9 places
Eight kilometres of palm-lined road between the sea and the towers, from Mina Zayed past Etihad Towers to Emirates Palace.
A straight run west on the E11 ends at Mirfa Beach, the region's only developed public beach and rarely busy.
A rocky headland past Ruwais where the beach faces Sir Bani Yas, and the jetty for the island boats is right there.
Where the Sharjah-Kalba road meets the sea you get the Al Qurm mangroves, with Arabian collared kingfishers and turtles, and a quiet corniche, about an hour from Sharjah.
A straightforward run on the E611 and E84 through dunes and mountains to a long seafront with fish lunches and an easy beach walk.
Mountain tunnels one way and the coast road home, with a bay-side coffee in Khor Fakkan in between, all in a day.
The road squeezes between the Hajar and the Gulf of Oman, passing the small four-domed Al Bidya Mosque and the Al Aqah beaches on the way to Dibba.
The last town before the Saudi border, with an empty beach and locals fishing off the shore.
After the Oman border north of Ras Al Khaimah the road runs about 40 km along cliffs dropping straight into the sea, to the dhow harbour at Khasab.