All About Living in Dubai

Published on Wednesday, November 17th, 2004
Living Abroad » Living in Dubai

Summary: A guide to life in Dubai for anyone interested in visiting or moving to the city.

Day to Day Life in Dubai

Accommodation

If you are considering moving to Dubai one of your first thoughts will no doubt be finding somewhere to live.  This is not something you’ll find too tricky, there are many companies advertising rental accommodation in the classified sections of local newspapers and they offer everything from private villas to luxury apartments or even shared accommodation.  Whatever your budgetary and lifestyle requirements are, the specialist relocation and housing companies will be sure to have something to assist you.  If you prefer to find your accommodation privately and avoid any agency costs, many people use supermarkets notice boards to advertise or request accommodation.

In terms of which areas of the city offer the type of accommodation you are after, Jumeirah, Umm Sequiem and the Safa Park area are upmarket and offer villa-type accommodation.  Satwa and Garhoud also offer villas but are slightly cheaper. Rashidiya, Mirdif and Al Quoz are mainly Arabic areas and they actually attract a lot of expats.
If you are after an apartment the most popular areas are around Bur Dubai, the Sheikh Zayed Road with cheaper flats are available in Deira, Satwa and Karama.  Some of the more exclusive apartment developments offer shared gym and pool facilities together with garaged car parking and the like.

Education

If you are considering moving to Dubai with family and are interested in finding out about the education system and the availability and quality of schools, one of the best ways is to ask around!  Because of the numbers of expats in Dubai there is actually a large number of primary and secondary schools from which you can to choose.  Most schools are private fee paying schools and really the best way to get an idea of the reputation of a school is to ask friends, colleagues and other expats who live in Dubai.  Many of the schools also have their own websites where you can learn about the curriculum they follow, after school programs etc.

When it comes to enrolling your child in the UAE there are a few restrictions you should be aware of.  For example you are not allowed to change your child’s school during the academic year...unless approval is given by the Ministry of Education and the circumstances are ‘special’.  This means that you have to make sure the school you choose for your child will definitely suit them.  Another restriction you should be aware of is that is you move to Dubai on or after the 1st May each year you can’t enrol your child into the schooling system for that year.  Instead you’ll have to enrol for the beginning of the new school year which is usually the beginning of September.

Health

Another consideration you may have if thinking about relocation to Dubai may be the state of the health care system available there.  It is fair to say that Dubai has many very well equipped hospitals and surgeries.  Dubai’s Department of Health and Medical Services runs Dubai, Rashid, Maktoum and Al Wasl hospitals, with Dubai Hospital one of the best medical centres in the entire Middle East.  Al Wasl is a maternity and gynaecology hospital.

The Department of Health also run out patient clinics or surgeries and in addition there are a number of quality private hospitals in Dubai offering in and out patient facilities - e.g., The American and Welcare Hospitals.  Overall both the private and publicly offered health care services in Dubai are first class.

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