A vast desert spanning a total area of 650,000 square kilometers, the Empty Quarter is a magnificent sea of dunes that have been untouched by mankind. This sprawling and beautiful desert spills into the United Arab Emirates, parts of Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Yemen.
Five types of dunes make up the Empty Quarter: Barchan dunes (high, large dunes with sabkha salt flats in the north-east), Star dunes (steep and pyramidic in shape in the southern and eastern regions), Domal dunes (high, interstructured dunes in the center of the desert), Sand sheets (areas of wave-like, mainly flat sand), and Longitudinal dunes (extending in parallel formation in the western part)
This sea of sand boasts some of the world’s tallest sand dunes, including the 300 meters high Moreeb Dune found in the desert’s Liwa Oasis in Abu Dhabi. This dune is with a 50-degree incline, 1600 meters long.
The Empty Quarter is like traveling to another planet. It is an untouched landscape that feels like something out of this world. If you want to leave the Earth you know behind, then Rub Al Khali is your place.