Kish Island

Kish is a small coral island in the Gulf developed since the 1970s as a free trade zone and holiday destination, with hotels, shopping malls, beaches and a coastal cycling and walking track running most of the way round. It is a domestic resort rather than an international one. Two things distinguish it from the malls. The Kariz underground city is a qanat system cut into the coral bedrock around two and a half thousand years ago to collect fresh water, now cleared and lit as a walk-through attraction with the coral and marine fossils in the walls visible throughout. And the wreck of the Greek ship Koula F, aground on the western shore since 1966, has become the island's emblem, photographed at sunset.

History

In 325 BC Alexander the Great sent his admiral Nearchus to explore the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, and his account of Arakata is the earliest known mention of the island; Marco Polo later noted that the pearls worn by the empress of China came from Kish. Over the centuries it has also been called Kamtina, Arakia and Ghiss (Wikipedia, Kish Island).

Highlights

• The Kariz underground city - an ancient qanat cut through coral, walkable.
• The Greek ship wreck - aground on the western beach since 1966.
• Coral beaches and reef - clear shallow water on parts of the coast.
• The coastal track - a cycling and walking route round much of the island.

When to go

November to March; summer is very hot and humid. Two to three days. Iranian holidays and Nowruz fill the island and prices rise sharply. The wreck is best at sunset.

What to expect

It is a shopping and resort island with limited character and heavy development. Beaches are segregated by sex and rules on swimming apply. Summer is oppressive. The wreck has deteriorated badly and is now much less than photographs suggest.

Nearby

Bandar Lengeh is on the mainland; Qeshm lies east along the coast.

Key facts