Dubai Destinations: Sail around Palm Jumeirah with stunning views of coastline for as low as Dh100

With the blissful winter weather upon us, UAE residents cannot get a better time than now to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city and enjoy an idyllic sea trip across Palm Jumeirah in an electric Catamaran.

To access the vessel, visitors have to park their cars in the east part of The Pointe and walk towards the beach where you can rent a catamaran from Costa Azzurra (‘Blue Coast’ in Italian).

Once you've done the booking, you will be given life jackets and shown how to operate a walkie-talkie which will connect visitors to attendants on the shore.

They are also shown how to link up with the onboard Bluetooth speaker so that they could listen to their own music while sailing. Alternatively, one can always enjoy the blissful sound of the gentle splashing of the waves.

No previous sailing experience needed

The two-seat catamaran has a luxurious wooden finish, minimalist and elegant interiors and is covered by a canopy. ‘No experience in sailing is needed’ are the six words every sailing novice wants to hear and sure enough, one of the assistants assured us while headed to our catamaran that: “It’s really easy to operate, just like Playstation.”

We weren’t quite sure what he meant but one look at the joystick situated between the two seats explained it all. “Just press up to go forward, down to go back, and left and right, see? Very easy!” we were told – and it was though manoeuvering the joy stick and understanding the speed of the catamaran with respect to the wind takes a few minutes.

The journey on the sea

For the next 15 minutes or 30 minutes (our recommendation), enjoy the scenic serene atmosphere across the coastline and take photos from the sea of some of the iconic buildings on The Palm such as Atlantis The Palm, Royal Atlantis, Aquaventure, among other majestic structures. The Palm monorail also passes over the sea, above the catamaran.

“For now, we have two catamarans but later this month we are receiving four new catamarans from Italy,” said Sachin Konga, supervisor for Costa Azzura, adding that they will be even more luxurious. Since they are powered by electricity – with no motors – the catamarans are also eco-friendly, he explained.

Costa Azzura is popular amongst tourists and residents alike. The have been operating for around a year. The service was earlier located on the west beach before moving to The Pointe. It operates all year round, but sailing is more popular during the cooler months. “On busy days, we operate up to 20 to 30 trips per day,” he said.

Visitors always give great feedback after their trip, added Sachin. “They say it was very relaxing and enjoyable.”

• Dubai: International tourist spending to jump by Dh50 billion in the next 10 years