The Palm Jumeirah In Dubai

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The Palm Jumeirah is nothing short of a symbolic creation of just how incredibly over the top and unnatural Dubai is. The desire to always be the best and biggest is shown through, not only the Burj Khalifa being the tallest building, but this man-made island also stands as the worlds largest. The out of the box yet perfectly relevant island is shaped like a palm tree, which can only truly be appreciated from a birds eye view.

The island oozes wealth, consisting of sought after residential properties, luxury 5* hotels and restaurants all scattered across the trunk and palm leaves. For me personally, the best part is right at the very peak of the island at the Atlantis Hotel and beach resort. Sadly we didn’t stay there but the visit alone made up for it (a bit). The feeling of looking out across the Persian Gulf with a cocktail in 38-degree heat will never leave my mind.

To get across to the Atlantis you ride on an inter-rail train, it honestly feels like you’re entering another world entirely and you get the best view of the hotel, which looks like something from a Disney movie due to it's colours and shapes. Such a jaw-dropping moment and no photos do it any justice.

We found this little beach cafe called Tribeca, we sat in these really comfy sun loungers and looked out across the gulf, sun blazing. I remember turning around and looking at the hotel standing majestically behind me and thinking ‘wow, hello Dubai’. At the moment, we both looked at each other and made a promise that we’d book a few nights here soon, so watch this space.

Our cafe spot on the seafront called Tribeca

And our accompanying view looking across the Persian Gulf

After our refreshment, we decided to walk along the coastline. It seems strange saying ‘coastline’ as it actually feels like you’re in the middle of the ocean. Not to mention it's man-made aesthetic; like the feeling you get when you’re stood on the end of a very long (and extravagant) pier or ship and, if you jumped off, the depth of the water would reflect that — so surreal. We made our way along the coastline and ended up reaching a building site, to only discover it was actually the end of the Palm’s development so far. The left-hand side of the outer circle of the palm was still under construction, which was once again so bizarre to experience.

Being right at the end of the Palm Jumeirah also meant that looking back to the city was something else, you could still see all the skyscrapers in the distance. I was VERY proud of this shot below, which, believe it or not, consists of fake but incredibly real looking trees holding up a road, (yes I did go and touch one to make sure!).

I could write about Dubai for hours as it isn’t a place like any other that I’ve visited, look out for many more stories and guides to come!

The construction site with the city skyline backdrop (and fake trees!)

Palm trees and skyline, not the usual view

The Atlantis Hotel beach resort