Hormuz Island

Hormuz is a salt dome pushed up through the sea floor, and the minerals brought up with it colour the whole island: hills and beaches in red, ochre, yellow, white and purple, with a shore in one place where red soil runs into the water and stains it, and valleys of banded rock that have made the island a subject for artists. The red ochre, gelak, is high in iron oxide and is used locally in cooking and as a pigment, mixed into bread and sauces, which visitors are usually offered. A Portuguese fort of 1507 stands on the northern shore, built when this was a major trading post controlling the strait. The island is small enough to circle in a day by motorbike or tuk-tuk.

What you actually see

• Coloured mineral hills - red, ochre, yellow and purple soils across the island.
• The red beach - iron-rich soil staining the water at the shore.
• Edible red ochre - gelak used locally as pigment and in food.
• The Portuguese fort of 1507 - the trading post on the northern shore.

When to go

November to March; summer is brutally hot. A day to circle the island, better with an overnight to see the colours at both ends of the day. Nowruz brings large crowds and accommodation is impossible then.

Honest expectations

Accommodation is limited to guesthouses and camping and books out at holidays. Boats cancel in wind. Taking soil from the island is prohibited and enforced. There is very little shade and no reliable water. Summer visits are not advisable.

Nearby

Bandar Abbas is on the mainland; Qeshm lies west.