If you're visiting Dubai, going out to see the desert should be high in your priority list. A desert safari is one of the best ways that you can do this. So the ones that we've chosen is Platinum Heritage, Heritage Desert Safari, which is in Vintage Land Rovers, one of the higher end scale desert safaris. We've also taken Arabian adventures. They're actually a subsidiary of Emirates Airlines, so they are very well known. We've taken ocean air travels, they do very well on TripAdvisor, so we wanted to go and see why they rate so well. And then we did attempt to do a very cheap desert safari, one that was under $20, and surprise, surprise, we didn't even get picked up. It was a bit of a disaster, but I guess you do get what you pay for. All three companies will pick you up from your hotel. The Heritage Desert Safari, they picked you up in a very spacious, forward expedition. The other two companies both picked us up in Land Cruises, the same cars that we're going out and doing June Bashin in. They were a little bit cramped, and I did have to sit in the back seat of the ocean air travels, and I didn't get to move from there for the whole journey, which wasn't that much fun. When you get out to the desert, that's when you really can tell the difference. So with the Heritage Desert Safari, they take you out to the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve. And when you go there, you are greeted by the most amazing sight of 22 restored vintage Land Rovers. These things are absolutely beautiful, especially if you're into classic cars, which I am. So they are from 1948 to about 1952, series one and series two, and they really are beautiful. Arabian Adventures, you go to a spot where you let the tires down. This place is pretty ugly. There is a bathroom there, but you have to line up. We didn't really get a chance to even use the facilities. And before you, they put their tires down and you go out, also into the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve. Ocean air travels. They take you first to a quad bike, try and sell you on some quad bikes that are in a pen. We chose not to do it. It's pretty dangerous because people go in all different directions, and there's quite a lot of accents these places. Then they took you to a place where they put their tires down, and it was a pretty ugly piece of desert. You could see trash, tire marks. It really wasn't nice. We got told we could take photos there, but to be honest, we definitely didn't want to take photos of that. So now onto the desert drive bit. Platinum Heritage or Eco-Tourers and Company. So they actually don't do doom bashing because it's unenvironmentally friendly. It does destroy the natural habitat. So you go on a wildlife drive in the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve, which is a sanctuary for animals. So you can spot the Arabian RX, Gazelles, Sandfish, occasionally a desert fox if you're very, very lucky. You see the gaff trees, the National UAE trees. The dunes are pristine. You still go to go up and down, but it's really gentle. So no sore backs or anything like that. It's a lovely experience just as the sun is starting to set. Arabian Avengers also go into the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve, and the first part of the wildlife drive is on a set track. And then they go off road and do a little bit of doom bashing. The doom bashing wasn't very fun at all. Because it's on such tight little areas, we would just like knocked back and forward. And the tracks were quite bumpy. So the whole experience was very bumpy and shaky with ocean air travels. You get to do a lot longer doom bashing, but it actually was a lot more fun than the Arabian Avengers style. So it was about 30 minutes and you really went off road. It was like a real roller coaster ride. Again, it isn't environmentally friendly. So it's not something that I'm personally for. And eventually I did feel a little sick, especially near the end when we went back onto the tracks similar to Arabian Avengers, where there were bumpy tracks. The little kid in the front almost threw up, but it did have more of a fun element. So I would say the wildlife drive with platinum heritage was definitely the best desert driving experience for us. If you want doom bashing, the ocean air did it better. Arabian Avengers didn't really get either of them right. After the desert drive with platinum heritage, we're taken to a Falconry show. This was spectacular. We got all the information on how the bed wind used to use Falcons for hunting. And then we saw it fly to the lure, which is quite spectacular because the Falcon is actually the fastest animal on Earth in full swoop. So it does a few rounds and then goes and gets the quail. With the ocean air travels, we got to try some sandboarding when we're out in the desert. That was fun. Arabian Avengers didn't really have anything like that. They did have sandboarding when you got to the cab, but there was a big long line and a very steep walk up. So we didn't actually do it there. Again, when you get to each of the camps, you can have camel rides. Arabian Avengers and ocean air travels had really long lines. And so we didn't bother on that one. And you can do just a short little one with platinum heritage because it is at night and the camel's can't see. As far as the camps go, platinum heritage, heritage camp was absolutely stunning. It's made quite traditionally and it's like litter up beautifully. It