Dubai is a city best understood from above. The Palm only reads as a palm from the air, the dunes only look endless when there is no horizon in the way, and the skyline makes a different kind of sense when you are level with the top of it. There are four ways to get up there and they suit very different people. All four sit in our guide to things to do in Dubai, priced against the ground level alternatives.

Helicopter, twelve minutes

A fixed route from the Dubai Police Academy helipad, out over the Burj Al Arab, along Palm Jumeirah past Atlantis, and back with the Burj Khalifa and Downtown on one side. Twelve minutes in the air, about an hour including the safety briefing and weighing.

It is the most reliable of the four. It runs most days, it does not depend on sunrise, and nobody needs to be brave. Everyone gets a window seat.

Suits: anyone who wants the view and nothing more dramatic. Works with children and with nervous flyers.

Helicopter tour over Dubai from AED 749 per person. Longer routes available.

Hot air balloon, at sunrise

Out into the desert in the dark, inflate at first light, and up for about an hour as the sun comes over the dunes. On clear mornings you see oryx and gazelle below. About five hours in total with the transfers and breakfast afterwards.

This is the quietest thing you can do in Dubai. No engine, no noise, and the desert at dawn is a different place from the desert at four in the afternoon.

Suits: couples, photographers, and anyone who does not mind a 04:00 pickup. Weather dependent, and cancelled flights are rescheduled rather than argued about.

Sunrise balloon flight from AED 1,099 per person.

Tandem skydive over the Palm

Strapped to an instructor, out of an aircraft at around 13,000 feet, roughly a minute of freefall above Palm Jumeirah, then five minutes under canopy coming down over the island. Video and photographs are sold separately and most people buy them.

There is no experience required and no training beyond the briefing. The drop zone over the Palm is the one in every video of Dubai skydiving, because the island below makes the shot.

Suits: people who already wanted to skydive. It is not a gentle introduction to heights. Weight and age limits apply and are enforced.

Tandem skydive from AED 2,585 per person.

Indoor skydiving, if the real thing is too much

A vertical wind tunnel at iFly in Mirdif. You get the flying sensation, the instructor is in there with you, and there is no aircraft, no altitude and no parachute. Two flights of about a minute each, which sounds short and is not.

Suits: children from a minimum age, anyone who wants the feeling without the fall, and families who want to do something together where everyone can take part.

iFly Dubai from AED 195 per person.

Choosing between them

  • You want the photograph: helicopter. The route is designed around what people want in frame.
  • You want the memory: skydive, if you were already inclined. Balloon, if you were not.
  • You are travelling with family: helicopter or iFly. Both work across ages.
  • You have one morning free: balloon, and build nothing else into that day.
  • Budget is the constraint: iFly at AED 195, or an observation deck. The View at The Palm from AED 95 looks down the whole island from the top of it.

Practical notes

  • Weather cancels things. Balloons and skydives are the first to go, usually for wind rather than rain. Build a spare morning into the trip if one of these is the reason you came.
  • Weight limits are real. Skydiving and ballooning both have them, and they are checked on the day rather than taken on trust.
  • Book the balloon early in the trip. If it is cancelled you want another morning available.
  • Summer changes the calculation. Balloon flights pause in the hottest months; helicopters and iFly run all year.
  • Cancellation terms differ. The helicopter and balloon allow free cancellation up to 48 hours before the flight, weather permitting. Check at booking rather than assuming.

On the water instead

If height is not the appeal but the coastline is, the same views exist at sea level. A speedboat past the Palm and the Burj Al Arab from AED 199, or a private yacht from the Marina from AED 1,199 for two hours.