4x4 Hatta Day Trip to Heritage Village and Desert Rocks

I basically enjoyed the tour. Our driver was very good and tried to show us as much as possible. We drove over many dry wadis and only saw one with water and we could not swim in it or even get to it. It was interesting to see that part of the country, but I think that tour is best taken after the rainy season, when there might be water in some of the wadis. The food for lunch was plentiful, but they need to choose a different oasis to eat it at one without goats. There were so many flies it made it hard to enjoy the food. Better toilet facilities would also have been nice. Maybe when there is no water in the wadis you could add a little Dune bashing to make up for the swimming. The landscape was very interesting and I enjoyed it. I am not disappointed I took the tour.

First of all, I want to say that the driver was very nice and courteous, but I think the trip itinerary could be much improved. Like someone else stated, we were allowed only 30 minutes to tour the Heritage Village, and were pretty much on our own (i.e., no guide). This was a very interesting place to walk around, and at least the driver didn't complain when no one came back on time! There were also no springs or pools to swim in as stated in other reviews, but I was told that it hadn't rained in years, so no big surprise (and I didn't plan to go swimming anyway). But the worst part of the trip was lunch. We stopped at a goat farm and were walked out to a designated picnic area. As soon as our driver left (most likely because of what followed), we were met by a swarm of flies that would NOT let us eat in peace and had no qualms about eating out of our hands (even as we were trying to ourselves). No one mentioned a fly safari in the tour description. After about 5 minutes I left the site with just an apple and walked around to take pictures while the others tried desperately to defend their food against the invaders. On the positive side, some of the views of the mountains were spectacular, so it is was definitely worth the trip for me. This trip has MUCH potential, if they provide a guided tour through the Heritage Village and find some better accommodations for meals. But until then, you've been warned.

Note from Viator: Thanks Anthony. We appreciate your feedback, which gives us a great opportunity to review the services provided and the quality of the product. Regarding Hatta pools we would like to advise that there are indeed some pools in Hatta which can be used in some occasions for swimming depending on rain fall. We highlight that pools are for viewing and not available for swimming.
At Hatta Heritage Village there are different sections showing the way of life in such a mountain village. Fortunately, there are descriptions in English in addition to videos (English/Arabic) with full details about the village. Of course, at the end clients can still obtain more information from the driver whenever required. There is indeed a lot of driving within this trip as the Hatta area is far away from Dubai and it takes time to reach that area and also return to Dubai (120 km each).

Sold as day trip, but back @ hotel 2pm.
Guide didn't explain much. Route was not taken as shown on website map.
Return trip was mostly on same route as earlier that day travelled. It was so boring that 2 passengers fell asleep during return drive.
Sorry, this trip is only valued as one star.

Complete waste of time. Driver guide hardly spoke english - when he bothered to speak. Will not be too keen to book with this tour company again since they no longer provide a knowledgible guide.It was simply a morning drive - whole day and back in hotel by 2pm. Not my idea of a day trip. lunch under the palm trees - i think not - more accurate to say at side of road! Very disappointing

We were extremely disappointed with the tour as the driver we had 'Anil' had little english so was unable to answer our questions regarding local culture. Unfortunately our group was not allowed through the Oman border to visit the pools due to government restrictions, however we understand situations do occur that are beyound your control. We were advised the day prior when confirming our reservation that this situation may occur.

Again, unfortunately very disappointing. Our vehicle was fine and comfortable and our driver was very friendly, however the tour was not what I had been told it would be. The main point of visiting Hatta is to see the rock pools in the mountains, and it is even written in your blurb on this trip to take swim wear with you, so this is why I booked this tour. We were not shown them. Our driver entered the mountain range, stopped once for a photo stop of a gorge, stopped again at a clearing for lunch which was far from picturesque, and then continued driving until he reached the motorway again. By then it was too late to say anything. One passenger had even fallen asleep in the vehicle at this stage. All in all, not an interesting tour of the mountains.

I speak for the 7 others on this trip as well. The drivers were prompt and polite however the trip itself was a lot of driving and the description borderlined false advertising. The drivers allowed only 20 minutes for the Hatta village. The description seemed to imply that we would be spending the majority of the day at the mountain spring, but once again it was just about a half hour.