Ten reasons why we loved Yas Island, Abu Dhabi

Many people may have heard of Ferrari World but fail to realise that it is only one of many attractions on the growing Yas Island, Abu Dhabi complex.  After a truly fantastic three days of exploring Yas Island, I think it truly is an underrated stop in the UAE and its a shame that more families are not visiting Yas Island.  So here’s 10 reasons why we loved Yas Island and why its an ideal destination for families.

Fabulous Attractions for the whole family

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Yas Island is home to world class attractions and given the relatively small size of the area it houses some great attractions in a very small space.  With attractions such as Ferrari World, Yas Waterworld and the F1 Marina Circuit it has something for the whole family.  A big plus for me, was the closeness of all the attractions to one another, within 5 – 10 minutes drive you can get to any of the attractions from the hotel.  As someone who is used to travelling for hours to arrive at a theme park or the beach its great to be able to really enjoy the attractions without having to factor in huge travel times!

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Great Hotels

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Yas Island has 7 hotels and there was something for travellers of all budgets.  We stayed in the Radisson Blu and loved the hotel.  We were really impressed with the fantastic rates which are available on hotels especially during summer holiday season, which is always great to see when you are travelling as a family.  The hotels also allow guests free access to Yas Beach and we loved that we pretty much had the whole beach to ourselves and the sea was a gorgeous blue with little fish swimming all the way to the shoreline.

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Value for money

 

Linked to the above, Yas Island has some amazing offers for the hotels and attractions.  The current #SayYas campaign has some amazing prizes to be won but also allows families staying for 2 nights, in one of the 7 hotels until 30th September 2016, unlimited admittance to both Yas Waterpark and Ferrari World.  The hotels are already great value for money and coupled with this fabulous offer, it proves to be a significant saving on great attractions.  Details of the offer can be found here.

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Unique adventures

We love to showcase the best in family travel and love that Yas Island is home to some very cool activities.  My favourite is the free bicycle rides that you can do on a Sunday on the F1 circuit.  Visiting a F1 circuit would be very cool but coupled with actually being able to ride on the circuit ticks all the boxes for unique and fun family activities.

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In addition, in Yas Island you can sit back and enjoy the world’s fastest rollercoaster or the worlds largest loop rollercoaster at Ferrari world, or get hands on and give your driving a test on the f1 circuit with lots of different options for families.

Close to the airport

The flight from the UK to Abu Dhabi is over 7 hours (without a stopover), having travel weary children and then needing to embark on a long and arduous journey to the hotel is often the hardest part of travel.  Yas Island is perfect here as it is only a short 20 minute drive to the hotels so ideal to get the adventure started and relax by the pool!  Avoiding a sleep between the flight and settling into the hotel is one of the best ways to avoid jetlang, especially in little adventurers!

Great base to explore

If you visit the various attractions on Yas Island, your days can easily be spent on this island of fun but Yas Island is also a great base from which to explore Abu Dhabi and the rest of the UAE.  We visited the Sheikh Zayed Mosque whilst we were in  Yas Island and it was very easy to get to from the hotel.

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Fabulous Dining

I am not a foodie but Yas Island is home to some amazing places to eat.  In Yas Mall you can find both Rogos, the rollercoaster restaurant and the stunning Cheesecake Factory to name a few of the choices .  Rogos is ddefinitelyworth the visit as it is one of the coolest places to eat with children, I mean who doesn’t love their food arriving to their table on a rollercoaster?

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Social Responsibility

One very important part of our travel is to help our little adventurers understand the need for being part of a global community.  Yas Island has lots of amazing schemes aimed at helping others less fortunate.  I loved the current #YasJoyOfEid scheme which is striving to help build schools in developing countries. Running between Eid Al Fitr and Eid Al Adha, every smile generated on Yas Island and shared on social media via the hashtag #YasJoyOfEid, will see Yas Island make a contribution towards the construction of the schools and playgrounds.

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Its laid back and relaxed

We have visited the hustle and bustle of Dubai and whilst that is an experience, in the heat when you have children in tow, sometimes a slower more relaxed pace is needed to really enjoy the experience.  During our time in Yas Island we found there to be a great laid back vibe to the area and even at times when the attractions were busy it never felt too much with the children.

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Its safe

In the current climate across the globe, families are more reluctant then ever to try new adventures overseas but during our time in Yas Island we always felt safe.  Everything is regulated in the UAE, the taxis are metered and as a western tourist with young children, I always felt comfortable and safe in all environments.

We loved our time on Yas Island and would wholeheartedly recommend it to families, there is something for everyone to enjoy and its definitely one of the best kept secrets in the UAE!

Nisbah

I am a traveller, mother and blogger. We love to go on adventures (big and small, near and far) and strive to show our children how amazing and beautiful the world is! I caught the travel bug many moons ago and despite having three little adventurers, I still suffer from "itchy" feet. We love the great outdoors and one another. Come and join the fun :)

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3 Responses

  1. What a great combination- lots to do, all close together but also easy to relax. The free entry offer is a great bonus too and I love the idea of cycling the f1 circuit!

  2. Love this post Nisbah and I must admit I have never heard of Yas Island before (nor Ferrari World). But what a wonderful place it sounds with everything being so close to each other. It really does seem it has everything in one place for families, and I love the idea of cycling around the F1 track. What a great experience that would be. Sounds an ideal place to travel to x

  3. I loved following your families trip on Snapchat – I have honestly never ever considered a trip here but it looks so beautiful but also has a range of excellent facilites for kids. OOOOHHH and how could I forget one of the most important factors – delicious food!

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