Dubai iVenture Card

This time in Dubai I decided to go for an attraction card to give us access to as many attractions as we could get to!

I spent a while checking out different cards and iVenture was working out best value for 3 days (£204 for the unlimited pass in March 2019). Other options include Turbo Pass (less attractions offered but cheaper card especially for longer stays) and Go Dubai Card (more expensive but more options so good for longer stays). The best card to suit you will depend on what type of activities you want to do!

We had 7 full days in Dubai, one of which we planned a day trip to Abu Dhabi. This meant the 3 day card was the best option to pack in all the touristy things together and still have time to do other things!

Day 1

• Speed boat tour: Booked for 9am but we got stuck in traffic getting there and then couldn't find the place so missed the boat by a few minutes. The staff were great though and took us out on a separate boat as we missed our tour! This was a great experience but a very bumpy ride! We had stops by the Atlantis and Burj Al Arab for photos. The guide will take them for you on your phone or camera. You will get soaked though (and be covered in a layer of salt from the water) so allow time to go back to your hotel and shower!

• Aquafun inflatable at JBR beach: Heavily dependent on wind on the day so we didn't make it here in the end! This would have been a 20 minute walk from the Speed Boat location.

• Burj Khalifa: This needs to be prebooked online. Head straight to the online reservation counter by the entrance, don't stop at the ticket counters before this. We had a 2pm booking and it probably took over an hour to get to the top. You get access to levels 124 and 125. In March when we went there were painted wings on display on each level and one outside on the viewing deck.

• Dubai Mall aquarium: We just had a quick walk through the Tunnel and Underwater Zoo as we had to get to the lake boat ride. You also have access to the Explorer boat ride as well so allow time for this!

• Lake boat ride: We had a 6:15pm booking for the boat ride, you also collect these tickets at the Burj ticket counter. This lasts around 25 minutes and halfway through you'll be able to watch the fountain show.

• Creek dinner cruise: The cruise departs at 8:30pm and is meant to last up to 2 hours. You are meant to arrive at around 8pm to board. Ensure after you've booked that you do get confirmation! This will also include a map of where the boat is. We didn't get this confirmation due to last minute issues and lack of internet. We got dropped near the Spice Souk and the boat happened to be at the complete opposite end so we had to run to make it in time. Luckily boats along the way helped us out, with one even calling to find out where the boat was and to let them know we were coming! This was a great cruise though and there was a good buffet selection although not many vegetarian options. Great value as there are 3 different dinner cruise options so you can book them for different nights and then that's dinner paid for as well!

Day 2

• Due to the early start the day before we chose to relax for the start of the day

• Palm Inner Circle Cruise: Booked for 11:30am we made sure to get here extra early after the issues the day before. After seeing the outside of the Palm on the speedboat tour the day before, it was nice to take a leisurely cruise to see the inside. Again there was a stop near the Atlantis to take photos. After this we stopped at a small Italian restaurant for lunch before heading back to the hotel.

• Desert Safari with Dinner: We were picked up from the hotel at 3pm and then made two more stops at other hotels to collect the rest of the group. At around 3:30pm we started the 1 hour drive out to the desert. Once we arrived we waited for all the cars to pull up (as the 4x4s travel in convoy) and took photos. We then headed out for dune bashing which lasted around 25 minutes. We reached the camp at 6pm roughly and stayed until 8pm. They have set starters and then a main course buffet. There are two performances and you can head out for a short camel ride as well. They sell sandart in glass jars with your name inside, great souvenirs but start off expensive in the evening! By the end of the evening the price had dropped by over half so we bought them! There is also a henna artist hidden away, this wasn't very well promoted! I had planned to avoid this though due to a previous reaction to henna on my first desert safari in 2007. After the final performance we made the long drive back to the hotel!

Day 3

• Dolphinarium: Dolphin and seal shows daily at 11am, 2pm and 6pm when we went. We caught the 11am show as it's a little out of the way. You have to purchase a parks entry card to get to the Dolphinarium which cost 25 DHS. We then ended up using the same card and topping it up to use for the Abu Dhabi bus, so I assume if you have the NOL transport card then you can use this to enter the park barriers.

• Hop on hop off bus tour: We headed over (by taxi) to Dubai Mall to collect the bus tickets and headed to Souk Madinat for lunch. This journey took around 1 hour which is a lot longer than via taxi straight there! The bus though is great to get you from place to place. They have a cooler on board with small bottles of water which they may offer as you get off the bus! We then headed to Mall of the Emirates.

• Ski Dubai (Mall of the Emirates): We had Classic Snow Park entry which included Ski Dubai fleece gloves! We did have to leave a small deposit for the entry cards which is refunded when you return them. This entry included access to the ice cave, chairlift, tubing, bobsled, thriller ride, zorbing and other attractions. They also provide clothing, socks and shoes so you don't need to worry if you turn up there in shorts and flip flops! I believe you can upgrade to other packages and simply pay the difference from the Snow Classic.

• This was the last thing we did as we had tickets booked for the WOW show (which is not longer on) at the Ceasars Palace Rotunda on Blue waters Island. Have a look at their website before you go to see if there are any shows/concerts on during your trip!

There are many other attractions included in the pass that we didn't visit, many of which were added more recently after our visit, check the full list on the iVenture website.

Overall Verdict

This was great value to have over a 3-day period as we picked a lot of smaller activities to fit in together. I would definitely recommend paying the extra for the Unlimited pass rather than being restricted on the number of attractions you can visit with some other options on the site. If you end up using it for theme parks alone, then it would be better value to the get the iVenture Theme Park Pass.