Costa Del Hatta

The UAE never ceases to amaze me with the variety of natural beauty spots it has to offer. Far more than the big city and rolling sand dunes most people think about it. Yesterday a group of us drove up to Hatta for a day trip. After a relaxed start to the day we stopped off at the Hatta Fort hotel for some lunch. Whilst the food was nothing to write home about we enjoyed the deliciously kitsch seventies decor of the restaurant and splendid scenery afforded by Hajar mountains.



After thirty minutes of completely failing to follow the very detailed instructions on how to get to the Hatta rock pools we finally got on the right track and the Hummer again proved it is really at home on the trails transporting our party in relative comfort over the rough road. At one point just before a steep descent there was a spectacular vista which begged to be photographed:



We parked up alongside numerous 4x4's and even some regular saloon cars - however I am sure that their undercarriage would have taken some knocks. We grabbed our gear and took the short hike down to the pools. When we first went down I could only see some very shallow pools and was initially a little disappointed:



However on climbing down a little more there was a sort of "rocky beach" which was the entrance to the Hatta Pools proper. A couple of regulars to visit here were surprised by the number of people visiting that day - it certainly had a beach holiday feel to it:



We all took the plunge and swam the length of the pools which were quite deep at times. It was really invigorating and made a pleasurable change to be in water that was not salty and not full of chlorine. The Hatta pools are more of a "Hatta Channel" and it was very picturesque:




We took a little walk along the wadi above the pools when Matt decided he wanted to take a leap across what can only be described as a chasm. It was a little scary for both of us as on his first jump it was a little further than he expected and when I heard a cry of "S@$!" I could only respond with another expletive! He made it though...definitely not one for those who have not spent most of their lives bouncing across rocks like human spring.



Below gives you an idea of the chasm Matt leapt across:



It was a really fun day and definitely a must do to anyone who has the time to get out of Dubai and see a little more of what the rugged UAE countryside has to offer. I am looking forward to taking my next slew of visitors there.