# Fujairah Snorkelling at Snoopy Island: A Team Day

> What a team day snorkelling at Snoopy Island on Fujairah's east coast costs per person, the drive over the Hajar mountains, and what a non-swimmer does.

Guides · Published 4 November 2026 · Offsyte. Web page: https://offsyte.ae/blog/fujairah-east-coast-team-day-trip/

A team day on Fujairah's east coast — snorkelling at Snoopy Island, resort beach access and a beach barbecue — costs **AED 780 per person for 15 to 29 people, AED 690 for 30 to 49, and AED 620 for 50 or more, excluding 5% VAT**. The distinctive part of this day is not the price. It is that you are on the other side of the country, on the Gulf of Oman rather than the Gulf, with actual coral and a genuine chance of seeing turtles.

## Crossing the mountains, not the coast

Fujairah's beaches face the Gulf of Oman, reached from Dubai by a road that crosses the Hajar mountains rather than following the coastline. The crossing itself takes roughly two hours each way, with a stop at the mountain pass — which means the drive is part of the experience for a team that has never made it, not simply time lost getting somewhere.

Our [East Coast](https://offsyte.ae/packages/east-coast/) package runs this as an 11-hour day: a 06:30 pickup, the Hajar crossing with a stop at the pass, full-day resort beach access on arrival, a guided snorkel session at Snoopy Island in small groups, free time for kayaks and paddleboards, and a beach barbecue lunch. It takes 15 to 50 people and runs October to May — a slightly longer season than most of our outdoor programmes, because the east coast runs a touch cooler than the Dubai side.

## What Snoopy Island actually is

A small rock islet just offshore at Al Aqah, named for a shape some people see as the cartoon dog lying on his back. It sits over a coral reef and is a genuine, if modest, stretch of marine life — not a manufactured attraction. It is reached by swimming or kayaking a short distance from the beach rather than by boat tour, which is exactly why a guided session matters: judging distance and current over open water is a different skill from swimming lengths in a pool, and a marine guide in the water with the group is the detail that gets nervous swimmers out there rather than watching from the sand.

A dive centre operates on the beach directly in front of the island, which is useful context even for a snorkelling-only group: it means proper kit, a trained presence on the sand and an easy upsell for anyone on the trip who already dives. Our own package offers a Discover Scuba session with an instructor as an add-on for exactly that person, separate from the snorkelling that the rest of the group does.

## What else is on this stretch of coast

**Al Bidya Mosque**, a short detour inland, is the oldest known mosque still standing in the UAE — estimated to date to around the 15th century, still used for daily prayers, and small enough to see properly in twenty minutes. Modest dress is expected for everyone, shoulders and knees covered, and women should expect to cover their hair; entry is free. We could not confirm reliable, current opening hours from an official source, so treat this as a stop to confirm on the day rather than one to schedule to the minute.

**Fujairah Fort**, in Fujairah city, is a restored historic fort and a reasonable add if your route passes near it, though we could not verify current hours or an entry fee well enough to state them here — check locally if you want to build it into the day.

## Water conditions and the one seasonal thing worth knowing

Gulf of Oman water on this coast runs noticeably clearer and, in winter, cooler than Dubai's. One thing worth flagging rather than being surprised by on the day: the Fujairah Environment Authority has explained that the sea here can turn visibly green in the winter-to-spring transition, a natural, non-harmful algal bloom caused by rising water temperature and nutrients rising from the seabed, and that it recurs most years around that time. It is not a reason to cancel — it is a reason not to panic if the water looks different from the brochure photo on the day.

## What it costs

| Group size | Price per person, excl. VAT |
|---|---|
| 15–29 | AED 780 |
| 30–49 | AED 690 |
| 50+ | AED 620 |

## This is not the Northern Emirates farmhouse trip

If what you actually want is a private venue an hour or two from Dubai, [our guide to Ras Al Khaimah and the Northern Emirates](https://offsyte.ae/blog/team-building-ras-al-khaimah-northern-emirates/) covers the farmhouse and mountain side of that region, including Fujairah's own farmhouse venues inland. This is a different brief: a specific beach, a specific reef, and the only package in our catalogue on the Gulf of Oman rather than the Gulf side everything else sits on. If your team has done every marina and farmhouse in the country already, this is the one that genuinely is not another version of the same view.

