Summer in Dubai often finds us residents cooped up in doors, unsure of what to do with ourselves. Recently there’s been a new trend to sweep the UAE which provides a childishly fun treat and a great way of expelling all of the pent-up energy at the same time.

Trampoline parks are a new phenomenon in the UAE; whilst we have a great selection of alternative leisure activities in Dubai (wind tunnels, diving with sharks, indoor skiing, anyone?) this latest craze has only just hit us.

Several weeks ago, we decided to check out Adventure HQ’s latest outlet in the new Dalma Mall in Abu Dhabi which is complete with a skate park, pump track and cable climb, as well as the trampoline park. We went for a friend’s 40th (only a few decades out from the other birthday parties taking place there!) and between us, we managed to try most of the activities. You pay per activity and get one hour in each section (if you’re a big group, I would highly recommend booking the time slots in advance), an hour may not sound a lot but actually after only 20 minutes of non-stop movement, everyone was feeling it!

It was great fun, and they were easily able to accommodate our group of 10+ with different activities, however if you’re purely interested in trampling, or less keen to leave the Dubai city limits, then I would recommend the even more recently opened and much-hyped Bounce!

Here, the park is much bigger and bouncing areas are divided by activity, with a big area for freestyle bouncing, a dodgeball ‘court’ complete with referee, a long-jump style area where you jump from trampolines onto crash mats (the perfect place to try to perfect somersaults), a basketball court area for the wannabe Michael Jordans to practice their slam dunks, and a walled area for the really talented professionals to show their moves running up the walls (and for the less talented to provide plenty of comedy value)!

We visited the first weekend the park had opened so it was pretty hectic, but I think once the initial buzz calms down, it will be a great place for kids and adults to spend the summer months, burning off the calories and having fun at the same time – we’ve also heard that exercise classes are due to start there soon, and will be first in line to try!