Islands of Saudi Arabia

The shores of Saudi Arabia are washed on the one side of the water of the Red Sea, on the other - the waters of the Persian Gulf. The islands of Saudi Arabia attract tourists some distance from too busy cities, beautiful nature and a preserved history, as well as the opportunity to dive into an amazing underwater world.

Natural Islands

So, to the sections of the land cut off from the mainland by the sea, the following belong to Saudi Arabia:

The shores of Saudi Arabia are washed on the one side of the water of the Red Sea, on the other - the waters of the Persian Gulf. The islands of Saudi Arabia attract tourists some distance from too busy cities, beautiful nature and a preserved history, as well as the opportunity to dive into an amazing underwater world.

Natural Islands

So, to the sections of the land cut off from the mainland by the sea, the following belong to Saudi Arabia:

  1. Farasan . This is a group of coral islands, located in the Red Sea. It attracts a considerable number of tourists, firstly, its beautiful diving sites, and secondly - the ancient Turkish fort. Very exotic look and houses of local residents, decorated with corals. True, the beaches on the islands are not very good, but there is one very worthy place here, this Farasan Coral Resort (Farasan Coral Resort) on the largest of the islands of the archipelago, also called Farasan. Two other major islands of the archipelago are Sajid and Zufaf.
  2. Tarut. The island is located in the Persian Gulf. In the 16th century it belonged to the Portuguese, and since their reign, the fort has survived. In addition, here you can see the ruins of the old city and the palace, built in the VI century and reconstructed in XIX by one rich pearl merchant. Unfortunately, today he lies again in ruins. Tarut is popular with tourists interested in history, but there are no decent beaches on the island.
  3. Karan and El-Arabiya. The ownership of both islands was disputed by Iran, but in 1968 an agreement was concluded, as a result of which Saudi Arabia became the "owner" of them.
  4. Sanaphire and Tyrant. Saudi Arabia received from Egypt these 2 islands in the Red Sea very recently, in 2017. It is assumed that through them a bridge will pass, which will connect the Arabian Peninsula with Sinai. Until now, the island of Tiran was part of the resort area of ​​Sharm El Sheikh, but as a place for tourist recreation was practically not used. Sea excursions were organized for tourists by the coast of the island, but they were not allowed to land on the coast: the base of international observers MFO is located on Tirana, which monitors the observance of the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt, and the coast in this area has been mined since the past conflicts. But not far from the island are 4 beautiful coral reefs, which are considered the most beautiful in the Red Sea. Underwater beauty and the presence of one of the reefs of a sunken ship (this is a Cypriot ship) attracts a large number of divers.

Artificial islands

Unlike the UAE and Bahrain, Saudi Arabia has virtually no artificial islands, not counting the Passport Islands. And she is not his sole owner, sharing the island with Bahrain. Passport Island (it is often called Quay No. 4, as well as the Middle Island) serves as a kind of support for the King Fahd Bridge - one of the most famous sights of Saudi Arabia . It is over it that the border between the two states passes, here is the border post.

The area of ​​the island is 660 thousand square meters. It has 2 mosques, 2 coast guard towers, 2 restaurants, several government offices and a management responsible for the condition and operation of the bridge.