## Where this sits against the rest of the country

For how a Fujairah day compares with the other side-of-the-country trips worth considering — a Hatta day inside Dubai's own borders, or the deliberately international step of a Musandam crossing — [our guide to UAE company trip ideas](https://offsyte.ae/blog/company-trip-ideas-uae/) lays out the whole ladder. If the appeal here is specifically the mountains rather than the water, [a day at Hatta Dam](https://offsyte.ae/blog/hatta-day-trip-for-company/) is the closer, cheaper version of a similar change of scenery, without the sea.

## The honest comparison, and what a non-swimmer does

A public snorkel trip to Snoopy Island costs less per person and is a good day on its own — a shared beach, and a two-hour drive each way you would have to organise yourselves. What the private version adds is full resort access rather than six hours on an open beach with no shade or lockers, and a guide in the water running small groups rather than everyone being handed a mask at once.

For anyone who cannot or does not want to swim, there is no official guidance specific to this beach, so ask your operator directly what they offer rather than assuming. In practice a day built around resort access rather than only the reef gives that person a pool, loungers and shade to spend the day in, which is a genuinely different proposition from a beach day with nothing to do but watch.

## Before you book

**Flag the crossing in the invitation.** Two hours each way over a mountain pass is a bigger commitment than a Marina day, and people should know that before 06:30 arrives.

**Ask who goes in the water first.** A guide running groups of a dozen at a time, rather than forty people entering at once, is the difference between a calm reef session and a crowded one.

**Confirm the barbecue's vegetarian coverage**, the way you would for any beach day — "there is a vegetarian option" and "the vegetarian option is a proper dish" are not the same promise.

## Common questions

### What is Snoopy Island and how do you get to it?

A small rock islet just offshore at Al Aqah, on Fujairah's Gulf of Oman coast, named for a silhouette some people read as the cartoon dog lying on his back. It sits over a coral reef and is reached by swimming or kayaking a short distance from the beach, which is why a guided session in small groups matters: distance over open water is a different thing to misjudge than a lap in a pool.

### Is Fujairah good for snorkelling?

Yes — it is the UAE's one stretch of coast on the Gulf of Oman rather than the Gulf, with genuine coral and considerably better visibility than the Dubai or Abu Dhabi coastline. Snoopy Island, off Al Aqah, is the best-known spot for it.

### How long is the drive from Dubai to Fujairah's east coast?

Around two hours door to door, crossing the Hajar mountains rather than following the coast. That crossing is itself part of the day — a mountain pass most people doing the trip have never driven — though it means the outbound and return legs account for a real share of the schedule, which is why this runs as a full day rather than a half day.

### What does someone who cannot swim do on a Fujairah beach day?

There is no official guidance on this specifically, so treat it as a question to ask whoever is running the day rather than an assumption. Full resort beach access — a pool, loungers and shade alongside the sea — means the day is not only a snorkelling trip, and a guided shallow session in a small group is a different proposition to being handed a mask and pointed at open water.

## Sources

- [Greenish seawater in Fujairah? Authority explains reason, reassures residents](https://www.khaleejtimes.com/uae/greenish-seawater-fujairah-explanation), Khaleej Times, citing the Fujairah Environment Authority
- [Snoopy Island](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snoopy_Island), Wikipedia
- [Al Bidya Mosque](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Bidya_Mosque), Wikipedia
- [Emirate of Fujairah](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emirate_of_Fujairah), Wikipedia

## Packages mentioned

- [East Coast](https://offsyte.ae/packages/east-coast/) (A-06): from AED 620 per person ex. VAT, 15 min — 50 max. Across the Hajar mountains to the Gulf of Oman. Coral, turtles and a beach that faces the sunrise instead of the sunset — the only day in the catalog on the other side of the country.