Alternative destination to Dubai for May, good weather, water park and things to do

[Frankie789]

As the title says, due to go to Dubai in May with two children under 5. Was going for the reliable hot weather and the hotel for all inclusive and access to pools, water parks and theme parks.

we can cancel this week and just loose the deposit which I think given the situation makes more sense but where can I look at as an alternative - maybe not the weather but for a good warm pool and some slides.

Dont fancy the canary islands or Spain. Want to avoid Turkey and Cyprus

Mexico?

Portugal? We went to aqua show park last year. Was fantastic

Half the countries in the world will be nice in May.

Do people really go to Dubai on holiday? I find that baffling.

@Zov not sure why you find it baffling, with young children it’s a good place to go with a high standard of food compared to other places. I like the overnight flights out so the children sleep and actually value for money again compared to other places. It’s a holiday for sun and fun, plenty of other times for holidays for cultural city break with my children.

Will take a look at Portugal and Mexico actually, I just don’t think they do night flights out which puts me off.

I’d say Portugal too. We went to slide and splash (or maybe it’s splash and slide) in the Algarve last year, great family day out. Not attached to a hotel but lots of accommodation in that area of course.

Not sure what you need for flights but they did have flights leaving back to the UK in the later evening (around 10pm or so were the latest I think)

@Frankie789 we loved Mexico - check out hotel Xcaret, it includes unlimited access to their parks. We loved it with kids x

https://www.hotelxcaret.com/en/

We went to Algarve in May a few years ago. We had a great time but all the pools were freezing. Slide and Splash is a fantastic waterpark but the water was so cold! On the plus side, there were no crowds so zero wait time for slides. If pools and waterparks are the priority I probably wouldn't go there in May.

Crete in May should be beautiful.

My suggestion isn't about locations but about the cancellation of your dubai holiday.

If you bought travel insurance when you booked, wait until the tour operator cancels the holiday. You should get your deposit back too.

Do you really not know that people go on holiday to Dubai, I find that really baffling?

Hong Kong do night flights and would be a great destination. Or thailand

You do realise the poster was being sarcastic about Mexico? There is a cartel war going on there right now. Honestly, the more I read on here this week, the more convinced I am that very few people who go on holiday seem to have any awareness of the world around them, much less areas of the world that are ‘great value, all inclusive’ for a reason.

Does no one read about or listen to the news?

Egypt.

What’s wrong with Spain? It’s less than 3 hours away.
Magic pirates resort near Alicante has an onsite water park and you can get swim up rooms with their own private pool. There is also the Terra mitica theme park, the weather will be fantastic in May.

Thank you, I fear that we wouldn’t get it back of the FCDO say it’s fine to go but honesty don’t feel comfortable going right now so wpuld rather loose the deposit and book somewhere else, if I had more time to decide I would but literally have 3 days if not would have to do a whole wait and see.

I second Mexico, there was some trouble recently in relation to the cartels but that’s stabilised now. Thailand is lovely too depending on where you go in May as it’s the start of the monsoon season. We loved Khao Lak. There’s a few direct flights from a few UK airports.

Mexico is having its own issues at the moment - so you'd have to research areas and travel advice carefully.

Anywhere in Asia could be problematic with flights - even some direct flights avoiding the middle east are being cancelled at the moment as airlines are struggling to route around and planes are in the wrong place. Though by May, a lot of that may have been sorted if airspace has reopened.

It’s up to whatever the OP feels like, but I can tell you now that Terra Mitica is pretty much abandoned as a theme park. It was 7 years ago, so I can imagine it has only got worse. Aqualandia is still pretty good, although a little pricey.

Not helpful for OP, but it is very sad that it is becoming increasingly difficult to travel due to war.

Possibly not right now!

I’m getting the feeling that staying closer to home rather than needing longer flights that are more likely to be disrupted is the way forward for this year.

Wherever you decide, be 100% sure that there are heated pools.

Southern Spain and Portugal will have lovely weather but the sea and unheated pools will be unpleasant.

Water temp would put my right off for a start. Unless the water parks have heated pools?

ok so not Mexico.

Nor Asia given the airspace

so any recommendations on a hotel in Europe or a holiday park with a good heated pool, bonus if it’s near a theme park.

My children are excited to visit Dubai and the theme parks again so need to be able to show them where we’re going.

Weather in Sicily will be great in May but some water parks might still be closed