The bulk islands in the Persian Gulf opposite the Dubai coastline are an ambitious ambitious project for the energetic and adventurous Sheikh Mohammed Ibn Rashid Al Maktoum. The construction of hotels, private villas, shopping and entertainment centers in the territories conquered from the sea increased the tourist attractiveness of the emirate and reduced its dependence on the oil needle. Materials for artificial islands – monolithic stone, limestone and sea sand, mined directly from the bottom of the bay. The project began in 2001, and today its facilities are at different stages of readiness – from the Palm Jumeirah island, already popular among tourists, to the new Dubai Waterfront island resort, the creation of which has been postponed indefinitely.
Palm jumeirah
The first-born of the project and the new business card of Dubai – Palm Jumeirah Island, really looks like a giant date palm tree in the ring of breakwaters, which are 11 km long. The creation of Jumeirah took 5 years of hard work, 85 million tons of sand, 7 million tons of stone and 12 billion USD. On a 4-kilometer “trunk” of a palm tree, 16 sickle-shaped “leaves” extending from it and wide breakwaters with a total area of 900 football fields, multi-storey residential buildings, private villas, restaurants, shopping and entertainment centers, parks, tens of kilometers of beaches and more than a hundred fashionable hotels, including the famous Atlantis The Palm.
From the center of Dubai, the island can be accessed via a 300-meter bridge with a 6-lane road or in the car of the first monorail in the UAE.
Palm Jebel Ali
Palm Jebel Ali DubaiThe continuation of the line of “palm” islands – Palm Jebel Ali, is 1.5 times bigger than Jumeirah. It was completely dumped in 2008 and, according to initial plans, thousands of Polynesian bungalows standing on stilts directly in the water, as well as 4 amusement parks and a marine aquarium were to appear on it. However, since 2011, due to low demand for real estate, most construction work has been stopped.
The World Archipelago
The World archipelago is 300 small bulk islands 4 km from the coast, combined into groups that follow the shape of the earth’s continents. Their area is from 14 to 83 thousand square meters. m and they are all separated by straits 50-100 m wide. Each is named after a country, a big city or region. All islands were conceived as elite territories with maximum privacy, where there are no outsiders and where you can get only by air or water. Only rich and famous people who received a personal offer from the developer could buy them.
Most of the owners of the islands, among which there are immigrants from Russia, remain incognito. We only know that the UK was bought by billionaire Richard Branson, Ethiopia is owned by Angelina Jolie, and Sheikh Dubai himself presented Michael Schumacher to one of the Antarctic islands.
After the fall in oil prices and the events of the “Arab Spring”, the construction of family residences in the archipelago froze. Nevertheless, since 2014, on 6 islands, including St. Petersburg, the Heart of Europe project has been implemented using new climate technologies.
The only open island for visitors to Lebanon belongs to Sheikh Dubai. The Royal Island Beach Club, built from 11:00 to 18:00, is built on it. Boats leave from Jumeirah’s fishing harbor every half hour, the cost of a visit is 300 AED.
Blue Water Island
The youngest on the list of artificial islands in Dubai is the relatively small Blue Water Island with hotels, shopping and entertainment centers, a beach and stunning views of the Persian Gulf. Located near the coast in the Jumeirah region, it is connected to the mainland by a motor road and a high-speed monorail, and from the beaches of Jumeirah you can reach it via a 200-meter pedestrian bridge. The main attraction of the island is the most (and what in Dubai for the most?) The world’s largest Ferris wheel “Eye of Dubai”, which they plan to launch by autumn 2020.