by Andy Mills

Adventure HQ's newest store at Dalma Mall in Abu Dhabi offers all the kayaks, camping gear and adventure necessities that those familiar with their Dubai store are used to. However, there’s something special about the capital city’s offering, which is on the second floor at the impressive Dalma Mall, 30 minutes from the city centre in the Mussafah area.

The Adventure Zone is a huge adjoining complex to the main Adventure HQ shop, that offers inside activities including rock climbing and skateboarding as well as other firsts for Abu Dhabi, such as trampolining. Explorer headed down for a few hours of fun to find out just how adventurous, and challenging, it is.

What happens? The friendly staff greet you at the counter and explain the process (which is simple). Once you’ve decided what you want to do, you get a corresponding wristband and head to the activity.

Each activity is staffed by specialists who will make sure you have the correct safety equipment on, give you a quick briefing and then get you started. While they don’t officially give lessons, if it’s quiet they will happily give you pointers and tips to get you on your way and help you have the best time possible.

1. Skateboarding: The wood-built skate park is really large (possibly now the largest in the capital). Helmet, knee and elbow pads are supplied to novices, as are the boards. Joel, our mentor for the session, inspired a lot of confidence in the basics of skateboarding, explaining about weight transfers, feet positioning and more. By the end of a sweaty session (it gets pretty hot in there), we’d turned frontside and backside on a ramp, kind of ollied (jumping the skateboard and landing it)and dropped in from another ramp.
2. Cycling: The humped and curved course is usually found in outside areas, so it’s cool to have one inside. It’s not extremely long, but challenging enough to be good fun on the supplied mountain bike (or scooter if you prefer). It can take a while to build up to impressive speeds, but learning how is part of the fun, especially on the curved sections.
3. Trampolining: There are 18 interconnected trampolines (they allow a maximum of 16 people in there at once), with trampoline walls you can bounce off and a padded box you can jump onto. It’s tiring work, but great exercise (they’ll even show you some special moves like bouncing on your back – an ab cruncher like no other!). Bouncing from one trampoline to the next is great fun, particularly if in your head you have ‘Tiggers like to bounce’ on repeat.
4. Cable walk: Like the one at Times Square in Dubai, you negotiate a selection of obstacles overhead (it even goes into the main store at one point) while attached to cables. It’s certainly an enjoyable test of balance and concentration, with certain rules explained at the beginning to make sure you don’t cheat and make it easier.
5. Climbing wall: While not particularly high, it is wide which means the more difficult aspect of climbing, moving sideways, is well catered for. There are no harnesses but a super spongy floor for any fallers. You can follow coloured routes (there are some aimed at children too), or you can go free form. Ajinkya, our guide and expert climber, gave plenty of tips and set a few challenges, which helped provide an excellent first taste of a climbing wall.

What do you need? Everything is provided, from safety gear to climbing shoes. Ideally wear something to keep you cool, and appropriate footwear for the sport you’re planning to try is advisable (older trainers for skateboarding, proper trainers for cycling etc).

 

 

Who goes? The staff say that lots of kids are coming at weekends, but there’s also a fair number of adults coming too. Weekends are likely to be manic, so if you can make it during the week you’ll have more chance to make the most of the activities. They open from 10am until 10pm every day, apart from Thursday and Friday when they stay open until midnight. 

There is a height limit of around 1.2 metres for the cable walk, aside from that it’s based on age. Anyone from six years old and above can use any activity, while children between four and six can use some of the activities such as trampolining if accompanied by an adult (only the adult is charged).

How much of my life will this take up? Each activity is run in 30 minute shifts. Buy a day pass or spend any amount of totted up 30 minute sessions you like in between.

How much does it cost? A 30-minute session is Dhs.50, 60 minutes is Dhs.90 or a 90 minute session is Dhs.120. A day pass is Dhs.250.

Alternatively you can buy multi-passes (10 30 minute passes for Dhs.250 for example) or six or 12 month memberships for Dhs.1,500 or Dhs.2,500 respectively.

You can also rent a locker for Dhs.10, buy trampoline socks for Dhs.20 or rent a GoPro camera for Dhs.50. They can sell you a 16GB SIM card for the GoPro too so you can keep your footage (they even have a TV set up in their log cabin where you can watch your adventures).

In short: We’d definitely go back for the skateboarding and the trampolining, as they’re both fantastic. All the activities are great and expertly run though, so whether it’s climbing or cycling you’re into then you’re sure to have a blast. We’d be tempted to just hang out there and pick and choose as we fancy, as it’s a cool place to spend time regardless. We’d also be tempted by the multi-pass or annual memberships as they offer incredible value.