Dubai’s Ice Beach is back: 3 ways to stay cool this summer

Get a spa treatment in an igloo, throw a snow-themed house party and enjoy a bevy of refreshing mocktails

A snow spa installed as part of DubaiIce on Jumeirah beach. Courtesy Dubai Ladies Club

Summer in the UAE is when we dream of snow, ice or a refreshing breeze – any way to keep cool. Fortunately, there are some creative ways to get a bit of respite from soaring temperatures. Here are the coolest ways to beat the heat.

Ice on the beach

A floating iceberg barge houses a tanning corner and juice bar, while spa treatments take place within an igloo. Welcome to DubaiIce, the second edition of the summer beach festival run by the Dubai Ladies Club.

The festival will feature a range of activities for women and children, including water- and snow-based activities, such as a frozen photo booth, snow-themed Disney performances, snowman-building and an intriguing-sounding ice-cube tanning corner.

The event, which and runs every Friday and Saturday, from August 17 to September 1, also has food trucks, ice cream corners and special membership packages for Dubai Ladies Club.

DubaiIce will be held in a custom-built tent set up on DLC's private stretch of beach in Jumeirah.

Snow parties at home

Summer is the season for house parties – and a frigid theme or cool-pool party will up your game no end. Gulf Ice Factory and Modern Ice Factory home-delivers ice blocks for outdoor swimming pools. Most villas in the UAE have a standard 10-metre by 2-metre outdoor pool, which needs between 10 and 14 blocks of ice to lower the temperature by 12 degrees. The effect lasts for about two hours and the company delivers across the UAE, with 24 hours' notice.

Ice blocks aside, the company can also create ice sculptures as well as vases, centrepieces, plates and glasses crafted from ice.

One ice block for your pool costs Dh20. A delivery charge of Dh100 applies to orders of fewer than 100 ice blocks. Prices for other items is upon request. Call 800-ICE or visit www.gmice.com

Another company that you can look to is Desert Snow, which installs snow machines for private parties across the UAE and, more importantly perhaps, cleans up after. Not only do the machines dispense chemical-free flakes, they can be customised to create different types of snowfall, from a light flurry to a raging blizzard.

The team can also create other wintry effects and decor, including cellulose snow and paper snow, plastic frost and props such as snowflakes, snowmen, frost-coated fir trees and giant inflatable snow globes.

But if it’s real snow you’re after, Desert Snow offers a 700-litre box of the white stuff made from water and air in its cryogenic snow-making factory in Dubai.

A 700-litre box of snow costs Dh2,400. Prices on request for other props. Visit www.desertsnow.ae; email [e-mail]; or call 04 338 5578

Out-of-the-box beverages

The diverse culinary scene in the UAE includes not only food from various cuisines, but also dessert-like beverages. And what better way to beat the heat than with something icy, sweet and utterly delicious?

At Poco Loco, the Latin American restaurant at The Beach, enjoy Moc Tezuma (Dh28), a fruity mocktail named after an Aztec king, and made from banana, passion fruit, orange and pineapple.

The tropical fruit shake (Dh34) at Sikka Café at La Mer blends fresh mango and apricot puree with vanilla ice cream and cooling fresh mint leaves.

Over at Homestead Restaurant & Bakery at The Yard, order a chilled glass of a rosy strawberry lassi (Dh26). The buttermilk cooler is very popular in India and helps to cool the stomach and aids digestion, especially after a heavy, masala-filled meal.

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