Hi everybody!
We have a 14 hours transit time in Sharjah and we consider the possibility to engage a taxi for 8-10 hours to visit the east coast and/or other places around. We will be three persons to share. Is it possible to arrange this on arrival in Sharjah airport? Any idea of the cost? Is it per hour? Per day? Depending of the distance? Any information would be welcome!
Hi isazy r, organizing a taxi for the day will be very expensive as they will charge you for waiting minutes, and per kilometer. Your best bet would be to decide on a destination such as dubai for example which is about 45min away from Sharjah airport with the taxis stationed outside the airport arrivals. It will cost in the region of 70 dirham to get to dubai where you can walk out of most establishments and catch a taxi with ease. Good luck and enjoy your trip.
I agree with linds it will cost to much money just to ride on taxi for 14 hours.
My tip would be, from Sharjah airport go to Sharjah Bus station from there you can travel to Dubai for 5AED or you can travel to the capital from 25 AED from Sharjah bus station.
The taxi from Sharjah airport to the bus station will cost you around 10AED.
Our you can also travel to different cities of the UAE. But most visitor just travel to Dubai or Abu Dhabi the capital.
I was in Sharjah & Dubai & Abu Dhabi in summer of 2009. From Sharjah to Dubai is around 45 mins & Sharjah to Abu Dhabi is 2 hours there and 2 hours back.
I wish you all best in your travels in UAE.
Last tip in Sharjah there is no alcohol allowed if you carry it or drink it you will go to jail
Alcohol is allowed only Emirates of Dubai & Emirates of Abu Dhabi. Mostly Alcohol in UAE are in 4 star & 5 star hotels.
First of all, thank you for your answers!
I am aware that engaging a taxi is an expensive alternative, but I am trying to figure out how much. I am not interested in visiting Dubai or Abu Dabi (already visited in previous transit in UAE).
This time I fly to Sri Lanka with Air Arabia from Athens and I transit in Sharjah twice(14 hours when flying to Colombo and about 10 hours on my way back home). That is why I am thinking of visiting the east coast on one of the two occasions. For this, I have two alternatives:
1. Rent a car for one day in the airport. The problem is I only have ECC (Greek) driving licence. To issue a one-year international permit here in Greece will cost 40 euros.
2. Engage a taxi and share the cost among us (we are three fellow travelers).
So if any one knows, could you please give me an idea of the approximate cost to take a taxi from Sharjah to Fujeira, drive the coast up to Kwar Fakkan or Dibba and then go back to Sharjah 6-8 hours in total?
I'll do my best.
If you talk to the company direct, I know that Dubai taxis have half day and full day rates for hire (as opposed to the metre rates if you just jump in). I've never done this, but I vaguely recall that a full day rate would be somewhere between 600 - 800 dirhams. Which is not actually a bad proposition split between the three of you, and much cheaper than the meter.
However, Sharjah taxis are a totally separate entity from Dubai taxis, so I dont know if the company offers a day rate, and even if they do, I dont know if any of the drivers would actually be willing to switch the meter off anyway. But its worth asking when you get to the airport.
As a general guide, a Dubai taxi would cost around 250 dirhams to get to Abu Dhabi which is around 2 hours of driving. I'd say your 6-8 hour estimate (Sharjah - Fujairah - Khor Fakkan - Dibba - Sharjah) is reasonable, so depending how long you want to spend on the beach, you could assume it would cost around 1000 dirhams on the meter.
Thank you ghengis_caterpillar, this is exactly the kind of estimation I needed.
In fact, we don't wish to go to the beach for swimming. We are just looking for some natural beauty (if any left still unspoiled by "development"?) and also if there are some more "traditional" locations like small fishing communities to spend a couple of hours away from the glittering emptiness of petrodollars.
Hi isazyr
If you feel like renting a car - try Budget at Sharjah Airport to see if they will allow you to take it on your driving licence. The phone number there is +971 (0)6 558 0366 and usually the bottom range car is a 4-door Toyota Yaris, which is perfectly good for what you want to do. This would be your cheapest option, even if you have to pay 40 euros for an international driving licence - as you have been here before, I assume you know how cheap petrol is here!! You can then drive straight out of the airport and you are on the road to Fujairah!
(btw, Kalba is also quite nice with mangroves and a small fishing village - it's just below Fujairah on the map - but would take a bit more time of course).
The company (or one of) that operates taxis from Sharjah airport is called Emirates Taxi and their phone number is +971 (0)6 539 66 66. You could call and see what they say.
Alternatively, as I live in Sharjah, I have a taxi driver who I use regularly (as is common here) and I could give you his number to call him directly - or I could call and make enquiries for you if you send me a private message with the date and arrival time. He may or may not be willing to take you, I really couldn't say.
If you need to know anything else - send me a message and I'll help if I can.
Thank you camelicious, I really appreciate all your detailed information. Once again, this forum is of great help!
The new thing is that I talked with a friend who travels a lot to the UAE for business reasons (he works for a Greek company with offices in Sharjah) and he will eventually arrange a car for us completely gratis. Nothing sure though, I will know in a few days. In case this solution doesn't work out, I will contact you privately to ask for your taxi driver's telephone number. It can be useful anyway.
Thanks again for your assistance.