Masirah Island

The wind hasn't stopped since you stepped off the ferry. Sand skitters across the tarmac and the sea churns white. Somewhere on the beach, a loggerhead turtle has hauled herself ashore — one of thirty thousand that nest here every year, more than any island on earth. Behind the beach, abandoned hangars stand half-buried in sand — this island has always belonged to the wind and the turtles.

Masirah Island sits off Oman's central coast, separated from the mainland by a short but rough ferry crossing. The island is famous for two things: the world's largest loggerhead turtle nesting population and some of the Middle East's most consistent wind conditions for kitesurfing. A military base operated here from the 1930s until the 1970s, and the remains of its buildings — hangars, barracks, and a runway — give parts of the coastline a weathered, post-industrial character unusual for a nature reserve. Outside the main settlement, the island is sparsely populated, with long stretches of beach that see no visitors from one week to the next. The constant wind that makes Masirah challenging to visit is the same wind that created its unique character — a wild, exposed island that resists domestication.