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*3 hours south of Dubai is the epic desert of Liwa, near the Saudi border and the start of the Empty Quarter[closer to Dubai, the desert of Badayer is beautiful]. Huge dunes. Bring water. It's quite quiet but even just a drive through here will be a lasting memory. Hopefully you'll find someone to take you off-road. If this tickles your fancy, the Wahiba Sands in Oman are also epic, and more cultural. Make your way to Falaj Al Mashayikh, NW of Jalan Bani Bu Hassan. This is a Bedouin village and any ride here will likely result in you being welcomed to their Majalis, and inshallah, a desert drive too. Wadi Bani Khalid starting ~30km N of here is another gem, follow the road through the mountain oasis. Update: I see others are curious about the ferry from Bandar Abbas to Sharjah. I took this route completing my journey from the UK to the UAE. Originally I wanted to hitchhike a dhow, but the port I went to had security gates preventing me from reaching the dhows (Bandar Lengeh - "Dhow Port"!) [this isn't the case in Dubai or Sharjah]. I could have persevered by trying another port, but with home so close and the ferry leaving that day, I took it. I didn't have enough cash left for the ticket, so they agreed to take my passport as collateral and in Sharjah the friendly police escorted me to the ATM, I bought back my passport from the captain and they fast tracked me through security. Ferry took 13 hours, through the night. Not much to report except that it is possible. I don't know how reliable the schedule is. PS. Iran is an incredible country, the friendliest I've been to. Please see for yourself :)