Leaving Dubai by land: what is published, emirate by emirate
Across every RTA page we could reach, exactly one inter-emirate fare is published — AED 12 to Sharjah — and it sits on a promotion page for a route number RTA no longer lists. For Ras Al Khaimah and Umm Al Quwain, RTA publishes nothing at all: not a route, not a fare, not even confirmation that a service exists. And on the Oman border, the most consequential question a visitor can ask — whether leaving and returning affects your UAE entry — is unpublished by anyone.
What RTA publishes, by destination
| Destination | Route published | Fare |
|---|---|---|
| Sharjah | C10 from Union Square · C15 from Al Ghubaiba · C18 from Deira City Centre · C26 from Etisalat to Muwailah. Two live promotion pages separately announce E308 and E311, neither of which appears in the current route list | AED 12 per trip — published only on the E308 page, for a route number RTA has since retired |
| Ajman | C28, Union Square to Ajman Bus Station | Not published |
| Fujairah | Named in the timetable’s destination list; no C-route appears | Not published |
| Al Ain | C09 from Al Ghubaiba | Not published |
| Ras Al Khaimah | Nothing published — not named in the destination list, no route in the route list | Nothing published |
| Umm Al Quwain | Nothing published | Nothing published |
| HattaInside Dubai, not another emirate | H02 Hatta Express, Dubai Mall to Hatta Bus Station, “7 AM to 7 PM daily at a frequency of two hours”. Separately C05 from Union, with no times published | AED 25 per rider per journey on H02 |
Two things follow. First, a visitor wanting to reach Ras Al Khaimah cannot establish from the transport authority whether a bus even exists. Second, RTA publishes two different Dubai–Hatta services from two different origins on two different pages, one with a fare and one without, and never cross-references them. Hatta itself is covered on the Hatta page.
RTA also publishes a Hatta hop-on-hop-off, route H04, “7 AM to 9 PM daily at a frequency of 30 minutes at a fare of AED2 per rider per bus stop”. That unit is RTA’s own wording and it is genuinely ambiguous — we quote it rather than smooth it into something clearer than the authority managed.
Sharjah, and the traffic nobody publishes
Sharjah’s own transport authority publishes a description of its intercity service rather than the service: its page gives a call centre number and states the schedule is available “through the website”, behind a query form whose “Ticket Fare” and “Line No” fields are blank until you search. There is no static route list and no static fare table a visitor can read.
On the Dubai–Sharjah traffic itself — the most notorious commute in the country — no authority publishes anything. No congestion advisory, no peak journey time, no corridor guidance from RTA or from Sharjah. The only official acknowledgement that the corridor is special is indirect: RTA’s taxi formula includes a “Fee for entering Sharjah (if applicable)”, and u.ae publishes a AED 20 surcharge for “trips between Dubai and the Northern Emirates”.
Crossing to Oman: read this before you plan it
u.ae publishes that it is possible to drive in from Oman and Saudi Arabia, that “There are several entry points along the borders; some are reserved for GCC citizens”, and that an international driving permit and valid vehicle insurance are needed. It names none of the crossings, so a visitor cannot determine from any UAE authority page which border post they may legally use.
No UAE authority publishes a land exit fee. The figure repeated everywhere appears only in unofficial sources, so we do not print it.
Oman’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs publishes visa-free entry for over 100 nationalities for up to 14 days, “which cannot be extended or transferred to any type of residence visa”, with a passport valid at least six months, a return ticket, a hotel booking, health insurance and sufficient funds. Some nationalities additionally need residency or a visa for the US, Canada, Australia, UK, Schengen or Japan, or GCC residency.
The gap that matters: Oman’s page does not distinguish arriving by land from arriving by air, and does not state that the exemption is granted at a land post. So Oman publishes the exemption and does not publish that you can obtain it at the gate. Note too the clock mismatch — Oman’s 14 days is explicitly non-extendable, while a UAE visa on arrival runs 30 or 90 days.
On taking a hire car across, no authority publishes a rule in either direction. The documents actually required exist only in rental companies’ own terms, which we do not reproduce. Ask your rental company in writing before you travel.
And the most consequential unpublished question of all: whether your UAE visa or visa-free entry survives a land exit and return. u.ae’s visa-on-arrival page publishes durations and a ten-day grace period for extension, and does not address land entry or re-entry at all. No ICP or GDRFA page states whether the entitlement is consumed by leaving, whether a fresh period is granted on return, or whether a same-day round trip restarts the clock. Given what turns on it, we say that loudly rather than quietly. Visa detail is on visa fees and overstay fines.
Questions nobody answers
- Is there any public transport from Dubai to Ras Al Khaimah or Umm Al Quwain? RTA publishes nothing, so you cannot even establish that a service exists.
- Which route number is mine to Sharjah? RTA publishes five across different live pages.
- Is the AED 12 Sharjah fare still valid on a route RTA has retired? Unresolved.
- What do the Ajman, Fujairah and Al Ain buses cost? Unpublished.
- How long is the Dubai–Sharjah trip at 8am? No authority publishes journey times for the corridor.
- Is there a UAE land exit fee, and which crossings may I use? Neither published.
- Can I get Oman’s visa-free entry at a land post, or only at an airport? Oman does not say.
- Does my UAE entry survive the trip? Entirely unpublished.
- Is there a scheduled bus to Muscat? u.ae refers vaguely to “buses operated by national transportation companies” and names none.
The Oman entry conditions here are transcribed from the authorities that publish them, not immigration advice. Whether a UAE visa-on-arrival entitlement survives leaving and returning is not something any authority publishes, and this page does not guess at it.
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Common questions
How do I get from Dubai to Ras Al Khaimah by bus?
RTA publishes nothing at all — no route, no fare, and Ras Al Khaimah is not even named in its destination list. A visitor cannot establish from the transport authority whether a service exists. The same is true of Umm Al Quwain.
How much is the bus from Dubai to Sharjah?
AED 12 per trip — and that figure sits on an RTA promotion page for route E308, a number RTA no longer lists. Its current route list publishes C10, C15, C18 and C26 to Sharjah with no fare, and a second promotion page announces E311. Five route numbers across different live pages.
What does the bus to Hatta cost?
RTA publishes AED 25 per rider per journey on route H02, Dubai Mall to Hatta Bus Station, '7 AM to 7 PM daily at a frequency of two hours'. A hop-on-hop-off inside Hatta, H04, is 'AED2 per rider per bus stop' — RTA's own wording, and genuinely ambiguous. RTA separately publishes route C05 from Union with no fare at all.
Is there a UAE exit fee at the Oman land border?
No UAE authority publishes one. The figure repeated everywhere appears only in unofficial sources, so we do not print it. u.ae also names none of the crossings, saying only that 'some are reserved for GCC citizens'.
Can I get Oman's visa-free entry at the land border?
Oman's Ministry of Foreign Affairs publishes visa-free entry for over 100 nationalities for up to 14 days, 'which cannot be extended' — but does not distinguish arriving by land from arriving by air, and never states that the exemption is granted at a land post.
Does my UAE visa survive a trip to Oman and back?
Entirely unpublished. No ICP or GDRFA page states whether a visa-on-arrival entitlement is consumed by leaving, whether a fresh period is granted on return, or whether a same-day round trip restarts the clock. Given what turns on it, we say so loudly.