Abu Dhabi island-hopping could make for an innovative escape

Peter Hellyer thinks the tourism industry in the UAE should develop more water taxis

Water taxis are common in Dubai. Should Abu Dhabi add more boats to its tourism mix? Sarah Dea / The National

“Innovation”, we’re told, is the new buzzword. Government, industry, the arts, the young, the old – all are being encouraged to come up with new ideas to contribute as the UAE strives for excellence in the years ahead. It’s a good plan, too: it’s too easy to become sticks-in-the-mud.

Of course, new ideas don’t always work as well as the innovators intend. Sometimes, they’re just too costly or impractical and they’re quietly dropped. There is also the challenge of persuading those comfortable with the established way of doing things to accept change. I have my own, somewhat rueful, memories of shifting from a manual typewriter to an electric one, then to a word-processor, then to a PC, then to the next electronic gizmo.

This weekend, looking at the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque from a small boat off Abu Dhabi island, an idea for an innovation in our tourism industry came to mind.

A few other members of Abu Dhabi’s Emirates Natural History Group and I were spending a pleasant few hours afloat, wandering around the small islands and sandbanks that lie off Abu Dhabi island.

I’ve done it on and off for years, generally with the objective of doing a bit of birdwatching, while relaxing on the water in a gentle breeze.

Our captain for the day was a long-term expatriate resident whose job is focused on marine matters and who is willing to share his knowledge of local waters with others. He and I happily reminisced about other birdwatching voyages in the same area a quarter of a century ago with friends who have long since left the UAE.

The area, we agreed, has changed quite a bit. The dredging of spoil for the new shipping channel to Mussaffah has led to the creation of artificial islands, some now occupied by residences that make very nice hideaways not far from the city. The port of Mussaffah itself is now much more extensive, with shipbuilders, oilfield supply bases and a variety of other yards having replaced the relatively modest facilities that ­existed 25 years ago.

Despite those changes, these waters just west of Abu Dhabi, and those to the north-east, offer some remarkable views of the modern city, not just the Grand Mosque, or the cluster of skyscrapers that include the magnificent Etihad Towers, but much else besides. I hadn’t realised, though I should have, that the towers of Al Reem, to the east of Abu Dhabi, can be seen clearly from far to the west rising above the pall of light pollution that lies low over the city.

The real fascination, though, lies not in the distant views of the capital, but much closer to hand: the flocks of gulls, the thousands of flamingos, the chance of seeing a dolphin and the lovely little sandbanks, islets and mangrove forests. Apart from a few sport-fishermen and one vessel making its way to Mussaffah, we saw scarcely another boat, although there were a few vehicles visible on the mainland shoreline.

It’s just the kind of journey, I would have thought, that many tourists and local residents would enjoy. It provides a change from the conventional, land-based, tourist itinerary of the Grand Mosque, the souq, the breakwater and the malls. Moreover, it offers a better glimpse of the variety of the country’s outstanding natural beauty than the deservedly-popular tours around the mangroves east of Abu Dhabi and the new abra service to and from the hotels at Maqta.

With a guide and captain who knows his way around the channels, and who can provide a running commentary on the wildlife, and, for that matter, on Mussaffah’s busy port, such an outing could well be the highlight of any visit to Abu Dhabi.

There are prizes on offer for “innovation”, I gather. Perhaps some smart company, keen to show off this aspect of the UAE at its best, would like to try?

Peter Hellyer is a consultant ­specialising in the UAE’s history and culture