What time do the abras run in Dubai?

RTA’s Creek abras run from early morning until just before midnight, Monday to Saturday. Baniyas to Dubai Old Souq, for example, runs 07:00 to 23:30. Two things break that pattern. On Sunday the old-town routes start mid-morning: the same boat runs 10:00 to 23:30. And on Friday every daytime route stops around midday: on that crossing the Friday break runs 12:30 to 13:30.

The two traditional crossings that cost AED 1 are not on the timetable. RTA lists both as running on demand. Every time below is from RTA’s abra flyer, dated September 2026.

The old-town routes: Bur Dubai, Deira and Al Seef

These are the abras between the souqs on both banks of the Creek. The times are the first and last departure from the station on the left, and each direction has its own.

On Sunday it is the first boat that moves; the last boats stay close to their weekday times. If you plan a Sunday morning in the old town, none of these boats leaves before the Sunday column says so. The traditional crossings below run on demand and have no published hours either way.

From Monday to Friday these routes run every 30 minutes for the first boats of the day, every 30 to 40 minutes for the last, and more often in between. The busiest is CR5 from Al Fahidi to Deira Old Souq, every 10 minutes from 11:00 to 19:30, Monday to Thursday (Saturday from 13:30 to 22:30).

Al Jaddaf, Festival City and Creek Harbour

Further up the Creek, the routes from Al Jaddaf run from early morning on Sunday as well.

CR11 runs every 15 minutes from 07:00, every day. The direct boat between Dubai Festival City and Dubai Creek Harbour, CR9, runs Saturday and Sunday only, every 20 minutes: 16:05 to 23:25 from Festival City and 16:00 to 23:45 from Creek Harbour. From Monday to Friday the flyer has no direct boat between the two; BM2 and CR11 both run from Al Jaddaf.

The Dubai Water Canal: DC2

The canal abra keeps shorter hours than the Creek. It also starts later on Sunday and stops for longer on Friday.

DC2 runs every 40 minutes by day and every 50 minutes in the evening, switching between 17:35 and 18:10 depending on the stop and the day. In the evening two more services join it: the full route, 17:40 to 21:10 · Friday 17:35 to 21:05, from Al Wajeha Al Maeyah and from Sheikh Zayed Road, and Godolphin to Sheikh Zayed Road, 18:15 to 21:45 · Friday 18:10 to 21:40. The flyer has no daytime DC2 boat to Sheikh Zayed Road.

Friday: the midday break

Friday is the only day with a break; Saturday and Sunday have none. It is shortest on the old-town routes, 12:30 to 13:30 on CR5 from Al Fahidi. It is longer on BM2, 12:00 to 13:30 from Al Jaddaf to Festival City, and longest on the canal, 13:00 to 14:35 from Marasi to Al Wajeha Al Maeyah. If you cross the Creek late on Friday morning, check the last column before you go: the boat back may not leave until the break is over.

Boats with no fixed departures

The traditional crossings, Bur Dubai to Deira Old Souq and Dubai Old Souq to Al Sabkha, are the wooden boats straight across the Creek. RTA lists both as running on demand, and the flyer prints no times for them.

The round trips are on demand too. TR6 from Sheikh Zayed Road on the canal, TR10 between Al Seef, Bani Yas and Al Fahidi, TR8 in the Marina and the Al Mamzar trips run 16:00 to 22:15 every day. What an abra costs has the fares for every route on this page.

Where this page stops

RTA’s flyer warns that times in Ramadan and on public holidays may differ, that some routes may be temporarily out of service, and that bad weather can reroute or cancel trips. It also says departure times vary from station to station, so be at the station before the time shown. The tables above are the regular timetable.

The flyer prints no times for the electric abras at Dubai Mall and Global Village, so this page gives none. For other boats, the Marina water taxi and the Dubai Ferry have their own timetables.

Where these times come from

Every time and frequency on this page is from RTA’s abra flyer, a PDF on rta.ae dated September 2026, which we read table by table. The on-demand status of the two traditional crossings is on RTA’s timetable page.