No doubt Al Reem Central park will be highly popular with Abu Dhabi residents living downtown

Reem Island has just opened a brand new park with an urban feel that we plan on hanging out at during the cooler months. The park actually occupies the whole width of the island and offers two parking lots, one on the canal walk side and the second one on the beach walk side.

Whether you want to walk, run, cycle, skate, play football, basketball, exercise, skate, picnic, rest, have a coffee or lunch, you can do it all there!

The space is divided into different sections: beach walk, sports and play, skate park and the canal walk (link to the park map)

This park offers a lot to explore and without noticing we actually spent three hours or so there as there was so much to discover. We especially liked the very urban feel that blends in well with the skyscrapers located on this island. We definitely enjoyed the mix of paths and lawns-there are lots of stroller and wheelchair friendly paths. There are plenty of maps to help you navigate your way, urban style furniture to rest, shaded areas to sit and even monumental doors with street art graffiti giving us windows to discover the city surroundings from a different perspective.

The Beach Walk

On this side of the park, people can rest and play in the sand or walk along the beach. There is also a beach-volley set-up and there were players all afternoon long.

On the beach walk side, you can opt either for a walk in the sand or a flat and large pathway, with the mangroves nearby and the Abu Dhabi skyline in the background. Kids can easily hangout on this end as there is a playground nearby along the beach.

You will also find a couple of food trucks to enjoy either a quick bite and drink or a proper lunch including Keki Bakery, Taqado and Snatch (that has a very cosy setting), 800 Degrees Pizza and more. There are a couple of buildings there that are still under construction and will be home to more retail and food outlets.

 

Sports Play Area

Kids and teenagers will certainly opt for this area that offers a mix of sport facilities from football to basketball courts. Towards one side of this area, you will also find a large and totally shaded playground. There also are a couple of water features that will surely attract the little ones, with falajs, fountains, and more.

Skate Park

The park designers came up with a brilliant idea of taking advantage of the two bridges located in the middle of the park to set up a very large skate park and artificial lawns. This space was occupied all afternoon long from friends having a picnic in the shade, to people taking a nap, young ones playing badminton, while little ones were riding a scooter and people of all ages – from young kids to teens and adults were experiencing the skate area.

Community lawn and canal walk

 

Going towards the canal walk, the park is more open with a large natural lawn, monumental doors and the canal at the other side of the park. Visitors can walk along the water canal  – we managed to walk more than 3 kilometres in one direction and had to make a U turn as there were still zones not yet open to the public.

But in the near future, our itinerary will be way longer as this artificial canal has been built along the whole island and will also allow us to make a loop and reach the beach walk.

 

What we liked best

If you like nothing more than walking, this park is a really cool option as it offers different areas to walk while discovering Abu Dhabi from a new perspective.
We tried both walking along the canal and also along the beach and both were lovely. We definitely liked the urban feel this new park offers, the attention to detail (benches, street art graffitis, sports equipment, signage, accessibility to all… ) which makes it ideal to visit with anyone in the family, from toddlers to elderly people.

 

AL REEM CENTRAL PARK | WEBSITE

 

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