La Mer Beach Dubai is not the place older guides describe. The beachfront strip in Jumeirah 1 closed, and the same stretch reopened in October 2024 as J1 Beach, a row of licensed beachfront restaurants and beach clubs.
The family beach day with food trucks and painted murals is gone. The free-sand alternatives sit a few minutes along the same coast.
What happened to La Mer Beach Dubai?
La Mer stopped operating as the open beachfront destination it was, and the site was redeveloped. Visit Dubai now lists the location as J1 Beach, describing it as the former La Mer and dating its launch to October 2024.
What stood there before was a low-rise strip of shops and restaurants behind open sand, with street art on the walls and a waterpark at one end. A 2019 visitor account describes the mix that made it popular: two beach sections, a colourful boardwalk, murals tucked between the buildings, and restaurants running from McDonald’s and Starbucks to Thai, Korean and Japanese kitchens. The same account warns that sunbed rental was already steep and that watersports operators had roped off chunks of the sand. Regulars still talk about the version before all of it, when the stretch was simply the open beach:
“I have such fond memories of my father teaching me how to swim on Fridays at the Open Beach when I was a child. He loved to swim and would always encourage me to go deeper into the sea (always held back by the mothershi…”
– r/dubai, June 2026 (47 upvotes)
What J1 Beach is now
J1 Beach calls itself an urban riviera in La Mer, and the format is dining rather than public beach. The official site lists six licensed beachfront restaurants and beach clubs, valet-only arrival, direct beach access and a private jetty. The named venues include African Queen, which traces its roots to the French Riviera, the Italian beach house Gigi Rigolatto, and Sirene Beach by Gaia.
Access runs through the venues. Each restaurant and beach club takes its own bookings and sets its own hours, so there is no single gate, no single ticket and no single closing time for the strip as a whole. Plan around the venue you want, not around the beach.
Is La Mer Beach free?
The sand at J1 Beach belongs to its venues, and arrival is valet-only, so a visit there means booking with one of them rather than turning up with a towel.
For free public sand on the same coastline, Kite Beach is the closest match to what La Mer used to offer: entry is free, the sand is open 24 hours, and the food trucks, showers and volleyball nets cost nothing to use.
Parking and arrival
J1 Beach runs valet-only arrival at the venue entrances. That is worth knowing before driving over and expecting a public car park to walk in from, and it is the clearest signal of how the strip changed: the old La Mer was a place you parked at and wandered into, while the new one hands your keys to someone at a restaurant door.
FAQ
Is La Mer Beach open now in Dubai?
The La Mer strip as visitors knew it is closed. The same beachfront operates as J1 Beach, where each restaurant and beach club sets its own opening hours and takes its own reservations.
What is J1 Beach?
J1 Beach is the beachfront destination that replaced La Mer in Jumeirah 1, launched in October 2024. It holds six licensed beachfront restaurants and beach clubs, with valet arrival and a private jetty.
Is La Mer Beach worth visiting?
It is worth the trip for a beachfront dinner or a beach-club day at J1 Beach. It is not the free family beach it used to be, so anyone looking for that should head to Kite Beach or the public beaches further along Jumeirah.
