Barasti @ Dubai

We planned Barasti on a Friday night to bring in a very close friend’s birthday. I had been to Barasti before in Dec 2010, however at that time we had to pay an entry fee of 100 AED. This time however I heard from friends that it was a FREE entry, but only for couples. Now that was a little tricky because we were 5 couples and 4 stags. We decided to land there and take a chance. Now, the problem was what to wear. Since, we knew it was a beach party scene, we weren’t sure if we had to dress up like we normally do for other clubs in town. We decided to not take a risk, lest the guards not let us in at the gate! We (the ladies) wore our normal club wear (dresses with stilettos) and the men wore formal shoes with shirts and jeans. Once ready, we departed at 10:30 pm (lame I know, however we assumed the entry would be free only before 11 pm). It took us 2 hours to reach Barasti (thanks to where we stay – International City, Dubai and the Friday night traffic), however once we landed we were glad we made it early. We all got a free entry. The guards randomly picked one of us and checked our identification (passport for expats and tourists preferably). The place was crowded – both the upper and lower decks were swarmed with men and women in their mid-thirties, adorned in their party casuals making a statement to every other expat or tourist in the crowd. We were lucky to find a table by the beach, and a spectacular view of the sky-scrapers of Dubai Marina on the other end. Beers and sheesha and music and the stars followed…and rest was history!

About Barasti

Barasti, Dubai’s most acclaimed beach club is a must-do when in Dubai. It is a multi-award-winning beach club which makes a perfect social scene even for sport lovers. Based in the heart of Dubai Marina, the club boasts of a splendid pool-side arena, attached to a sit-down lounge with a massive bar with an extensive range of liquor, cocktails and mocktails. This comprises the upper deck which also has an adjoining dance floor for those who aren’t keen to soil their feet in the sand. The lower deck comprises of the beach-side party with tables and umbrellas stationed under the wide open sky, giving the sort of Miami effect to the Arabic culture! It’s a good mix of expats that flood the place, in their mid-twenties to thirties. It also is major attraction for the sheesha lovers with a laid-back and sun-soaked ambience.

• Address: The Westin Dubai Mina Seyahi Beach Resort & Marina, Le Méridien Mina Seyahi Beach Resort – Dubai – United Arab Emirates
• Phone: 04 399 3333
• Timings: Weekdays 11:00am – 1:30am [alcohol service throughout] Food service [12:00-12:30am] ; Weekends [Thursday and Friday] 11:00am – 3:00am [alcohol service throughout] Food service [12:00-12:30am]
• Transit: Le Meridien Mina Seyahi Beach Resort & Marina, Al Sufouh Road, Dubai
• Dress code: Casuals (Shorts/Jeans, Shirts/T-shirts) for men; Dresses, Club wear for women
• Free Entry!
• Bar Menu:
  • Sheesha – 45 AED
  • Beer – 31 AED
  • Beer Bucket – 155 AED
  • LIT – 40 AED
  • Cocktails – 40 AED
  • Whisky – 40 AED

For more information, please visit the official site of Barasti: http://www.barastibeach.com/