Maya Island

When Christine mentioned that we were going to a place only open on Fridays called Maya Island, I asked her what it was and she said ‘drinking and pools’.  I figured there might be a big pool with a small bar next to it and that would be about it.  So on Friday morning we had a nice sleep in, then woke up, got dressed in our bikinis and headed into a cab.  When we got to the dock where the boat would leave from, it seemed like some kind of abandoned construction site.  I later realised this was probably to conceal the whole thing from conservative Abu Dhabi, especially as it said on the rules board ‘No local dress allowed’.  We got on the boat, headed out for about 20 minutes (the view of Abu Dhabi from the boat is amazing!!) and when we came close to the island, I realised very quickly that this was more than just a pool and a bar.  This was amazing!!  There was one HUGE pool, surrounded by about 3 other pools and a big Jacuzzi.  There was a massive stage playing awesome house music, as well as inside the pool was a huge bar, with the bar stools being in the actual pool!  There were sun loungers everywhere to lie on, either pool side or on the beach front.  I was shocked, never in a million years did I expect to find this in Abu Dhabi.  I felt like I was back in Ibiza the year before at a Bora-Bora beach party, not in a Muslim country!  It was a hot day, so we got our drink vouchers and then spent a couple of hours between lying next to the pool, swimming in the pool and lying in the Jacuzzi.  Once it started to get dark we went to sit on the bean bags for a bit and chat, before heading back to get a boat back to Abu Dhabi as we didn’t know when the last one was leaving.  This was definitely one of the highlights of my stay, it was very amazing to see this ‘great escape’ from the Arab-ness of the rest of the country!