Watersports in Abu Dhabi

Anyone who has lived in Abu Dhabi knows the Al Gharbia Watersports Festival is one of the great pre-summer highlights on the entertainment calendar. The 2013 schedule has really upped the ante with everything from family entertainment through to DJs, activities, a few surprises and plenty of water-based action.

This year’s event, based at Mirfa public beach, is free and festival manager Obaid Khalfan Al Mazrouei tells TOAD around 70,000 people are expected to turn up.

‘Since we started in 2009 it’s become very important to the local community for many reasons, including economically, although it’s very difficult to work out the exact numbers of people coming, because it’s in an open space,’ he says. ‘Throughout the year we have many different things going on such as the camel beauty contest, the date festival and the dune festival so it’s important that we have something that covers others areas in the region to have more of a balance.’

Al Mazrouei says the festival attracts both families and sports fanatics. ‘We have many targets to attract both sport seekers as well as families to show people that we have lots of different things going on,’ he continues. ‘We have lots on offer for sports fans and families as well such as shows, markets and entertainment. You can even have a go at parasailing.’

Given there’s a huge sporting element (including beach football, beach volleyball, kite boarding, surf-ski kayaking to name but a few) to the festival and a total prize fund of Dhs4,380,000, it attracts athletes from all over world, including Jakub Szczesny a kitesurfing instructor from Marine Sports who will be at the festival. ‘We’ll have competitors coming from Europe as well as the Arabic nations, such as Qatar, and we’ll also have some people from places such as Morocco, too. There’ll be some recognisable names in there.’ At the time of going to press, already confirmed were watersports stars such as Thomas Pujo from France and Fabio Tomi from Italy. ‘The freestyle events in particular are spectacular,’ Jakub says. ‘For the average spectator I think they will be impressed by the races and the height that some of these guys can reach. If you’ve never been you should go.’ Sounds like an offer we can’t refuse. We’ll see you there.

Al Gharbia: the facts
Aside from the festival there’s lots to see and do in Al Gharbia. Covering 71 percent of the country it’s home to seven cities and some incredible desert landscapes including the northern part of the Empty Quarter, which is home to the world’s largest sand desert and a nature reserve at Sir Bani Yas Island.

Getting there
Al Gharbia is located in the Western Region of the emirate of Abu Dhabi and plays host to 350km of beautiful coastline. Mirfa is about 120km west of our fair city and to get there is pretty simple – just head along the Abu Dhabi-Sila highway (E11) and you should reach it in about 70 minutes.

Give something a go
There’s something for everyone to try, including: 9am-sundown every day Visitors can try sailing for free. Head to the Al Shaheen tent for details. 4pm-7pm every day Have a go at beach football, volleyball and
parasailing for free.
Visit, www.algharbiafestivals.com/watersports for more info.