Dinosaurs in the UAE: 5 unexpected places to see your favourite prehistoric beasts

The United Arab Emirates is THE land of superlatives.

The tallest building. The largest shopping mall. The biggest fountain. The highest Ferris wheel. The most skyscrapers. The largest natural flower garden. The longest driverless metro network. The fastest roller coaster. The highest infinity pool. The most expensive ice cream. The deepest deep dive pool. The largest vertical maze. The most luxurious hotel.

This is only a fragment of the list – the Guinness team awarded the UAE more than 483 World Records so far.

It is only fitting that they have some of the biggest land animals to ever roam the Earth, too.

When preparing for a recent trip, we found five places to view the dinosaurs in the UAE. Because finding places to see prehistoric superlatives is the aim when travelling with a little dinosaur fan.

Dinosaurs and the UAE

No dinosaurs have been found in the UAE. Few traces have been found in the region.

That’s not surprising: most of the Arabian Peninsula is not conducive to such finds.

Fossils are found in areas where two conditions are present:

1. The rocks are of the kind that preserves dinosaur fossils
2. These rocks are exposed on the surface.

As the Arabian Peninsula is mostly desert and not dense forests or farmlands, the second condition is often met.

However, most of the Peninsula was underwater during the time of the dinosaurs. As a result, it’s common to find fossils of prehistoric marine creatures like molluscs from the Cretaceous period, but dinosaur fossils are rare.

In 2013, dinosaur fossils were first found on the north-east coast of the Red Sea in Saudi Arabia. The fossils are two teeth belonging to a close relative of the Tyrannosaurus, and seven vertebrae of a Titanosaur, similar to a Brontosaurus. Seventy-five MYA, this area was still part of the African continent and the Red Sea had not yet formed.

Fossilised footprints of Ornithopods (herbivorous therapods) and sauropods were found in Yemen in 2008.

In 1997, fossils of theropods and sauropods were discovered about 50 km from Muscat in Oman. Researchers announced that they had found Hadrosaur fossils in the foothills of the Omani Mountains in 2013.

Some dinosaur fossils have also been found in Iran.

But there are still no dinosaurs from the UAE.

The Peninsula has not yet been extensively studied by palaeontologists – why would you when there are so many rich and exciting finds in other areas of the globe?

Much of the UAE’s geology has sediments that are much too young for dinosaurs. One small area bordering Oman has exposed sediments from the late Cretaceous. One day, we could – theoretically – find dinosaurs in the UAE.

Where to see dinosaurs in the UAE

Despite the lack of indigenous dinosaurs, we’ve found five places to see dinosaurs in the UAE, and have already been to three of them. And one place will be at the top of our list in 2025 – an no doubt yours, too.

1. The Dubai Dino

The Dubai Dino – a Diplodocus longus – resides at the biggest mall in the world, the Dubai Mall.

The Diplodocus was around 24.4 metres long and 7 metres tall, with a long, whip-like tail. It lived in the Jurassic and weighed as much as 5 elephants. This Jurassic giant was found “sleeping” in Dana Quarry in Wyoming in 2008.

You can find the Dubai Dino in the Souk on the ground floor of the Dubai Mall. And you can see him for free!

We found it was a useful and fun place to meet up, too. We’re not quite sure why it’s there – perhaps, as with many things in the UAE, because they can?

2. Dubai Garden Glow

You might not expect to see dinosaurs at Dubai Garden Glow, but I assure you, they are there.

Dubai Garden Glow is a set of gorgeous and fun light installations spread throughout Zabeel Park. Apparently, it is the largest park of its kind. Naturally, the park is prettier at night when the lights are glowing.

Probably the largest collection of dinosaurs in the UAE, one corner of the park has 120 animatronic dinosaurs, as well as some more detailed scenes (like a lab), some dinosaur “heads” for photos and a small playground.

We’ve visited the park twice.

The first time our LDA was very impressed and in some cases wary of the dinosaurs. She took ages to build up the courage to touch one.

