Dubai/Deira

Deira is the area of Dubai north of Dubai Creek and south of the Sharjah border. It is the traditional commercial center of Dubai and the Creek and its dhows were the historic mode of transport. Today Deira is split in two parts. There are the old souks (Gold and Spices) near the waterfront, and Dubai International Airport covers a major part of the area into the creek inland. Deira suffers a lot from traffic congestion as the bridges to Bur Dubai are at full capacity during the rush hour. In hidden backstreets the traditional life still takes place but it is not obvious to the tourist.

Get in
Both Red and Green lines of Dubai Metro connect Deira with Bur Dubai.

Deira is connected with Bur Dubai by five crossings over the Creek, namely Al Maktoum Bridge, Floating Bridge, Al Garhoud Bridge, Business Bay Crossing and Al Shindagha Tunnel. All the crossings charge the Salik road toll.

Small ferries called heritage abra cross the Creek from Bur Dubai. One route is from at the west end of the Textile Souk in Bur Dubai to near the Spice Souk in Deira. The other main route is from in the middle of the Textile Souk to Al Sabkha station, further up the Creek at Al Sabkha Rd in Deira. The trip costs 1 dirham, payable to the driver after the boat has left the station. Abras set off very regularly, and the service is available round-the-clock.

On the inner side of Dubai Creek, a motorized abra route was opened from (250m from Creek metro station) to Dubai Festival City water transport station, with a more modern style. These motorized abras is operated by RTA every 10 to 20 minutes from 7AM to midnight and costs 2 dirhams per person.

Markets
Another historic market, Old Textile Souk, is in Bur Dubai just on the other bank of the creek, reachable via heritage abra ferries for 1 dirham.

Budget
Invisible to the net and the guidebooks, there's several basic cheap places around the souk area, a few streets back from the creek.