Mega Mall in Sharjah - Guide for Tourists
Page update - Sep 29, 2022
The United Arab Emirates is not only the beautiful beaches of the Persian Gulf, but also entertainment and shopping. The Mega Mall is one of the best places for shopping and having fun in the Emirate of Sharjah. We will talk about the Mega Mall on this page.
Mega Mall is now (September 2022) operating normally. As of September 28, 2022, masks are no longer required in malls, restaurants, cafes in the UAE. Walking around Mega Mall is now possible without a mask without the risk of a fine. That's great.
Where is located and how to get
The Mega Mall is located in the western part of the Emirate of Sharjah, in Al Bu Daniq. It is far from the coast and beach hotels. There are no beach hotels from which you could reach the mall by foot.
In addition, it is far from the other attractions of the emirate, except the Al Mahatta Museum (Aviation Museum). It is not possible to combine a trip to the Mega Mall with visiting something else thus saving on transportation.
Free shuttle
The MEGA MALL SHUTTLE SERVICE provides free shuttle service from/to some hotels.
These hotels include Coral Beach, Sheraton Hotel, Sharjah Beach Hotel, Radisson Blu, Lou Lou'a Beach, Al Salam Grand Hotel, Sharjah Premiere, Copthorne, Sahara Beach, Red Castle, Al Hamrah Hotel and Swiss Bel.
If your hotel is on the list, look for the free bus schedule at your hotel's front desk.
When you get the free shuttle to the Mega Mall, ask at the Customer Service Desk. Each guest at the hotels on the list above is entitled to gifts, a coupon for free attractions at Antic's Land, a free family photo and a discount card valid at 70 of the mall's stores.
Taxi
If your hotel is not on the list, you can take a cab. City buses do not go there.
The taxi ride from hotels costs from 13.5 to 30 dirhams, depending on the hotel location. See our page "Money in Sharjah and the UAE" for the current exchange rates, and the taxi fares on the page "Taxis in Sharjah and the UAE".
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Opening hours
Working hours have recently changed. As of January 3, 2022, the United Arab Emirates switched to a 4½-day work week. See our review "Weekends in the UAE" for details.
Monday through Thursday: 10 am to 10 pm;
Saturday and Sunday: 10 am to midnight;
Friday: 10 am to 12 pm (midday) and 1 pm to midnight.
Dimensions and other figures
The Mega Mall was inaugurated on February 17, 2002. His Majesty Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, the Ruler of the Emirate of Sharjah, attended the ceremony. He said, "It is a pleasant place for family shopping and entertainment, and I hope it will become a success in terms of management as well".
The Mega Mall is the second largest mall in the Emirate of Sharjah, with a total area of 800,000 square feet (75,000 square meters) on 4 floors, of which 400,000 square feet (37,500 square meters) of retail space. The official website of the Mega Mall states, "One of the largest shopping malls in the Arab Emirates". In fact it is not even in the top ten.
The Mega Mall is small by the standards of the UAE. For comparison the famous Dubai Mall is 10 times bigger (350,000 sqm of retail area). Or compare it to Yas Mall in Abu Dhabi, which is 6 times larger (232,000 sqm of floor space).
The word "MEGA" in the name is an obvious exaggeration or an attempt to take wishful thinking for reality. It's a curious fact that on April 21, 2010, the main inscription "Mega Mall" on the facade of the building completely burned down. Nothing criminal, just a short circuit of electrical wires. Fate itself was against the name.
Sharjah already has a real MEGA Mall. In 2016 the future Tilal Mall was announced at a cost of 1.2 billion dirhams, and in 2017 the Al Zahia Mall was announced at a total cost of 2.6 billion dirhams. But so far there is no news on Tilal Mall at all. Al Zahia Mall opened in early 2021, but under the brand name City Centre. The area of the new City Centre Al Zahia is 1,460,000 square feet (136,200 square meters).
The Mega Mall could have become very popular despite its modest size if its prices were lower than those of the shopping malls in the neighboring Emirate of Dubai. And its location disposes to lower prices, because the rent and other costs of stores are lower in Sharjah. But in reality, prices at the Mega Mall are not much lower than in Dubai. Of course, everything is cheaper than in Dubai Mall, but not cheaper than in the Mall of the Emirates or Deira City Centre.
Entertainment
Antic's Land entertainment center is located on the 3rd floor. It is a large indoor amusement park with an area of 85,000 square feet (7,900 square meters). It is even larger than the Sega Republic at the Dubai Mall was (now is closed). It is the pride of the Mega Mall.
There are 12 rides, including a small roller coaster, 30 mini rides and about a hundred gaming machines and simulators. There is a billiard, a "fishing" attraction, a small Haunted House, a climbing wall, and a laser maze.
For a good time in Antic's Land prepare 200-300 dirhams per person.
NOVO Cinemas is a cinema with 7 auditoriums.
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Where and what to eat
The food court is on the 3rd floor. You can find there the fast food restaurants familiar to Europeans and Aericans: Burger King, McDonalds, KFC, Pizza Hut, Papa Johns.
We highly recommend a visit to the Hatam. This restaurant specializes in meat oriental cuisine - kebabs, shashlik, meat in the style of Emirati cuisine. The meat portions are large and you can add side dishes, vegetables, herbs to the main course. It is better to order one portion for two persons. An example is in the photo near, click on the photo to enlarge to full screen.
Stores
There is a Mega Mart hypermarket on the first floor. You can have a snacks in the hypermarket's culinary shop. You can find dates from the UAE of expensive varieties, camel milk, and other delicious gifts from the UAE on the shelves.
The Mega Mall has about 70 stores including Victoria`s Secret, Wrangler, Skechers, Giordano, Miniso, MUMUSO, Sharaf DG.
We recommend the Arabian Oud store. This place is considered one of the best places to buy Arabian oud and bakhoor perfumes. Even if you are not going to buy this perfume, you can just go in and look, get a good understanding about oud.
Where to buy a local SIM-card
The best place to buy the SIM-card is at the Etisalat (Ground floor) or DU (Second floor) office. Read about which SIM-card to buy in our detailed reviews "Internet in UAE" and "Calls from UAE".
Tips for tourists
- The Mega Mall has two parking lots. The first is for 800 cars on two underground levels. The second is for 600 cars outside. Underground parking is never fully filled, and it's better to park there;
- If you need to change money, look for the Al Ansari and Al Ghurair exchange offices on the first floor by the main entrance. A little further away from the entrance is the UAE Exchange. Read our detailed review "How to change currency in Sharjah and the UAE";
- Some stores have seasonal promotions or sales lasting 1-2 days. Announcements of promotions and sales can be seen on the page http://www.megamall.ae/offers/;
- Do not forget about the dress-code in public places in the Emirate of Sharjah, we talked about the dress-code in the review "Rules for tourists in Sharjah and the UAE".
Have fun shopping and entertainment at the Mega Mall, and read our pages about the UAE (find the list of the pages below).
