Islas Farasan

How to Visit the Farasan Islands?: It's easier than it seems

1- How to Get to the Farasan Islands

There's no airport there (the closest one is in Jizan), so you'll have to take a ferry

To buy your ferry ticket, you do NOT have to go to the port; instead, you should go to a kind of Port Authority office located about 600 meters further south.

If you want to bring your own vehicle, they told me there that you have to reserve it well in advance because it fills up very quickly.

There are supposed to be two ferries going there (7 AM and 3:30 PM) and two coming back (at the same times). They ask for your passport to issue the tickets, and—to my great surprise—they didn’t charge me a thing! (It seems that, to promote tourism, foreigners get to ride for free…)

You're supposed to arrive at the port about 90 or 60 minutes before departure time, but then... you show up at that time and you're the first one there...

You also need to bring your passport to board the ferry, which takes about an hour and a half to arrive.

2- The Visit

How can I visit the Farasan Islands? How do I get around the island?

There's no public transportation here, so you're in for a rough time if you don't drive your own car or rent one there

As soon as you step out of the ferry terminal, taxi drivers swarm you, offering tours of the islands. I ran into one of these guys and managed to get some information out of him: he was asking for 200 rials (50 euros) to take me to 3–4 places, which I’ll talk about later. 

It's expensive (very expensive) considering prices in Saudi Arabia, but it has the advantage that you're guaranteed a ride and don't waste time hitchhiking or waiting for a taxi to pass by on the highway.

Well, I decided to go it alone, to see if I could get to places by hitchhiking….

In Saudi Arabia, any driver (except women) passing by can become an impromptu taxi driver, so just stand in the middle of the road, put on a smile, and wait for someone to give you a ride…

A man flags me down on the road, and I strike a deal with him to take me to the center of the town of Farasan, roughly in the middle of the island: 20 rials, and he drops me off at the Fish Market. Let's go.

Well, here we are, at the Fish Market (the town's fish market)

I'm dying over the access door, haha

Since you'll be arriving very early in the morning (the ferry arrives at 8:30), you'll find it almost empty.

You can visit the top tourist attractions on foot from the Fish Market

Go to the large roundabout north of the Fish Market and turn right, walking east.

Keep walking until you see this sign (about 10–15 minutes) 

and turn left onto the very next street….And that will take you to some elegant houses with this beautiful decoration 

It seems they belonged to a family of pearl merchants from the area. Unfortunately, only two have been restored, and there are no explanatory panels or anything like that, but they're really cool. There aren't any people around either, so you can explore them at your leisure.

The incredible thing is that there are many more houses like these all around—overgrown with vegetation, half-collapsed, and left to fend for themselves… They aren’t even fenced off or anything, even though they look like they’re about to fall on top of you…

…or they’re already in ruins

The good thing about this place is that you're all alone: I didn't see any tourists, security guards, or tour guides—or any of the usual nonsense associated with typical tourist spots; the bad thing is that you have to hop over rubble and/or risk having a ceiling collapse on you or something like that…

Unfortunately, this was a recurring theme on my trip through Saudi Arabia: there are tons of ancient sites like these that are falling apart, and they couldn’t care less—they tear them down and build whatever they want on top of them… and then they say they’re investing to boost tourism. Oh well…

Let's continue with the tour

If you wander back to the roundabout through these neighborhoods instead of taking the main street, you can see a few more of these little coral houses scattered about.

We're back where we started, at the Fish Market. Heading north from the nearby roundabout, you'll find the Nadji Mosque.

It's closed when I get there, but it's no big deal…

I headed back to the Fish Market, and on the way, a car honked at me. The driver rolled down the window, and an Arab man I’d met at the ticket counter at the port said to me, “You have two options: walk or come with us to tour the island….” Two seconds later, I was already in the car with him, his wife (a German woman he’d met at a consulate), and his driver.

The first stop on this impromptu tour is the farthest one: the bridge connecting the two largest islands in the archipelago. You take the island’s (only) road heading west and end up there almost without realizing it. 

There's a small beach, and everything is wonderfully clean. There's not a soul in sight. You can walk across the bridge and see just how clean the water is when we humans aren't ruining everything with our presence.

I ask the driver if we can camp here. He doesn't seem to understand why anyone would want to come out here in the middle of nowhere with a tent, and he shrugs as if to say, “Do whatever you want.”

Not far from there is another beach with enormous coral formations eroded by the tide, creating a sort of “natural umbrella.” The entire beach is covered with shells and, once again, is crystal clear. Some clever person set up a swing there, and the temptation was just too strong…

We stopped to eat at a local restaurant

My kind host orders everything on the menu, and his driver is also invited to join us. I offer to pay my share, but both he and the restaurant owner ignore me….

I noticed that in Saudi Arabia, many restaurants have “private rooms” for families, and that’s where they put us. As I was speaking in English with my host’s wife, three young Arab women—shedding their usual modesty—burst into the private room like a hurricane. With their cell phones in hand, they started asking the lady for photos and telling her she was “sooo beautiful”; They must not have considered me very “beautiful” because they didn’t even look at me, though I suppose they weren’t bold enough to speak to a man like that so casually…

Our last stop was this interesting beach, where they had built a sort of playground with these little toy houses

Once again, like everything in Saudi Arabia, it's all very beautiful… but completely deserted—not a soul around to enjoy all this scenery.

Well, that wraps up our tour of the Farasan Islands

Interestingly, when you return to the mainland, there aren't any taxis waiting for travelers coming back from the day trip, so you have to go out to the road to flag down someone to take you to downtown Jizan (the port is quite far away).

Well, this is what I would say if someone asked me how to visit the Farasan Islands

To learn more about Saudi Arabia: https://999millas.net/category/paises/arabia-saudi/