definitely was by far the best. They had lots of little stations all around. So you could actually see someone make the traditional Arabic bread, Arabic coffee. You got greeted with rose water and the traditional coffee. It was a beautiful camp. Arabian Avengers also had quite a nice camp. Didn't have quite as much charm to it. And it had a few sort of commercial elements like a photo booth where you got to dress up. Probably the least attractive camp was definitely ocean air. In fact, I would go to say it would run down tight and ugly. You could dress up in the traditional garments. Yeah, and have your photo taken. That was all complimentary as well. At the camps themselves, all three offered henna. So you could get your hands painted and that was complimentary. There was complimentary shisha at both ocean air travels and platinum heritage. But Arabian Avengers, you had to pay for it. The food, again, hands down, women's platinum heritage. The starters were brought to your table. And that was really good quality food. You do go up to get your mains. The mains are lamb, oozy, chicken kebab. So you can try some camel meat, chicken hurries, there's vegetarian options. And it's all served in quite a traditional way. The lines go really quickly. So you're not really waiting. Arabian Avengers, you have to line up for everything. It takes a while. It's not the best quality food at all. Same with ocean air travels. It was just a buffet. Starters and mains together with ocean air. Yeah. They were okay. It was edible food but it was nothing spectacular. For the entertainment, platinum heritage kept it quite traditional. So they did Emirati style entertainment, which was a drumming session. We got to actually join in and have a go at the drumming herself, which was a lot of fun. And then they also did a yola performance, I think it was called, where they skillfully threw up these replica rifles. Arabian Avengers had a very long belly dancing show. Belly dancing isn't really of this region, so I don't know why they do belly dancing. But it was entertaining, if a little bit saucy. Then the entertainment ocean air travels was really good. They had a fire thrower, a tenura dancer, which again, from Turkey, but yeah. But it was just very entertaining to watch and also a belly dancing show that was more dancing than what we felt was offered at Arabian Avengers. So ultimately I like the traditional aspect of the entertainment at platinum heritage. But for entertainment value, I thought ocean air was really good with theirs. I didn't enjoy Arabian Avengers at all. So on all three of them, photo opportunities. Platinum heritage, you got these beautiful land rovers, which are very photogenic. You had pristine sand dunes, you had falkans, you had beautiful cab. It definitely hands down better photos than the other two, which you could get your desert sort of shots in the dunes, which is fun. But the cars are definitely not photogenic, the four-wheel drives. One thing I want to throw in is about the guides. Platinum heritage, you call them self-conservation guides. They are definitely a lot better trained than the others. The information was clear, concise. They had obviously gone through a lot of training and you not just about history and facts you can do by, but about the desert, the Bedouin, Fauna, Flora. It was really interesting to listen to everything they had to say and the falkanish show as well. The guide from ocean air travel was really friendly as well. He accommodated me getting motion sick tablets when I was stuck in the back of the car and feeling quite sick. But he also knew a lot of facts about Dubai. The only thing was he harassed me the whole time about TripAdvisor from start to finish, including a message at the end telling me to review him, five stars, five stars, five stars. He even made me take a photo of him with my phone and told me to post it, which I thought was a bit off. But maybe that sort of pressure is why they've got so many reviews and do well in TripAdvisor. That's what I could imagine. Arabian venture, the guide had been there for a while. He didn't seem that interested. He was nice enough. I don't have a problem, but he was too busy organising the other people. I think he was one of the supervisors and we were left at the back a lot of the time. He didn't really talk to us about much. So yeah, that definitely was my least favourite guide. So sometimes things come down to price. Platinum heritage was definitely the most expensive. Although I felt it was worth it. Arabian adventures was the next most expensive, which I didn't feel was worth it. And then Ocean Air was a lot cheaper than Arabian adventures. I would have chosen an ocean air travel over Arabian adventures for over experience. So yeah, value for money. Ocean Air does fine if you want a cheaper option. Or if you want a really good experience, I would definitely recommend paying the extra for platinum heritage. As far as overall experience goes, you probably guessed it. Platinum heritage doesn't survive. It was by far my favourite. You definitely get what you pay for. And this was a once in a lifetime experience. Everything was perfect throughout the whole tour. There's not one thing I could complain about. If you'd like other information on Dubai activities or just general advice about Dubai, subscribe to our channel. And you can also watch other videos here. And we've got a blog, which is DubaiTravelAdvice.com. Thanks. Music