Kubbar Island

Thirty kilometres off the southern coast, Kubbar is Kuwait's answer to a beach club - built by nature: a low sand islet with a lighthouse, ringed by a coral reef that gives the only true turquoise in Kuwaiti waters. Summer weekends raft dozens of boats gunwale to gunwale in the anchorage, jet skis buzzing and grills smoking; out of the party season the island reverts to its other identity as a nesting ground where terns crowd the sand in thousands. Snorkelling the reef edge turns up angelfish, groupers and rays - a reminder that the Gulf, given a reef, performs.

What you actually see

• The turquoise anchorage - the reef lagoon colour rare in these waters.
• The reef snorkel - coral heads and Gulf fish on the drop.
• The tern colonies - nesting thousands in the summer season.
• The boat scene - Kuwait's flotilla culture at full weekend strength.

When to go

April to June and September to November balance sea warmth against the deadliest heat; weekends are social, weekdays near-private. In peak nesting months give the birds their ground - it is their island first.

Honest expectations

Everything must come by boat - there are no facilities, no shade beyond your canopy and no rescue but your charter's radio; plan water and sun protection seriously. Anchor on sand, never coral - the reef is the island's whole value. Weekend crowds bring weekend noise; solitude is a Tuesday phenomenon.

Nearby

Fahaheel's marinas and souq on the coast, and the city an hour north.