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Public beach opens on Saadiyat Island

Stretching 400 metres along Saadiyat Island’s shore makes for the first public beach in the tourist hotspot.

The beach, which opened to the public on Tuesday, will be accessible between 8am and 8pm daily.

Located next to the Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi, Saadiyat Public Beach has all basic facilities such as lounge chairs, showers and bathrooms, lockers, changing rooms, towels, umbrellas, and parking spaces.

And for those who like to quench their thirst during a relaxing summer’s day, or indugle in a spot of shopping, later this year, a snack lounge, retail outlet selling beachwear and sports equipment, and eco-friendly water sports activities such as windsurfing and sailing, will be added to the beach.

“This is the best news I heard in years,” exclaimed Maria Candea, a seven-year resident in Abu Dhabi.

“Abu Dhabi may be an island, but with all the developments around it, none of its beaches feel like a seaside. Saadiyat has beautiful soft white sands, unobstructed sea views for as far as the eyes can see, turquoise waters and waves. I’ve been waiting for it to open ever since development began on Saadiyat a few years ago,” she added.

Saadiyat Public Beach will be accessible to public between 8am and 8pm daily. — Supplied photo

Along with its neighbouring beaches of Park Hyatt, St Regis and Monte Carlo Beach Club, the Saadiyat Public Beach — part of the Dune Protection Zone — is fringed by a natural dune system, which is protected from development by a restriction to build within 60 metres from the seaward edge of the dunes. This is also the case for the public beach access, where facilities have been built, with this setback from the beach in mind.

Access to the beach through the Dune Protection Zone is made possible over a wooden boardwalk that prevents damage to the sensitive dune vegetation.

The Saadiyat beach is also a natural nesting ground for hawksbill turtles, which come ashore annually between April and July to lay their eggs in burrows under the sand. During the nesting and hatching season, a specialised team trained to spot turtle tracks and turtle nests patrols the beach on a daily basis.

“As soon as we spot a turtle nest, we fence it off and put a sign informing people this is a nest of an endangered hawksbill turtle and it should not be disturbed. We also have full time security on the beach, who will make sure nobody will disturb the nest,” said head of the environmental services at the Tourism Development and Investment Company (TDIC) Dr Nathalie Staelens, who opened the beach.

The basic entry fee for the public beach is Dh25 for an adult and Dh15 for a child over six years old. Annual membership fees start from Dh500 per adult and Dh1,000 per family.

silvia@khaleejtimes.com