The speedboat tour of Palm Jumeirah was really enjoyable. The tour was fun, safe and great way to see the sights.
The captain of our speedboat was friendly and informative. He showed us what the boat could do as we sped away from the marina, bouncing across the waves. He stopped the boat at regular intervals to allow us to take pictures and to tell us about the various buildings along the coastline.
The tour includes photo stops at the Dubai-Eye, Jumeirah Bay, Atlantis, and Burj Al Arab. We also got a stop to take pictures of the sunset which was great from the water.
The tour was exhilarating and traveled quickly at times (as you would expect for a speedboat). It always felt safe however and I was comfortable that the captain had the boat under control and knew the limits especially when the waterway became busier. Passengers are issued with a lightweight life jacket and wearing one is mandatory.
There were two tours which took place at the same time, presumably to offer greater capacity. I believe that we had the better experience, by chance, as our driver seemed to cover more distance, and used the wake of the other vessel to give us a few more 'thrills and spills' along the way.
The young caption was good at taking pictures on behalf of the passengers and helped capture the best of the backgrounds. He did so without any hesitation and unlike such tours in other parts of the world did not expect any tip in return for being so helpful.
I would strongly recommend this tour, it is fun and as per above a quite a different way to see so many properties around the Palm. You also get to see part of Dubai Marina on the way out and back in.
The starting point is very easy to locate and our Taxi driver had no problem dropping us close by. The Splash tours organisers do not require paper-tickets and you can instead show the QR code on your phone.
There is a small stowage place on board for bags and backpacks, you would be sensible to avoid taking very much on the boat and would equally advised to keep a tight hold of you camera.
We did the 4:15pm which in February was a perfect time to capture the sunset and see the Marina by both day and night. Once the sun went down, the speed of the boat did make it somewhat cool, with both wind and spray from the sea, so don't underestimate your clothing i.e. swimwear plus a t-shirt as a minimum.
