December is the month Dubai was built for: 20-30°C days, 14-20°C nights, a sea at 20-24°C and a sunset at about 5:30 PM that turns the dunes and the Marina gold before dinner. It is also the busiest month — National Day on 2-3 December, a Christmas the city celebrates without a holiday, and New Year's Eve under the Burj Khalifa fireworks — so the sunrise balloon and the sunset yacht slots go weeks ahead while the desert safari stays easy to book. Here is the month by date, and what to book first.
By SB Excursions · Published 15 September 2026 · Updated 23 October 2026
Tour on this route: Full-Day Desert Safari in Dubai — From $45 per person, 7 hours.
Is December a good time to visit Dubai?
It is the best month for the weather and the busiest for the hotels. Expect 20-30°C days, 14-20°C nights, a sea at 20-24°C and a sunset at about 5:30 PM — ideal for the desert safari, the sunrise balloon and the yachts. National Day on 2-3 December, Christmas and New Year's Eve make the last two weeks the fullest of the year, so book the balloon ($275, sells out 1-2 weeks ahead) and the sunset yacht slots first.
This guide also answers:
- What is the weather in Dubai in December?
- Is Christmas celebrated in Dubai?
- Where is the best place to watch the New Year fireworks in Dubai?
December in Dubai: the six things to plan around
#1
New Year's Eve at Burj Khalifa
The fireworks and light show on the tower are the image of the night, and Downtown fills from the afternoon. Go by metro, expect crowd control and closures around the Dubai Mall, and accept that the walk out takes an hour. Restaurants and hotels with a view sell the evening as packages; check the official announcements for your year.
#2
The desert in December
This is the month the desert is at its best: 25°C on the sand in the afternoon, a 5:30 PM sunset with the dunes glowing, and a camp evening that needs a light jacket rather than air conditioning. The 7-hour full-day safari is from $45 with hotel pickup and no prepayment, which makes it the easy thing to book late.
#3
The balloon at dawn
Peak season for the sunrise flight: still air, cool mornings and a 40-70 minute flight over gazelles, oryx and camels at up to 4,000 feet, then breakfast at a Bedouin camp. It is $275 with a 30% deposit and the baskets sell out 1-2 weeks ahead in any month, so in the last two weeks of December book it the day your flights are fixed.
#4
Sunset on the water
The shared 1-hour yacht tour (from $32) has a departure timed for the early sunset, and private charters from AED 400 per hour take the 3:30-5:30 PM slot along JBR, Bluewaters and Ain Dubai. Sunset is the most requested slot of the year in December, so it is the one to confirm first, with the marina, on WhatsApp.
#5
National Day, 2-3 December
Commemoration Day on 1 December and National Day on 2-3 December open the month with a public holiday: flags on every tower, celebrations and fireworks in the evenings, full hotels and heavy traffic around Downtown and the Marina after dark. Tours run as normal; agree your safari date early and leave extra time for pickups.
#6
Global Village and Miracle Garden
Both are open in December — Global Village from roughly late October and Miracle Garden from roughly November, dates change yearly — and both are evening places in the cool air. A taxi from Downtown or the Marina is about AED 60-90 each way, and a Global Village night pairs well with an afternoon safari the day before or after.
Dubai in December: the short answer
December is the best month to be in Dubai and the hardest one to book. The weather is the point: 20-30°C by day, 14-20°C at night, a sea at 20-24°C, rare rain showers and a sunset at about 5:30 PM. Every outdoor thing the city does — the desert, the balloon, the yachts, the beaches, walking the Marina and the Creek — is at its best in these weeks, which is why the hotels are full.
The calendar adds three peaks. Commemoration Day on 1 December and National Day on 2-3 December are public holidays with celebrations across the country; Christmas is not a holiday here but the city dresses for it; and New Year's Eve ends the month with the Burj Khalifa fireworks. The last two weeks of December are the busiest of the year for hotels and tours, so the rule of the month is simple: book the sunrise balloon and the sunset yacht slots first, weeks ahead, and leave the safari and the Abu Dhabi day — no prepayment, dates agreed on WhatsApp — for closer to the trip.
If you have flexibility, the month-by-month guide shows November and January as the same weather with fewer people. If December is fixed, read on: the month by date, then what changes for each of our tours.
