Few days ago we took off on our first International holiday post the pandemic. With a last minute decision to travel, we were looking for a nearby location, ideal for families and something that didn’t require a lot of days to cover. Yas Island of Abu Dhabi came up as the best answer, and so we flew down to the island for a 5 day staycation.
All about Yas Island
Yas Island is an entertainment destination situated in Abu Dhabi, UAE. The Island boasts of themes parks, concert arenas, beaches and bays, luxury holiday homes, 5 star hotel accommodation, golf course, Yas mall with local & international brands and a standalone IKEA store.
For Indians looking for a nearby and new family vacation destination – Yas Island of Abu Dhabi is the answer.
It is about 10mins from Abu Dhabi City & International Airport, 1 hour drive from Dubai and an approx 3hr short flight from India.
The Island is about 25 square km and reaching from one end to another doesn’t take more than 15min. Since it’s a tourism project there are special buses, called Yas Express, to ply guests from their hotels to all major island attractions.
Our experience on Yas Island
We spent a total of 5 days on the Island and every day was packed with a new adventure . Our stay was booked through the official website of Yas Island and the package included hotel accommodation as well as entry to 4 of its parks; Sea World, Warner Bros World, Yas Waterworld and Ferrari World.
We made the most of the Yas Express right from when we landed. The buses arrive and depart as per the timetable, have good luggage space, are air-conditioned with comfortable seating and wifi 🙂 . We did not spend at all on local transportation thanks to the bus service.
Our stay was in Crowne Plaza, a property with all 5 star services and an added bonus of access to Cyan Beach. Since we were there during summer, a beach wasn’t a good idea but nevertheless we visited it early morning to have it all to ourselves.
DAY 1 @ SEA WORLD ABU DHABI
On day 1 we visited the newly opened Sea World – Abu Dhabi which was fascinating. Of all the parks on Yas Island this has to be my favourite and highly recommended.
The variety of animals, their exhibits and entertainment shows are too good. It’s a huge park divided into 8 ocean realms each showcasing respective animals in their habitat.
We enjoyed the 7 levels of Endless Ocean zone that make you feel like you are walking in and around the deep sea.
The park has touch pools where one can touch baby sharks, star fish, sting rays, etc. Add on paid activities like Scuba Diving, feed the Walrus, etc are also available. One is spoilt for choice of food and shopping in the park.
The Park has an attached resuce and research centre that works towards betterment of the animals.
All animals of SeaWorld are donated by other Sea World Parks across the globe.
We spent close to 8 hours and just about managed to fit in all it has to offer. After a long day and a previous long night, we packed some dinner from the park itself, hopped onto a Yas Express, had dinner in room and crashed immediately. Day 1 was tiring but fun.
DAY 2 @ WARNER BROS WORLD ABU DHABI
After a peaceful and much needed 9 hr sleep we were awaken refreshed. Post a leisure breakfast we were ready to hit the town. Hopped onto a Yas Express that dropped us at WB WORLD. We were early by an hour so decided to check out the nearby WB Hotel. This was my first choice of accommodation but since we booked our stay last minute the hotel was already sold out. Well, atleast I got a chance to visit it.
On entering the park you arrive at the Central Plaza, a huge space meant to host live shows and lined with shops and restaurants on the sides. The Plaza is gateway to the different zones of the park namely; Gotham City, Metropolis, Cartoon Junction, Bedrock and Dynamite Gulch. Each zone has rides, attractions, and setup representing the theme it’s named after.
We thoroughly enjoyed the crazy rides of Gotham City and the Virtual 7D rides of Metropolis. The charming town of Bedrock and colours of Cartoon Junction brought back childhood memories of enjoying the cartoons on screen.
I was thrilled to walk through the beautiful Bedrock town of Flintstones. The Cartoon zones had more family rides and play areas for younger kids. My boys are 5 and 11 and the park had a good mix of rides and entertainment for both of them.
We visited the park twice during our stay on Yas, first on a weekday and other time on a weekend (because the boys couldn’tget enough). One could see the crowd difference in nos as well as kind. Weekday crowd was more touristy type and was easily 1/3 of the weekend crowd. Wait timings for rides was almost nil on weekdays as well as the entire experience was much relaxed. I would definitely suggest avoiding weekends for the parks as far as possible.
It was again an 8 hr long day that felt ended too soon 😄😄
I had planned to visit the open areas of Yas like the Bay & Marina in evenings post our park visit but honestly we were too exhausted by the end of the day to explore anything new.
DAY 3 @ WATER WORLD ABU DHABI
Now this was going to be a physically draining day for we were to visit a water park and that too in soaring heat. We were mentally prepared and all set, however being in and around water dint really make us realize the temperature, it was comfortable and pleasant to be in open.
Water World just like many other water parks was fun and had really good rides. I haven’t been to many water parks but this one did seem huge to me. I particularly enjoyed the theater show which had an actual waterfall and knee level flooding to sync with the movie visuals. The little one was unable to do most rides due to height restrictions, but he and I enjoyed touring the park in the lazy river. Young kids had a water play area and beach with wave pool to enjoy and play in.
I was particularly impressed by how well staffed the park was, most of them trained life guards. I am very finicky when it comes to waterparks with regards to the hygiene & safety aspects but was happy that this one really matched upto my expectations.
We ate a delicious meal at Chubby’s Kitchen. Again one more fun day came to an end, even though we were tired nobody wanted to leave.
DAY 4 @ FERRARI WORLD ABU DHABI
Ferrari World is the oldest theme park of Abu Dhabi. An indoor park known to have World’s Fastest Roller Coaster – Formula Rossa.
The park has a good mix of rides and attractions for young kids and adults. A section of the park is made to look like street of Italy and has a really good Italian restaurant, Mamma Rossella, where we enjoyed our lunch of Ravioli & Gnocchi.
Right is the centre of the park is a lovely 3D built up of Italian landscape that houses miniature models of all famous Italian landmarks. One can tour through this in a small scale Ferrari model – feels like a road trip in Italy.
Similarly, there is a multi sensory simulator ride that flies you through various Italian regions and enjoy the diverse landscapes. This was the most enjoyable attraction of all!
The park is smaller in comparison to others and can be done in 4hrs, if the ride wait lines are not long.
Ferrari World is attached to Yas Mall and so both can be explored in a day.
Post a good dose of adrenaline rush and some heavy shopping our day ended.
DAY 5 @ BYE BYE ABU DHABI
It was time to leave Abu Dhabi but not before one more visit to WB World as the boys wanted to see their heroes once more.
We checked out of the hotel and spent few hours at WB and then completed some leftover shopping at Yas Mall.
Took a flight back home with lovely memories of a long due overseas vacation.
Planning a trip to Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi is one of the emirates UAE United Arab Emirates. Many major National & International airlines have direct flights to the city. Flights are anywhere between 2.5hr to 3hrs. If booked early, a Return ticket can come as cheap as INR 16000 and go upto INR 25000 for a last minute booking.
Getting a visa to UAE is easy as it is an online e-visa system. They claim to give visa in 4 working days, we got ours in just 24hrs. It’s a hassle free process and one mostly needs to apply through an agent. Visa costs approximately INR 7000.
The time difference is 2:30 hours and the local currency is Dirhams. Current conversion is INR 23 per Dirham.
Being a Mommy 