Desert Islands open October 2008
The Sir Bani Yas island will be the first of the 8 Desert Islands to open to the public, on October 2008. It will be an eco-touristic place for people seeking adventure and nature experiences. The island is not man-made this time. It is in fact one of the largest natural islands in the emirate of Abu Dhabi.
Sir Bani Yas island offers a world of natural wonders, cultural artefacts, exciting adventures and serene escapes.
It is located eight kilometres off the shore of Abu Dhabi. It used to be Arabia’s largest wildlife reserve, with a surface of 87 square kilometres. Today, you can find there thousands of large free-roaming animals and over 2.5 million trees and plants.
The Desert Islands combine six nature reserves spread across eight islands. The estimated total investment from both the government and private sector will be more than $3 billion. They should attract around 250′000 visitors per year as soon as the first phase will be completed in 2010. This number should rise to over a million a year by 2017.
All the islands will be linked by a ferry and hydrofoil service, water taxis, private resort boat service and regional and sea planes. Now, is is just me, or the island on the picture above looks like a key?
At least the purpose of all the constructions going on there is for “eco”-tourism, meaning that they should not affect to much the wildlife and nature. They will just convert the nature into a theme park…
Photos
More Info
Desert Islands: http://www.desertislands.com/
July 1st, 2008 at 12:30 am
it surely does look like a key. is that man made?