Dubious Dubai's First Refrigerated Beach?

The tallest building in the world is now in Dubai - Burj Building with 160 stories and soaring up more than a half kilometer (508 meters); the highest tennis court (atop a hotel) is in Dubai; now, the first refrigerated beach in the world, if ever, is being contemplated in dubious Dubai. Is it the ultimate in construction vanity in Dubai? Maybe not, but one hotel just wants to make rest and recreation real enjoyable for the rich in Dubai.

It's hot in Dubai, averaging 40C (104F) and often hitting 50C (122F) in summer. Perhaps tourists visiting this desert locale don't check this out before they book their junket (or the rules about what you can do on the beach Green bikinis are okay, right?). Or perhaps if you can afford to stay at the new Palazzo Versace you expect nature to be bent to your will. You expect cool sand. That is what Soheil Abedian, founder of the hotel, thinks:

“We will suck the heat out of the sand to keep it cool enough to lie on,” he said. “This is the kind of luxury that top people want.”

According to Times Online, Abedian is seriously planning ways to cool the sand to try and keep visitors from burning their feet: The beach will have a network of pipes beneath the sand containing a coolant that will absorb heat from the surface.

The swimming pool will be refrigerated and there are also proposals to install giant blowers to waft a gentle breeze over the beach.

The scheme is likely to infuriate environmentalists, but nothing really surprises environmentalists about Dubai any more. As Rachel Noble of Tourism Concern, a UK group that promotes sustainable tourism, told the Times: “Dubai is like a bubble world where the things that are worrying the rest of the world, like climate change, are simply ignored so that rich people can continue their extravagant lifestyles.”

I won't be surprised the next time around I hear a skating rink in Dubai in the middle of the burning desert.