The month by date
December has a shape, and it pays to know it before choosing your dates.
| Dates | What happens | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| 1 December | Commemoration Day, public holiday | A quiet, respectful day; attractions and tours run |
| 2-3 December | National Day, public holiday | Flags, light shows, fireworks in the evenings; full hotels, heavy traffic after dark around Downtown and the Marina |
| 4-20 December | The calm middle of the month | The best value of December: full season weather, shorter queues, easier tour dates |
| 24-26 December | Christmas, not a public holiday | Malls, attractions and tours run; hotel brunches and dinners book out, so reserve |
| 27-30 December | The peak week | Hotels at their fullest; balloon and sunset yacht slots gone unless booked weeks ahead |
| 31 December | New Year's Eve | Burj Khalifa fireworks; Downtown closures and crowd control; go by metro, book the evening |
| 1 January | New Year, public holiday | A slow morning citywide; tours run, and the beach is empty until noon |
Public holiday dates for the moving Islamic holidays differ each year; the December dates above are fixed.
Weather: what 20-30°C actually means for your days
Daytime is warm and dry — shorts and a T-shirt weather at noon, a swim at JBR or Kite Beach for anyone who finds 20-24°C water fine, and no reason to hide indoors. The change is at sunset, which comes early at about 5:30 PM: the temperature drops into the teens and a light jacket or a pashmina is needed on the dunes, on a yacht deck after dark and on the Marina Walk. Nights are 14-20°C, with January the coolest month of the year just after.
Mornings are the other surprise. Sunrise is around 7 AM and the pre-dawn balloon pickup happens in the coldest hour of the day, so the flight rules are layers and closed-toe shoes. Rain is rare between December and March but not impossible; a shower usually passes within the hour, and the desert safari and the yachts run to the Coast Guard's call rather than the forecast — a weather cancellation on the water means a new route, a new date or a full refund.
The short days shape the itinerary. With the light gone by 5:30 PM, sightseeing starts early, the Abu Dhabi tour's 8:00 AM pickup makes sense, and the evening — the Fountain from 6 PM, the desert camp, the yacht party at 9 PM — starts sooner and lasts longer.
- Pack: light daytime clothes, one warm layer for every evening, closed shoes for the balloon, swimwear for the beach and a private yacht's daylight swim stop.
- Sun: still strong at midday; a hat, sunglasses and sunscreen for the dunes and the deck.
- Sea: 20-24°C, swimmable for most; the Coast Guard closes swimming from yachts at around 5 PM in winter, so a swim charter is an early afternoon booking.
National Day, 2-3 December
The month opens with the country's own celebration. Commemoration Day on 1 December is the quiet, respectful one; National Day on 2-3 December is the loud one — flags on every tower and car, light shows on the skyline, fireworks in the evenings and families out until late. Both are public holidays, so hotels, malls and the roads around Downtown and the Marina are at full stretch after dark; check the official announcements for the exact programme in your year.
For your plans it means two things. Book your hotel with the holiday in mind, and give any evening pickup extra time: the full-day desert safari collects you at your hotel in Dubai, Sharjah or Ajman in the afternoon and the 45-60 minute drive to the Lahbab dunes leaves the city before the evening traffic builds, which makes a National Day safari a good way to see the celebrations from a distance — the dunes at sunset, the camp dinner, then back to a city still lit up. Agree the date on WhatsApp a week or two ahead; there is no prepayment.
Christmas in Dubai
Christmas is not a public holiday in the UAE, and that is the good news for a traveller: 25 December is a normal working day for the city, so the malls, the attractions, the metro and all our tours run. What Dubai adds is the decoration — trees in every hotel lobby and mall atrium, festive brunches and dinners at the hotels that book out well ahead, and Christmas markets that usually appear at hotels and around Souk Madinat Jumeirah; check dates and prices with the venues.
Our own Christmas Day suggestion is the desert: the safari on 25 December puts the BBQ dinner under the stars at Al Khayma camp with the fire show, Tanoura and belly dance, from $45 per person or $65 with the 30-minute quad bike, and it is the one December dinner that never needs a reservation months ahead. For a Christmas Eve with a view, the 1-hour shared yacht tour at the sunset slot costs from $32 and the sunset yacht cruise guide explains how the shared hour and a private sunset charter compare in the short days.
