The Abu Dhabi Mangroves

Abu Dhabi holds the great majority of the country's mangroves, and they grow right up against the city, so that within minutes of leaving a highway of glass towers you can be paddling a kayak through narrow channels between banks of grey mangrove, in water so still it mirrors the sky. These are tough trees, filtering salt to survive in seawater, and the forest they make is a nursery for fish and a refuge for herons, egrets, ospreys, crabs that wave a single oversized claw, and flamingos that feed on the flats in winter. Guided kayak trips run at dawn, at sunset and on moonlit nights, and there is a free boardwalk on Jubail Island with hides for those who prefer to stay dry. Restoration planting has expanded the forest considerably in recent years.

What you actually see

• Kayaking the channels - narrow, still waterways between the mangrove banks.
• The birdlife - herons, egrets, ospreys and wintering flamingos on the flats.
• The Jubail boardwalk - a free raised walkway with hides through the forest.
• Night paddles - moonlit and bioluminescence trips run in season.

When to go

October to April is the comfortable season; summer paddling is only tolerable at dawn. Trips are timed to the tide as well as the temperature, since low water strands the shallow channels. Winter brings flamingos to the adjacent flats.

Honest expectations

It is a city-edge nature experience, with towers and traffic noise never far away, so expectations of wilderness should be adjusted. Trips depend on tide as much as booking, so times shift. Summer heat and humidity rule out midday entirely. Mosquitoes are present at dusk in the warmer months.

Nearby

The corniche, Qasr Al Hosn and Saadiyat's museums are all in the city.