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Fantastic write-up. I've been there once in late summer but it was still even too hot to get out of the car, so we continued driving till Fujairah and went to the nearest resort with pools 😂

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"Go as far as you can see; once you get there, you'll be able to see further."

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I believe Wadi Shawka & Shawka dam are different places. I had been to shawka dam in peak summer in 2016 on my fortuner. I just followed google map. When google map said "you have reached your destination". I was surprised, thought my google maps needs update or had some calibration issue. I looked around and found it was just like a deserted area nothing else. Saw one pathan gentleman and asked him bhai ye shawka dam kahan hai(Brother, where is the shawka dam). His response was. Sir aap jahan apni gaadi le ke khade ho wahi dam hai (Sir, the exact place where you are with your car is the dam only). I looked around and found some water marking in red which said danger level etc. then it was confirmed that the place where i was standing was inside the dam. @Gaurav bhai is it advisable to take 4x4 route or other sedan /  suv route if im planning to visit. 

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Yes, @syedyaseer Wadi Shawka Dam and Wadi Shawka are two totally different places to visit with different levels of vehicle and skills required.

Wadi Shawka Dam is the first route I propose above, search in google maps and off you go with regular sedan or SUV. Picturesque enough to keep you engage and after reaching that point you can walk down with all your stuff and settle down.

Wadi Shawka backside access until the viewpoint is through a flat track and at least SUV is advisable as sedan might damage their bumper. However, after the viewpoint on the right side, there is a track to explore real wadi shawka for which you definitely need a proper 4x4 with LOW gearing, deflate tires to 25 PSI and vehicle should have minimum 10 inches of ground clearance.

WhatsApp Image 2019-04-08 at 8.46.08 PM.jpeg

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Let's root for each other & watch each other grow.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I visited Wadi Shawka few months ago (Jan / Feb can't remember). The location of the pools shared is very seasonal, you'll only see water there after lot of rains, as when I went there using the UAE off-road book, there was nothing there. 

Disappointed, I did not give up and went inside the Wadi Shawka area towards the Dam, There I found out that even the road access for cars to reach the top of the dam had been closed off (I am not sure if this was only for the season or what, either way doesn't make sense). So you have to park at the bottom next to the small park adjacent to the dam. 

https://goo.gl/maps/2A67Hte7aik

You can walk up to the dam (5-10 minutes walk) and circle around it for nice views. There is also an adventurous trekking / hiking trail next to the dam. If you see on the mountains to your left, you will notice a narrow pathway that sort of gives a nice balcony view of the Wadi Shawka beyond the dam. 

https://goo.gl/maps/11FiHB4FVd92

Not happy with how this trip was shaping, I spotted a car on the other side of the dam where there was no road and immediately wanted to go there. I asked around, searched around the off-road tracks till I ended up there. This location is not in the UAE off road book either, however' it's the same location which @Gaurav showed lots of cars parked next to the water. It's a very picturesque point gives the view of the dam from the back side along with nice hills and small pools (sometimes).

As going into the water was prohibited there (dam!) and also water wasn't clean, I went deeper into the valley as per the off-road book, it really is a very enjoyable and adventurous off-road drive. Wadi Shawka is challenging as there are many routes branching out hence there will invariably be some wrong route driving specially if you dont have a GPS (like me!). I was on a mission to find me some of those pools that I had heard about.

On the same path, there comes a slight 5 second uphill drive where on the right you will see an Emirates Tent / Adventure hut. If you don't go up and continue on the right, there are the hidden Shawka pools. I found some maintenance guys on the road entrance who confirmed this to me. It's a stretch to call it a road actually its mostly large loose pebbles / rocks you can drive all the way inside but you can also get stuck if you're not that good driving on rocks. I drove in for a little bit where the drive was acceptable, parked my car and walked about 10 minutes inside to find a lovely pool, deep enough to jump from heights! What's more, there are a series of pools beyond the main pool which you can climb and trek through. I didn't have much time so I didn't explore it further but this is definitely something I am returning to do this weekend! 

Co-ordinates: 25.099694, 56.061761

After enjoying the pools, you can actually go back a little bit and get into the main Wadi Shawka off-road drive, which may require at certain stages crossing through heavy water, as I experienced! Definitely need a 4x4 for this, what a great thrill though. Also, through the core Wadi Shawka drive, you pass through some of the private lodges that people have built. There's a fantastic lodge I came across where a local had even kept horses and a nice BBQ area and resting area. Using the off-road UAE book, you can do a superb off-road drive through Wadi Shawka and actually end up on the other side of the mountain. Basically you enter Wadi Shawka through the Sharjah-Kalbah Road and exit through the Maleha-Fujairah Road. Towards the end of this off-road drive, there's this zig-zagging off road track that you may notice going high up in the mountains where a local has actually built a house / palace. I'd like to take that road one day and look around the valley from that height. 

I highly recommend Wadi Shawka. Will also upload images to this post later. I got lost a lot through this, but that added to the thrill and adventure of the ride as I found so many places / routes. 

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I had been to wadi shawka and heritage village on Friday. Was disappointed as their was no water at all. Only best part was the park adjacent to it where kids had a good time playing around. During our return journey I saw a board mentioned only shawka. Wanted to check it. After 400-500 mts drive their was a board with the direction towards our left that board was of some offroading grounp of whom I felt they have a permanent camp their. I drove towards that direction for around 5kms non tarmac road. It was bit scary. Reached spot and found that the offroading group had organized some night events their. Saw it from little distance lots of  jeeps and other 4x4 were parked. 

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