Every month a new trip will be uploaded to this site: enjoy!
The coast to the far west of Abu Dhabi is the last frontier as far as unspoiled, natural open beaches in the UAE are concerned – a few holiday villas, and long stretches of white sandy beach! The waters are calm and strikingly clean, and a few rock pools dot the coast, with a deeper reef further out.
The Audi Q3 is peppy and stylish, and the four-cylinder turbo-charged engine is a little powerhouse! It drives like a sport car yet it handles soft terrain with confidence. We drove 1450km in complete comfort, fully-loaded for a long weekend of camping on the beach.
Here is a video review of the Audi Q3:
Download the KML file for your GPS by clicking here. Once downloaded, you can import the file into your GPS device and take it on the road, or double-click that file and it will open automatically in Google Earth if you have that installed (all adventurers should! Google Earth).
And here is an interactive map of the routes, with the area between waypoints 002 and 003 offering the best beach.
View WeekendUAE Trip to Sila with Audi Q3 in a larger map
The sea along the western Abu Dhabi coastline is strikingly beautiful and tranquil. It is also the world's largest protected area for manatees and dugongs living in the Marawah Marine Biosphere Reserve, part of UNESCO’s Man and Biosphere Programme.
Find out more about the biosphere here and see this podcast to learn more about these endangered sea mammals, closely related to elephants!
A poitkje pot, a cast-iron witch’s cauldron, is excellent for slow cooking on the beach. In the photo is a camel meat stew, slowly bubbling throughout the afternoon, to be ready for a hearty sunset dinner.
In the heat of the UAE, when beach camping, shade is a top priority, quickly followed by water for both drinking and washing. Besides our central gazebo, for the lounging, eating and cooking area, we also set up a toilet and shower tent, in order to assure privacy as well as convenience. A little bit of planning makes camping a wonderful experience for all, and leaving the campsite clean afterwards is simply a nice way of saying thanks for the hospitality, and see you again next time!
On the beach sand the Audi Q3 had no hesitation whatsoever, and the low clearance was not an issue. On dirt tracks, as expected, the handling was superb.
Despite having their own tent, our friends took to sleeping in the comfort of the Audi Q3! Too small? Not at all - compact, yes, but definitely much larger than it may appear. We carried all sorts of gear for three nights of beach camping, plus they then slept in it!
Tahiti? Maldives? Mauritius? Nope, good old Abu Dhabi coastline.
Several interesting rocks dot the coastline, and little rock pools catch out all sorts of living creatures as the tide pulls back leaving them momentarily trapped - a delight for children (and adults!).
A stroll along the beach captures the setting perfectly; all sorts of washed-up relics - from the ubiquitous plastic bottle to natural debris as this mound of seaweed.
And the Audi is simply one of the most beautifully styled cars I've had the pleasure of admiring parked next to my campsite on the beach! The Audi Q3 grille and front attitude lines I found exquisite!
Please take due care when driving on the fast highway to Sila; particularly just out of Abu Dhabi, the truck traffic can be slow and clogging the inner lane, but once the road opens up into three lanes the going gets much more pleasant. My disclaimer is here.