Nearly a year after its inauguration, a month-long facelift has commenced on the Abu Dhabi Beach to make it ready by the end of summer for an expected surge in the number of visitors.

The sources informed that the improvement project along parts of the Dh150 million beach was prompted by a surge in the number of visitors, who preferred to frequent it because of its low entry fee. The sources further informed that Abu Dhabi Municipality, which runs the beach, is executing the project to face a sharp surge in swimmers and beach-goers in the coming season as a nearby free public beach on Ras Alakhdar would be shut down to make way for the construction of a massive new presidential palace.

Although it is an island, Abu Dhabi city has been left with limited swimming arenas because of massive construction projects. The capital is having a large stretch of beach at its southwestern flank beyond the Hilton hotel before it was slashed by the construction of the Dh1.5 billion Emirates Palace Hotel, which has an area of more than 500,000 sq m.

The sources said that Abu Dhabi Beach lies just opposite the man-made, palm tree-dotted Pearl Island, which has become a major tourist attraction with scores of the traditional Arabian wooden boats, or dhows, shuttling daily between the city's breakwater and the island to transport thousands of visitors.

As per reports in media, the project is the latest in an ongoing massive development programme on Abu Dhabi's Corniche, where at least Dh2 billion has been spent over the past eight years to establish and reshape the road and the entire area.