Iconic Buildings of Palm Jumeirah, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

So huge you can see it from the space. Visiting the world’s largest man-made island is an experience that is unmistakably Dubai, so we jumped at the chance when we found out that there’s an opportunity to circle around Palm Jumeirah.

We departed at 12 noon from Dubai Marina. Although the afternoon sun was mercilessly hot, I couldn’t contain the excitement. Like most people, I’ve seen the mesmerizing aerial shots of Palm Jumeirah many times before, but I have zero idea what’s actually inside there.

With Dubai being a huge property market, in a way I was expecting to see luxury homes and resorts that are ridiculously overpriced you could never live in them unless you’re secretly married to an Arabian Sheikh… which is probably still true. But unlike other parts of Dubai, the buildings in Palm Jumeirah understand what understated elegance means. These buildings don’t carry any superlative tags, but they are straight-up gorgeous!

We also briefly visited the iconic Burj Al Arab to have a different vantage point. It looks just as beautiful from the sea as it is from the land. The smaller, but still interesting Jumeirah Beach Hotel can be seen more clearly from here though. The two hotels complement each other aesthetically. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).