along a dressed table, a dried-flower centrepiece and a lantern sculpture catching the low sun

  4. We collect you both

    A private 4x4 collects you, free from your hotel or home anywhere in Dubai or Sharjah. There is no dune bashing on the way to a private setup: the car drives to the table.

    A driver holding the rear door of a white 4x4 open at a hotel entrance in Dubai

  5. The table is ready

    The table comes low, on a rug, with cushions or two chairs. Lanterns on the sand, candles in glass so the wind cannot take them, and blankets on the cold nights. It is set and lit before you arrive, so you walk up to it finished.

    A long white table on the sand set with woven placemats, white plates, glasses and pillar candles, with white gypsophila and yellow billy buttons running down the centre

  6. Sunset first, dinner after

    You get the light first and dinner after dark: four courses cooked for the two of you at a private setup, or the camp kitchen and its live shows at a camp table. Then the drive home.

    Wine glasses, a coloured goblet and pillar candles on a table at dusk, with strings of warm lights out of focus behind

Capacity and logistics

Group sizes, timings and pickup

The numbers, so you can check it works before you write to us.
Smallest booking
Two guests for a private setup, one guest for a table at a camp evening.
Comfortable size
Two to eight at one table, or a long table with floor cushions beside it for family. Above ten guests the quote runs through our group desk.
Where it runs
Open sand off the Dubai to Hatta road, E44, about fifty minutes from central Dubai. The camp evening runs at a desert camp.
Pickup both ways
Free from your hotel or home anywhere in Dubai or Sharjah, in a private 4x4. Child seats free on request.
Pickup time
Two to two and a half hours before sunset, confirmed on WhatsApp the day before. Home by about 10:30 PM.
Paying and cancelling
Card in AED, free up to 24 hours before. Bad weather: a new date, or a full refund if you are still 48 hours or more out.

Before you ask

Questions we get asked

Will anyone else be there at a private desert dinner?
No. A private setup is one table placed away from the camps, out of sight and earshot of other guests. The only other people are the team who set the table and serve, and they step back between courses. If you book a reserved table at a camp evening instead, other guests are at the camp and you have your own table inside it.
How much does a private desert dinner in Dubai cost?
A table at a camp dinner evening is the cheapest way to do it, and it is priced per guest, including private pickup from your hotel or home. A fully private setup for two is quoted on your date and your numbers, because the table, the drive, the menu and the staff are all just for the two of you. Send us the date and we come back with a figure and what is in it.
Where is the most romantic place for Valentine's Day in Dubai?
That depends on whether you want to be seen. Dubai's restaurants and hotels do Valentine's well and they are full of other couples doing the same thing. The desert gives you the opposite: one table on open sand about fifty minutes from the city, the sun going down behind the dunes, and nobody at the next table because there is no next table.
Can a couple hold hands or kiss in public in Dubai?
Public affection is expected to stay discreet anywhere in the UAE, and a desert camp with other guests in it is a public place. That is one of the better reasons to take a private setup: there is nobody to be discreet in front of, because the nearest people are the two of you.
What time does the sun set, and what time do you collect us?
On 14 February the sun sets in Dubai at about 6:12 PM, so pickup is usually between 3:45 PM and 4:15 PM. Across the year sunset runs from about 5:28 PM at the end of November to about 7:12 PM in early July, and your pickup moves with it. We aim to have you at the table about an hour before sunset and we confirm the exact time on WhatsApp the day before.
How cold does the desert get in February at night?
Dubai nights in February fall to about 14 to 15 degrees, and the open desert sits a few degrees below the city once the sun is down, with wind on top of that. By nine o'clock it is genuinely cold in light clothes. Bring a jacket or a shawl and wear flat shoes. We put blankets at the table on cold nights and carry spares in the car.
Can you arrange flowers, a cake, music or a photographer?
Yes, and all four are quoted as extras rather than included. Flowers can come as a bunch or arranged on the table, a cake can carry whatever words you want, a photographer covers about an hour and sends the photos after, and live music plays at your table. Tell us in the enquiry and they come back priced separately so you can take any of them off.
Do you have wedding anniversary packages in Dubai?
Yes, and most of the private tables we set are anniversaries rather than Valentine's. It is the same evening on any date you like: a private table on the sand, a quote on your numbers, and a cake with the year on it if you want one. For a milestone with family in it we set a long table for six or eight with floor cushions beside it, and there is no dune bashing on the way, so grandparents are fine.

Tell us your date

Tell us your date

We reply on WhatsApp or by email, whichever you pick, with a figure and what is in it. No deposit yet. Nothing here books anything: the date is only held once you say yes.

  • A written quote, not a call centre script
  • Free pickup across Dubai and Sharjah
  • Support on WhatsApp, any hour
  • Paid in AED, no deposit to get a quote

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N° 10 · Events25.0°N · 55.6°E

A long table laid with white linen, glass lamps and rattan chairs on the sand, lit by festoon lights at blue hourLahbab · 50 minutes from central Dubai

One table, two chairs, no audience

Send us the date and we will tell you what the evening costs, what is in it and what time we collect you.

Ask for a quote Chat on WhatsApp

Free pickupDubai · Sharjah