Wadi Wurayah

A wadi is a stream that can only flow at certain times of the year, corresponding to the rainy season, the bed remaining dry the rest of the year. In the Arabian Peninsula, particularly in the United Arab Emirates, there are many wadis where water only flows for a few days or even a few hours a year.

Before venturing into a wadi, whether by car or on foot, one must be extremely careful. Indeed, at the slightest rain, the water level can rise several meters in a few minutes and traps hikers and motorists. So, if you're on foot, look at the sky and if clouds are coming up, get out immediately or go to a high point. Likewise if you are off-track aboard your vehicle. On the roads the risk is low because the areas that can be submerged are indicated by pounding, and it is possible to roll in as long as the water's edge does not exceed the markers. On the other hand, if the water level is very high, there is a risk of having to wait several hours or even several days, because wadis roads are often one-way.

In the region, the beds of wadis that have flowed for millennia have dug deep furrows into the ground forming steep cliffs on both sides. This is particularly the case of Wadi Wurayah

The Wurayah wadi road starts on the E99 coastal road, 4 kilometers north of Khor Fakkan, and 4.3 kilometers south of Al Bidiyah mosque. The junction is located mountainside, at the level of a mosque. Then, after a big straight line of 4 kilometers, continue on a winding road in the mountain and cutting the wadi several times. At one point, the road splits in two: whatever your choice, the road will do again after 1200 meters. If you are in an all-terrain vehicle you will have the opportunity to drive in the wadi (the last time the road cuts the wadi, go on the right direction North). If you are in a passenger vehicle, stay on the paved road, you will quickly reach a car park perched on the cliff.

If you are off-piste, you will end up approaching an area with shrubs concealing a pool where it is allowed to swim. If you parked your vehicle in the car park, carefully descend the cliff and walk for two hundred meters to reach the pool hidden behind foliage.

Unfortunately, as is often the case on this kind of sites in the country, the rocks are covered with graffiti, and visitors do not bother to pick up their trash.

From the first basin, continuing on 1700 meters while walking in the wadi, you will reach another smaller but quieter basin. From this second basin two hiking trails are presented: one pointing to the south tries to go back to the source of the stream. The second goes west to get lost in the mountains.

From the first basin, another hiking trail heads west and rushes deep into the mountain for about fifteen kilometers.

There are two options for hotels: head to hotels in Dibba or hotels in Fujairah city.

Visit also