Saudi Arabia
Farasan Islands
Gazelles graze between Ottoman ruins on a Red Sea archipelago ringed by living coral.
The ferry from Jizan crosses open Red Sea water for about ninety minutes before the Farasan archipelago appears β low, flat islands fringed with white sand and coral shallows glowing bottle-green. On the main island, Farasan gazelles graze between crumbling Ottoman-era buildings, apparently unbothered by the contradiction of ruins and wildlife sharing the same frame.
The Farasan Islands are an archipelago of more than eighty islands in the southern Red Sea, off the coast of Saudi Arabia's Jizan region β protected since 1996 and declared the kingdom's first UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 2021. The largest island holds Ottoman-era buildings and pearl merchants' houses from the days when Farasan was a pearl-diving hub, along with a small heritage museum. The surrounding waters hold coral reefs, mangrove channels and nesting hawksbill turtles, and the Farasan gazelle β found nowhere else β roams freely across the island. Each spring the hareed season turns the shallows silver, when parrotfish shoal inshore in their thousands and the islands celebrate with a festival that has run for generations.
Couple
Warm shallows, unhurried beaches and an island pace far from the resort coasts create an intimacy that curated luxury cannot.
Family
The shallow, warm water invites unhurried swimming, the gazelles fascinate children, and the ferry ride itself is an adventure.
Friends
Snorkelling the reefs with local boatmen and exploring the Ottoman ruins make Farasan a group expedition with variety.
- More than eighty islands make up the archipelago β most uninhabited, with coral reefs beginning at the shoreline.
- Farasan gazelles, found nowhere else, graze freely between crumbling Ottoman-era buildings.
- Mangrove channels wind between the islands, sheltering nesting hawksbill turtles and flocks of seabirds.
- Each spring the hareed season fills the shallows with shoaling parrotfish β and the islands throw a festival for it.
Hareed β the islands' seasonal parrotfish, grilled during the late-March shoaling festival.
Freshly grilled snapper and shrimp on the harbour wall, caught that morning by local fishermen.
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