By our second visit, the park had been expanded to include an ice park (with ice sculptures and jackets to wear so you don’t get cold), and a magic park (with optical illusions). The dinosaurs, however, had been neglected. One area including the erupting volcano was cordoned off, and it seemed only about half of the dinosaurs were actually on display.

Our LDA was so young on our first visit, that she did not remember its former life, but I found it disappointing.

3. IMG Worlds of Adventure

These UAE dinosaurs were a great find on our latest trip to Dubai, but I seriously doubt they will be around for much longer.

When it is hot outside (when it is not in the UAE?), visit the dinosaurs inside at the IMG Worlds of Adventure. With the exception of the Velociraptor coaster, this amusement park is entirely indoors.

The park has 3 main “adventure zones”:

1. Marvel, with Spiderman, Thor, Hulk, Avengers and Age of Ultron-themed rides and a fun “New York” backdrop
2. Cartoon Network, with Powderpuff Girls, Ben 10, Adventure Time, LazyTown and Amazing World of Gumball rides – Gumball even has a dinosaur.
3. The Lost Valley

While the Lost Valley is not really branded, it is “rife with dinosaur adventure”. Our LDA was not tall enough to go on the two roller coasters – Velociraptor (which is like being hit with a wall of hot air at high speed – the coaster goes outside) and Predator with its loops (our LDA was very disappointed about missing it).

She loved exploring the ladders, tunnels, slides, bridges and nets of the Adventure Fortress – it was one of the things she wanted to do multiple times. I lost count of how many times she went on the dinosaur carousel.

Curiously, she found the Forbidden Territory a little scary, though I think it had more to do with giant spiders than dinosaurs.

So what was the downside? The whole park was almost empty. Scarily empty. Not just for Halloween.

We took advantage of the Halloween discounts and enjoyed the themed dances and shows. We waited at most 15 minutes for a ride (one where the ride is so long, entry is only every half hour) and even rode numerous rides by ourselves. And it was a Friday – traditionally a popular day.

I honestly don’t know how long the park can survive financially.

4. Sharjah Museum of Natural History

Dubai is not the only place to find dinosaurs in the UAE!

Sharjah takes a much more traditional approach.

The Natural History & Botanical Museum is around 30km from the centre of Sharjah and forms part of the Sharjah Desert Park.

As well as dinosaurs, the museum has displays of meteorites, rare animals and desert ecosystems. The botanical garden has nearly 100 species of native plants as part of the Islamic Botanical Garden. The Desert Park has a breeding centre for endangered animals and a petting zoo, too.

We haven’t managed to make it to the Museum yet (or even Sharjah), but it is on our list. While the museum looks a little light on dinosaurs – probably because of the lack of dinosaurs from the UAE – the complex is worth a visit.

5. Coming soon: Stan

The fossilised remains of a T-Rex known as Stan were sold for $31.8 million at auction in October 2020. This made the fossil the most expensive dinosaur fossil ever sold – another superlative.

For nearly 18 months, the buyer was unknown.

Stan will be the centrepiece of a new Natural History Museum under construction in the Saadiyat Cultural District in Abu Dhabi. The Museum is currently around 25% finished (October 2022) and is due to open at the end of 2025.

The Museum will neighbour the Louvre Abu Dhabi, as well as the upcoming Zayed National Museum and Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.

The Museum will feature some of the rarest natural history specimens ever found. I can’t wait to see what other dinosaurs might find a new home in Abu Dhabi.

Until it opens, we’ll have to visit Stan in Milan, Brussels, Washington D.C. or one of the other museums with a full cast.

Have you seen any dinosaurs in the UAE?

Even a country with no known dinosaur fossils can have dinosaurs. Despite a lack of fossil finds, there are still dinosaurs in the UAE, and some fun and unusual places to find them.

While we all excitedly wait for Abu Dhabi’s new Natural History Museum to open, why not see some of the other prehistoric superlatives when you are visiting the UAE?

Do you search for places to see dinosaurs when visiting somewhere new?

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