With children, the seasonal pair is in full swing: Global Village and Miracle Garden are both open in December (dates change yearly, check the current season), 25-35 minutes by taxi from Downtown or the Marina at about AED 60-90 each way. Our Global Village and Miracle Garden route has the taxi, bus and timing details and how to pair them with a safari afternoon.
New Year's Eve: the Burj Khalifa fireworks and the water
The fireworks and light show on the Burj Khalifa are the reason half the city's visitors are here this week. The free view is from Burj Park and the Dubai Mall boulevard, and it is free in the way a stadium is: Downtown fills from the afternoon, crowd control and road closures kick in around the mall, the Fountain shows run into the evening and the walk out after midnight takes an hour or more. Go by metro — Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall station and the air-conditioned Metro Link bridge — and check the official announcements for the entry points and timings in your year. Restaurants, rooftops and hotels with a line of sight sell the evening as packages; book those weeks ahead.
The alternative is the coast. In recent years fireworks have also gone up along the sea — at Burj Al Arab, on the Palm and at Bluewaters by Ain Dubai — and the best seat for those is a deck. A private charter on 31 December is the calm version of the night: from 31 to 150 ft, from AED 400 per hour for the whole boat with captain, crew, fuel, water, ice and soft drinks included, your own drinks on board for guests aged 21+, catering arranged in advance. Be honest with yourself about geography: from the water off the Marina you see the coastal fireworks, not the Burj Khalifa, which is 25 km inland. New Year's Eve is the first night of the year to sell out, so message us with the guest count early and we confirm the yacht and the total with the marina before you pay anything; ask about the yacht party on that date too, rather than assuming its normal 9 PM-1 AM run.
Whichever you choose, book the taxi maths into the night. Downtown to the Marina is 25-40 minutes on a normal evening and much longer on 31 December, and the party yacht leaves at 9:00 PM sharp — boarding is at 8:30 PM at the marina pier behind Al Majara Tower, Dubai Marina, and it does not wait.
How December changes our tours
Every tour runs through December; what changes is the light, the temperature and how early you must book. The Abu Dhabi city tour is at its most comfortable — 20-30°C on the marble of the Grand Mosque and along the Corniche instead of the summer glare — and its 8:00 AM pickup suits the short days. The safari's sunset comes at 5:30 PM, so the afternoon pickup is timed to it and the camp evening is cool enough to want the jacket. The balloon is in peak season. The yachts have their most requested sunset slot of the year at 3:30-5:30 PM.
| Tour | December note | Price | Book by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full-day desert safari | Sunset 5:30 PM, jacket for the camp; entertainment as normal | From $45, $65 with quad; no prepayment | 1-2 weeks ahead for a specific date; last-minute possible outside the peak week |
| Sunrise hot air balloon | Peak season, chilly pre-dawn pickup, layers and closed shoes | $275, 30% deposit | Sells out 1-2 weeks ahead; for 20-31 December book the day flights are fixed |
| Abu Dhabi city tour | Perfect weather for the mosque and Corniche; 8:00 AM pickup | From $45 shared, $245 private car for up to 7; no prepayment | 1 week ahead; National Day and New Year dates earlier |
| Shared 1-hour yacht tour | Sunset departure around 5 PM is the one everyone wants | From $32, full prepayment | Sunset slot 1-2 weeks ahead; other hours a few days |
| Private yacht charter | Sunset 3:30-5:30 PM; swim stops before 5 PM | From AED 400 per hour, confirmed before payment | 2-3 weeks ahead for sunset; New Year's Eve as early as you can |
| Yacht party | 9 PM-1 AM, cool on deck: bring a layer | $99, full prepayment | 1-2 weeks ahead; ask about 31 December |
Two facts decide the order. The balloon has a fixed number of baskets and a 30% deposit, and it is the product that sells out 1-2 weeks ahead in a normal month — our is the balloon worth it guide is the honest case for $275. The sunset yacht slot is one hour a day and everyone wants the same one. The safari and Abu Dhabi, by contrast, run daily in many vehicles and are confirmed on WhatsApp without payment, so they are the ones to place last.
Costs, crowds and a booking timeline
December is the expensive month for one reason: hotels. Rates are usually at their highest in the last two weeks, on top of the 5% VAT, the Tourism Dirham fee of about AED 7-20 per room per night and the municipality fee, so the room is where the budget goes. Our tour prices are the ones on the pages — $45 for the safari and the shared Abu Dhabi day, $32 for the shared yacht hour, $99 for the party, $275 for the balloon, private yachts from AED 400 per hour — and the trip cost guide puts the whole week in a table by budget.
