Dubai- Burj Khalifa and Underwater Zoo

I visited Dubai in February 2019 with a friend of mine. It was a trip organized by TravelTriangle agents with all my days planned. Our first day and the last day were the most exciting ones of them all. The first day was dedicated to desert safari and our last day was all dedicated to visiting the most famous tourist spot in Dubai- Burj Khalifa.

Burj Khalifa is the tallest structure and building in the world. It is situated right beside the grand Dubai Mall, the world’s biggest shopping mall. You can call that hitting two birds with one stone. We were lucky that our visiting hours were in the evening. During the day, it was so hot outside, so it was a relief. Also, we could see all the lighting too.

Dubai Mall

We reached the Dubai Mall at evening. When the building came into sight, I was just amazed. It was so huge. I felt so tiny and also looking at it felt a task. I had to tilt my head all the way back to see the tip.

Our plan for this evening was to first visit the Dubai aquarium and underground zoo followed by Burj Khalifa. We were dropped at the mall entrance and were given directions of what to do from there onwards by our driver. Definitely, before departing, he warned us to meet back at the same place at exactly 9:30 PM, or he would abandon us. Talk about stress.

We entered the mall and looked up for the directions to the Underground zoo. As directed by the driver, it was on the ground floor. After strolling for a few minutes, we saw the entrance with a lot many people gathered at the ticket counter. Even though our bookings were already done by our agent, we had to line up to collect the physical tickets. 

After waiting for 15 minutes, we got our tickets and thought, well that’s it. But no. There we face another line to the aquarium. They allow a specific count of people at a time in the aquarium. Now after waiting for another 20 minutes, we finally entered the tunnel. 

Dubai Underwater Zoo

All I could think was “it was definitely worth the wait”. That whole blue shaded tunnel due to the water with sharks and rays swimming above you. It felt so magical. Accompanied by a lot many small fishes, you can definitely spot sharks and rays. With spending a good amount of time getting clicking the blue hue, we proceeding further.

The exit of the aquarium had two-part. I came to know that you can also opt to only visit the aquarium also. Earlier, I was in the impression that the aquarium and the zoo are a package. But after exiting the aquarium, the guards asked for our tickets and asked us to go another direction, different from the ones in front of us. 

Soon the view changed. We entered the zoo and as expected of a zoo, we came across a variety of animals. Otters, beavers, turtles, various fish tanks, jellyfish, crocodiles, shellfishes, octopus, seahorses, penguins and just name any small-sized animals who can survive in a moist atmosphere. You definitely won’t find lions, elephants, giraffes and tigers here.

It took us a bit more than an hour to complete the zoo. Then, we headed to our final destination. The main attraction of the whole trip- Burj Khalifa. The ticket counter is on the lower floor. We arrived and got our physical tickets just as we did for the aquarium and underwater zoo. Did not take much time in that. But MAN it was such a long line of waiting afterwards.

It was a huge wait of approximately an hour. Well, less than an hour but yeah. Just wanted to sit somewhere or at least have some support to stand. But nothing. I am not sure which time of the day would have been less crowded. But let me tell you. At night, it is packed. Of course, if you opt for the fast track ticket, you could directly go, but then it is way too expensive.

Burj Khalifa

There were many different boards and displays of various details and leaders who helped in the construction of the building. Finally, when the wait ended, we came in front of a lift. A huge lift that can accommodate 12-14 people at once. It is the fastest lift in the world. We waited for our turn and soon were on board. 

There are two observation decks to choose from-  At the Top (124^th floor and 125^th floor) and At the Top Sky (148^th floor). We opted for the 124^th floor. The lift took just a minute to reach the 124^th floor. Guess you can imagine the speed of the lift. It just whooshed. The moment the lift doors opened, everyone just rushed to get to the observation deck. We too, were in a haste to get that first glimpse. And we were not disappointed.

I love such scenes with lights all around you far away. Definitely would have enjoyed it more if there were just a bit of lesser crowd. It was a struggle to get to the glass and see the view. There are a few professional photographers up there with their camera all set up. They offered to click pictures for us too but were very expensive. Without wasting another minute, we dived into clicking ourselves.

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We stayed there for a good 30 minutes and then decided to head back as we did not know if we would be stuck in another line or not. Thank god we took that decision. Because YES, there was another waiting line. It is a good thing that the authority is good at managing the crowd, but it was definitely very annoying.

For another 15 minutes, we stuck in that line. With time slipping by, we started worrying. Because it was 9 PM and our driver very sternly asked us to reach the car by 09:30 PM. We somehow rushed to the food court, ordered a take away from McDonald’s (our first time trying a fast food in this country) and literally ran. Of course, we managed to reach on time. Amazingly, we were the first ones to reach. 

Anyways, it was an exciting night for me. Getting to see the world’s tallest building, riding the world’s fastest elevator, watching all those lights till the horizon. Everything was just wonderful. This was one of my best nights spent in Dubai. Hope to visit soon.