Too hot in Abu Dhabi. So we thought we'd escape somewhere cooler - Fujeirah is several degrees cooler than AD, only a few hours drive and, most importantly, the hotel was running special for the summer. So I called them up and triple checked that they could fit all 5 of us into one room on their special deal, then booked, packed and off we went.
The drive was easy enough with no need for stops (apart from when we spotted ready made aviaries for sale on the side of the road and Darrell and Alex HAD to take a look and if we'd had the trailer we would have taken one with us to the hotel), and the hotel was very modern and smart looking. Very efficient too. Except for our room which was lovely if you were just a couple. Or a couple with a baby. But for a family of 5 it was totally unsuitable. We discussed it with management and there appeared to have been some confusion with the booking. They had nothing else suitable for us - so they ended up putting us in a suite with extra beds at the same special price we should have paid for the original room. It was WONDERFUL.
The hotel (JAL Hotel Fujeirah) is, I think, 5 star, and it certainly lived up to it. We had a fantastic time apart from the problem at check-in and a few anxious moments as we arrived when Darrell asked me if I'd checked if it was a "dry" hotel and I hadn't... But that was fine, not only was it not dry, there was a pool bar in the pool outside our suite. So we were fine!
There was a fun obstacle course in the sea, big inflatable things anchored a short distance from the beach. We all (except Steph) swam out to them and tried to climb on board. The boys managed fine, but I could only manage to climb up on 1 - I need to go back to the gym and work on my upper body strength instead of cardio!
So for 2 days we ate, drank, swam and relaxed - it was absolutely brilliant. The hotel offered scuba diving and snorkelling so for the last day we had booked a boat which would take us out to Dibba rock where David and I would snorkel and Alex and Darrell would scuba and Steph would sit in the boat and watch us (she doesn't swim where fish do their business...). Well, the best laid plans of mice and men:
The boys (that is Darrell and Alex) did their initial scuba training, we all got kitted up and headed off in the boat. There were quite a few swells but we were assured that wouldn't bother us at all. So we got to the rock and David and I jumped off with our guide, to watch in surprise as our boat left us, to take the scuba divers to a different spot. The waves seemed even bigger in the water and after about a minute David was hanging onto my arm, after 5 minutes he declared that he didn't like it and would like to go back to the boat. So we signalled the boat which turned back to pick us up. We then took the divers to their drop off point, and a very excited pair jumped in with their guide. Then David decided he would like to try again, the boat left the divers and took us back to our point (I'm still not clear as to why 2 points were required) where he and I got into the water on the understanding that the boat would stay put and we would be able to climb back on board at any time. And then, with a strange feeling of deja vu, we watched the boat disappear - this time to answer a signal from the divers. By the time the boat returned to us, we'd had enough water down our snorkels and climbed on board. Alex was sitting on board feeling very unwell and miserable as he'd failed to equalise and had had to abort his dive, I went to console him, offered to fetch him some water, stood up to get it and was promptly very unwell myself over the side - 6 times said Alex, who was counting. So, Alex was just about weeping, David was miserable, Wife was getting rid of her brekka, Stephanie was wining cos she was bored - and Darrell declared he hadn't yet had a proper dive and was going over. Fine, said wife. You go. We're going back to the hotel. The boat can come out again and fetch you. So we went back and showered and recovered in our suite while Darrell enjoyed a super dive without the encumbrances of wife and kids.
The long and the short of it is, we would definitely return to the hotel for a second stay; it was brilliant there. Especially if we get another suite!
But I'm never going snorkelling again. Ever.
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