The crowds are manageable if you keep to the pattern that works all year: sights early, the middle of the day at the beach or in the malls, the evenings on the water or in the desert. This is the booking order we give guests arriving in the peak week:
- As soon as flights are fixed: the sunrise balloon (30% deposit) and any New Year's Eve yacht.
- 3 weeks out: a private sunset charter, the sunset departure of the shared yacht hour, the yacht party night.
- 1-2 weeks out: the desert safari date and the Abu Dhabi day, agreed on WhatsApp with no prepayment.
- In the same message: your hotel and area, so the pickups are in the right order — Sharjah and remote areas are collected first, so their pickup is earlier.
- A few days out: restaurant tables for Christmas and New Year's Eve, Global Village and Miracle Garden evenings, the Fountain and Marina Walk nights that need no booking at all.
If your dates are not fixed yet, the honest comparison is with the other extreme: Dubai in summer is cheap and indoors, December is dear and outdoors. For the December trip, the free SB AI planner lays the days on the map with the tours in the right slots — the balloon at dawn, Abu Dhabi at 8 AM, the safari at dusk, the sunset yacht at 5 PM, the party at 9 PM.
FAQ
Is December a good time to visit Dubai?
It is the best month for the weather and the busiest for the hotels. Expect 20-30°C days, 14-20°C nights, a sea at 20-24°C and a sunset at about 5:30 PM — ideal for the desert safari, the sunrise balloon and the yachts. National Day on 2-3 December, Christmas and New Year's Eve make the last two weeks the fullest of the year, so book the balloon ($275, sells out 1-2 weeks ahead) and the sunset yacht slots first.
What is the weather in Dubai in December?
Warm days of 20-30°C, cool evenings of 14-20°C, and the sea at 20-24°C. Rain is rare between December and March and a shower usually passes within the hour. Sunset is about 5:30 PM and sunrise around 7 AM, so days are short; bring a light jacket for the desert camp, a yacht deck after dark and the pre-dawn balloon pickup, which happens in the coldest hour.
Is Christmas celebrated in Dubai?
Yes, commercially and in the hotels, but 25 December is not a public holiday, so malls, attractions, the metro and all tours run as normal. Hotels put up trees and sell festive brunches and dinners that book out well ahead, and Christmas markets usually appear at hotels and around Souk Madinat Jumeirah. A desert safari dinner at the camp on Christmas Day, from $45, needs no reservation months ahead.
Where is the best place to watch the New Year fireworks in Dubai?
The Burj Khalifa fireworks are seen free from Burj Park and the Dubai Mall boulevard if you arrive in the afternoon and leave slowly after midnight; go by metro and check the official announcements for entry points and closures. Restaurants and hotels with a view sell packages. Fireworks have also gone up along the coast in recent years, at Burj Al Arab, the Palm and Bluewaters, and a private yacht off the Marina is the calm seat for those — not for the Burj Khalifa, 25 km inland.
What happens on UAE National Day, 2-3 December?
It is a public holiday, preceded by Commemoration Day on 1 December: flags on every tower, light shows on the skyline, fireworks and celebrations in the evenings, full hotels and heavy traffic around Downtown and the Marina after dark. Tours run as normal. Agree your safari or Abu Dhabi date early, allow extra time for evening pickups and check the official programme for your year.
How early should I book the balloon and the yachts for December?
The balloon sells out 1-2 weeks ahead in any month and earlier in the last two weeks of December, so book it the day your flights are fixed; it is $275 with a 30% deposit. Sunset yacht slots — the shared hour's sunset departure and private charters at 3:30-5:30 PM — go 2-3 weeks ahead, New Year's Eve charters earlier still. The safari and the Abu Dhabi day are agreed on WhatsApp with no prepayment 1-2 weeks out.
Is the desert cold in December?
Warm by day, cool after dark. Expect around 25°C on the dunes in the afternoon, then a fast drop after the 5:30 PM sunset to the mid-teens at the camp, so bring a light jacket or a pashmina for the dinner and the shows. The 4x4 is warm and the camp tents are enclosed. December to February is the best time for the safari, and the reason the evening programme feels so comfortable.
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Photos: Global Village and Miracle Garden — Slayym, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons).