217 of 225 places fit
Central, off Muroor Road opposite Mubadala, and at AED 390 an hour one of the cheaper cricket slots you can book on the island.
An indoor synthetic court in the middle of the city on Muroor Road, at AED 65 an hour.
Three courts where only women play, so nobody needs to think about mixed company or dress.
A women-only beach in Al Bateen, so you can swim in the sea without an audience.
Outdoor pitches in Khalidiyah and Khalifa City A, open until 1am every night.
A single court inside a city-centre beach hotel at a flat AED 200 an hour, with a pool to cool off in after.
Outdoor ping pong tables in a park, free to use whenever they are empty.
A proper university climbing gym with routes from beginner to hard, a year-round bouldering area and inclusive sessions run with the Rab3i Association.
Six panoramic courts on the Corniche at one flat price of AED 220 an hour.
Bowls, ledges, handrails and street obstacles on Hudayriyat, now free to enter and open until midnight at weekends.
Two indoor and two outdoor courts by the Galleria, from AED 150 an hour, with Gaby Reca's academy on site.
Outdoor courts cost a flat AED 150 an hour at any time of day, and there is a screened women-only indoor court.
An hour of indoor football for AED 25 a head, with or without a team.
A 25-metre, eight-lane pool where you can swim proper lengths without hotel loungers in the way.
Five tables, two of them in the sports dome, at AED 30 an hour.
A free half court inside Reem Central Park, walkable from most Reem towers.
Courts laid inside the cruise terminal's passenger hall can be booked around the clock, with late-night weekday slots at half price.
Pay-as-you-go classes at AED 95 in MMA, Muay Thai, BJJ, boxing and wrestling, inside Zayed Sports City.
Indoor tables open until midnight every day at AED 45 an hour.
Brighton College's ground, run by Sport Support Club, opens to outside teams on weekday evenings and all weekend.
An air-conditioned school sports hall near Zayed Sports City that rents a table tennis table by the hour after school closes.
Three sand courts in the city with lights until midnight.
Three outdoor courts inside Khalifa Park, so the rest of the family can use the lawns while you play.
Five outdoor courts in the Ritz-Carlton grounds facing the Grand Mosque, from AED 200 an hour.
Five indoor smart courts, two of them private with their own entrance, at AED 180 an hour before the evening rush.
Three indoor panoramic courts in Musaffah from AED 180 an hour, well away from the city traffic.
A long-running members' sports club in Al Mushrif where padel sits alongside nine tennis courts, so a mixed group can split up.
Nine courts at an established members' club in central Al Mushrif.
BJJ, Muay Thai, wrestling, MMA and karate under one roof downtown, coached by a former UAE Warriors and Brave FC fighter.
Floodlit hotel courts in the city centre, with rackets to rent for AED 25 if you arrive empty-handed.
At AED 45 an hour it is among the cheapest bookable courts in the city, and it stays open past midnight.
An indoor warehouse hall with table tennis, badminton and billiards at AED 35 a table, open from 5am for pre-work games.
Start in a park planted with native flora and head north to Reem Beach for a track beside a stretch of mangroves, with softer surfaces along the way.
Four indoor 5v5 pitches under an air dome, so you can play in August.
Three indoor courts under an air dome at AED 120 an hour, so summer is no problem.
Two indoor courts at AED 60 an hour, among the cheapest bookable badminton in the city.
A bookable court in the middle of Al Maryah Island, an easy after-work run.
The only indoor full-size football pitch in the city, in a dome on Al Maryah Island.
Courts in the middle of the financial district, a short walk from the Galleria offices.
A six-lane, 600-metre track on Hudayriyat, so your intervals aren't a slalom through walkers on the island loop.
Six indoor courts under a sports dome, next to a pool you can use after for AED 50.
Indoor cricket for the hot months, an oval with an artificial turf pitch and two batting nets, all bookable by the hour in one complex.
Both indoor and outdoor courts, so you can switch to air conditioning when the weather turns.
Pickleball on multipurpose courts at a venue with 20 other sports, so a mixed group can split up.
Indoor volleyball courts, a rare option for playing in summer.
Beach rides at sunrise and sunset on Hudayriyat, and a female instructor among the trainers.
Two courts on the sand at Yas Beach from AED 150 an hour, with the beach bar a few steps away.
A Muay Thai gym for women and kids only, so beginners can learn to kick without a room full of men watching.
A free floodlit court in a municipal park, with parking for nearly 100 cars.
Free floodlit outdoor courts in a municipal park, with a 2.1 km jogging track around it.
Free floodlit beach volleyball court in a neighbourhood park.
A 4G five-a-side pitch at the F1 circuit for AED 280 an hour.
Courts beside the Yas Marina boats, from AED 175 an hour off-peak.
The city's main public sports complex runs pickleball for beginners and lessons, open from 6am.
Two tracks plus regular sessions with Abu Dhabi Running Team and Ultimate Athletics, if you'd rather train with a group than alone.
A public outdoor court where the Masdar Pickleball Club, close to a hundred members, plays and lets newcomers join in.
A public court on Yas Island that costs nothing to use.
Practice nets in Musaffah's industrial belt that stay open from 6am to midnight, so you can bat before or after a shift.
A dedicated badminton hall run by a federation-certified coaching academy, with court rental and a racket shop on site.
The capital's racecourse also runs a riding school for all ages, in the middle of the city rather than out in the farms.
The emirate's home of cricket, where the Zayed Cricket Stadium and Tolerance Oval sit next to four ovals set aside for community games.
A floodlit nine-hole, par-36 course of 3,700 yards, so a full round fits into a weekday evening.
A 5.6 km loop on the Al Mamsha trail around Masdar City that is kept clean, quiet and easy to follow.
A running loop inside a gated park in the middle of the city, so there are no road crossings to break your pace.
An 18-hole sand course by the airport that doubles as an unofficial wildlife reserve, with an old falcon trap still on the grounds.
A free public beach where you can set up beach volleyball without booking anything.
Flat, lit and long, with the sea on one side and the skyline on the other, and you can turn around wherever suits your distance.
A grass outfield with bowling machines, adult coaching and courses for 9 to 16 year olds, plus space to park a team's worth of cars.
Six shaded ITF-standard hard courts, plus women-only courts with privacy curtains.
A ranch among the Al Wathba dunes with 90-minute desert hacks and trick-riding lessons, alongside ordinary lessons from age four.
Three outdoor courts where a solo walk-in costs AED 28.50, so you do not need to bring a team.
Eighteen natural-grass pitches, the same ones pro clubs train on, bookable for 7 or 11-a-side.
A floodlit ground in Shahama that runs club tournaments and lets teams play well into the night, with changing rooms and showers.
The UAE's largest rink, Olympic-sized, with daily public sessions and figure-skating lessons when you want more than laps.
One flat rate of AED 200 an hour on three outdoor panoramic courts, with no peak surcharge to work out.
Nine hard courts at the home of the city's ATP-era tournaments, at AED 100 an hour before 5pm.
A large air-conditioned indoor arena, so lessons carry on through the summer when outdoor yards stop.
A standard climbing wall, game-style Valo Climb walls, a via ferrata and a rappelling wall share one roof, so a first-timer can try four kinds of climbing on a single pass.
Nine courts, seven of them indoors, and off-peak hours start under AED 150, so it is the safest bet for a summer booking.
An 800-metre Blue Flag beach looking across to Hudayriyat, with calm, clear water and a watersports centre for kayaks and paddleboards.
You run the actual Formula 1 track under floodlights, for free, with no traffic or crossings for the whole lap.
An Octagon, bag room and full gym floor, with unlimited MMA, boxing, Muay Thai, jiu-jitsu and kickboxing classes on one membership that also covers Maqta Mall.
Eight polo fields and a 2,000-seat grandstand on 300 hectares of grass, the emirate's centre of polo.
Al Dhafra's only developed beach: turquoise water, almost never crowded, and free.
Close to 400 square metres of bouldering inside a mall unit, with overhangs, slabs and comp-style walls reset by a full-time setting team.
MMA, jiu-jitsu, Muay Thai, boxing, kickboxing and wrestling on one timetable in JLT, plus a ladies' Muay Thai class.
A fenced full-size outdoor court you can book, plus free half courts nearby in Clusters H and L.
Up to 30 km of lit, car-free tarmac through the dunes, with 8 and 16 km loops if you aren't training for a marathon.
A 2.6 km rubberised loop through a planted park down the Palm's trunk, with more shade than most Dubai tracks.
Indoor cricket pitches and batting nets on a Motor City rooftop, closer to home for southern suburbs than Al Quoz.
Some of the cheapest court hire in Dubai, from AED 75 an hour, with walk-ins welcome.
Two-lane nets you can book for just 30 minutes, plus four indoor match courts for a full game.
Priced per player rather than per court, which makes it one of the cheaper ways to play in Dubai.
A flat AED 50 an hour at any time, with no peak surcharge.
A free public table in the park for a casual game on the way back from a walk.
Courts open from 6am to midnight every day in Al Quoz.
Four shaded courts, so morning and late-afternoon games are bearable when other open courts bake.
Pitches in every size from 5-a-side to full 11-a-side, useful when your group size changes week to week.
The ping pong table at Dubai's big indoor sports complex is free to use.
A central Al Quoz warehouse with a MoonBoard and campus board, and weekend ladies-only climbing before the main doors open.
Gi and no-gi Brazilian jiu-jitsu taught to the Gracie Barra syllabus, with separate classes for kids, women and adults.
Eight courts in a polished air-conditioned complex in the middle of the city, with online booking.
Air-conditioned indoor courts you can book by the half court, so a 3-on-3 costs half a full booking.
Two indoor pitches with safety nets and two 40m practice nets inside the DWTC halls every summer.
Every summer the exhibition halls at DWTC turn into air-conditioned pitches, so you can keep playing through August.
Nine air-conditioned indoor courts, and weekday daytime slots drop to AED 240 an hour.
Three indoor courts in the summer sports halls at AED 90 an hour on weekday off-peak.
An 8.4 km track on wide, solar-lit, tree-lined paths beside the Crystal Lagoon, with few interruptions for a longer run.
Pickleball alongside four padel courts at the Me'aisem mall, open until 1am.
Hard courts at a polo resort from AED 130 an hour, away from the city traffic.
Bookable tables inside a racket-sports complex with a café in the same building and coaching for all levels.
A Gil Hanse-designed floodlit par-3 course, plus night golf on the back nine of the championship course under LED lights.
Three fully air-conditioned indoor hard courts, one of the few places in Dubai to play tennis indoors in August.
Air-conditioned tables in a big indoor multi-sport warehouse, with changing rooms and showers.
An indoor court set up for half-court 3-on-3 or full 5-on-5, in a warehouse that also has cricket and football.
An indoor 5-a-side pitch in the same warehouse as cricket lanes and basketball, handy for a mixed group.
Two pickleball courts at a big racquet centre that also has tennis and padel, open until midnight.
Seven tennis courts open until midnight, alongside padel and pickleball, at AED 150 an hour.
Courts from AED 35 an hour, open from 5am for a game before work.
Indoor volleyball courts in air-conditioned exhibition halls during the hottest months.
School courts in Al Safa, two of them roofed, with equipment for rent.
A dedicated badminton hall in Qusais at AED 60-65 an hour.
The only British Horse Society-approved riding centre in the Middle East, with lessons in the arena and desert hacks out into Al Marmoom where oryx and gazelles turn up.
Sheltered lagoon beaches inside a municipal park for a few dirhams, with women-only days on Mondays and Wednesdays.
A free outdoor court in a neighbourhood park, used mostly by locals from Al Nahda and Qusais.
A lit volleyball court in a shared sports area inside a wooded park, free after the AED 3 park entry.
A large multi-sport centre where you can rent rackets and accessories on site.
Courts from AED 37 an hour, with sports gear for rent if you turn up without a racket.
The UAE's longest-running bouldering gym, with a tension board and hang boards for when you start training rather than just playing.
A school sports complex that rents volleyball courts to the public after school hours.
A fully air-conditioned hall with courts from AED 60 an hour, plus showers and a cafeteria.
Air-conditioned cricket nets with a bowling machine, from AED 60 an hour.
A free court on The Walk a few steps from the beach and the JBR tram stops.
Four indoor courts in Al Ain open until 2am at weekends, which is when the town cools enough to play.
Three courts at a long-running community sports club, charged per player instead of per court.
A long-running community sports club whose pool comes with a three-month membership far cheaper than Dubai gym pools.
Indoor courts inside the Just Padel hangar at Mina Rashid, playable all year.
A 90-minute session with skates included costs AED 40, a fraction of what the big-city rinks charge.
Tam Khan's gym, one of the first MMA gyms in the UAE, with a cage, a ring, a pool, sauna and ice baths on one floor, and every class coached.
Hitting microchipped balls at targets from covered, climate-controlled bays turns golf into a group game for people who have never held a club.
The ICC's own academy: six indoor lanes split into spin, batting and pace pitches, plus outdoor nets and ovals.
Home of Al Ain Cricket Club, whose under-13 and under-16 players have been picked for Team Abu Dhabi: the place to play organised cricket in Al Ain.
Al Ain's first grass course sits under Jebel Hafeet, with a 678-yard par 5, a floodlit back nine and a nine-hole academy course for night practice.
Al Ain's main riding club, with an indoor arena, a show-jumping ring and six black-sand arenas for lessons at every level.
Two courts right on the beach next to the Sheraton, with rackets, balls and goggles for hire.
A hotel beach and pool day pass in an alcohol-free resort, with women-only spa and pool zones.
Daily group and private lessons beside working polo fields, with a pony club for younger riders.
A cushioned, well-lit 1.5 km loop around the pond with markers every 100 metres, so interval sessions need no watch maths.
A family-run endurance stable of more than 120 Arabian horses that takes complete beginners on hourly desert hacks through the Al Marmoom conservation area.
Courts in a full sports complex in the north of the city, open until midnight.
Al Ain's bookable pickleball court, at AED 40 an hour and open until 1am.
One of the few places in Al Ain to rent a table tennis table by the hour, at AED 35 and open until 1am.
British Horse Society-accredited lessons in the largest indoor arena in the Middle East, structured as a course that ends in a graduation exam.
A floodlit box-cricket arena plus open-air nets, both bookable online.
A big indoor multi-sport centre with a multipurpose area used for volleyball and basketball.
Courts inside Safeer Mall, so parking and food are taken care of.
A dedicated boxing gym in an Al Quoz warehouse with technique classes split by level, ladies-only boxing and its own fight nights.
About 7 km of rubberised, lit track along the sand with the Burj Al Arab ahead and water stations on the way.
Several free beach courts on the sand, with the sea for a swim between games.
A beachfront urban sports park built for skateboarding and parkour, with skateboards, scooters, helmets and pads to rent if you don't own a board.
A neighbourhood Sharjah centre teaching kickboxing, karate and jiu-jitsu.
Public lap swimming in the 50-metre competition pool that hosted the 2010 world short-course championships, with a separate 25-metre training pool.
Four indoor glass courts in Ajman, so you don't have to drive to Dubai to play in summer.
Dubai's first dedicated indoor pickleball club: six enclosed, climate-controlled courts with open play most days.
A school sports complex that rents out its basketball courts to the public after school hours.
Sixteen courts, twelve of them indoor, which is more pickleball in one place than anywhere else in the northern emirates.
The one Dubai gym with lead, top-rope and auto-belay walls as well as bouldering, so it's where you learn to tie in.
An indoor artificial-grass ground big enough for 22 players, split into four nets or booked whole.
A free public court in one of Ajman's newer parks.
Real grass outfields and practice nets open to the public, which is rare outside clubs.
A grassy beach park with sea swimming for AED 5, and women-only days on Mondays and Wednesdays.
About 7 km of waterside path from Business Bay to the sea, crossing the canal's pedestrian bridges with skyline views.
A women-only club with its own private beach and pools on Jumeirah Beach Road, so you can swim without a mixed crowd.
A nine-hole, 1,239-yard par-3 loop at the home of the Dubai Desert Classic, so beginners get a real course without committing to 18.
Long-running club with social match play and leagues, so it's easy to find opponents at your level.
Ernie Els' 18-hole course with a separate practice area and the CH3 Performance Golf Academy for coaching.
Six glass courts on Dubai Fountain Street with the Burj Khalifa standing right over the back wall.
Two floodlit 9-by-9 synthetic pitches that stay open past midnight.
Sixteen courts in one spot, including eight air-conditioned indoor courts and four set aside for women only.
A quiet Umm Al Quwain beach club that sets aside ladies days, on a coast far less built up than Dubai's.
A 7-a-side pitch next to padel courts, one of the few bookable pitches in Umm Al Quwain.
Pitches you can set up for 5, 7 or 11-a-side, so the same venue works for a casual kickabout or a full match.
One of the few Ajman clubs that rents courts by the hour to non-members.
You can rent the same Decoturf courts used around the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
An 18-hole Nicklaus Design course laid out beside the Al Zorah mangrove reserve, a short drive from Sharjah and north Dubai.
The Dubai branch of the Nogueira brothers' academy, teaching BJJ, MMA, Muay Thai, boxing, judo and wrestling.
Four 5-a-side and two 8-a-side pitches right under the Burj Khalifa, bookable in 60, 90 or 120-minute blocks.
A lit court inside a big wooded park, free once you've paid the AED 3 park entry.
Sharjah's longest free running route: about 5 km of flat, fully lit lagoon promenade with water fountains, linking to the 3 km Al Majaz loop.
Two outdoor courts plus a 7-a-side pitch, one of very few places to play in Umm Al Quwain.
Women-only swimming pools and a private beach on the Sharjah corniche, open to non-members on day passes.
A fully floodlit 9-hole course where an off-peak evening round with a shared cart and two hours of range balls costs less than a Dubai range session plus dinner.
A 3 km lit beachfront promenade with outdoor exercise stations along it and the sea right beside you.
A 2 km palm-lined corniche with the Gulf on both sides and shaded benches all the way along.
Two indoor courts on the east coast, with a cafe and changing rooms.
The most popular of the RAK crags past the Wadi Bih turn, with sport, trad and top-rope lines on fairly solid limestone close to town.
An 18-hole par-72 course in RAK city with its own driving range, chipping greens and teaching tee.
A circuit of more than 100 logged boulder problems right beside the mountain road, so the walk-in is a few metres.
An indoor court in RAK, so you can play through the summer months.
A 7-a-side pitch in RAK that stays open until 3am at weekends.
The 18-hole Peter Harradine course wrapped around four lagoons that has hosted the DP World Tour's Ras Al Khaimah events since 2022, with separate UAE resident booking.