Sir Bani Yas Island

Sir Bani Yas is an island off the western coast of Abu Dhabi that was turned in the 1970s into a private nature reserve, part of a long effort to save the Arabian oryx, which had been hunted to the edge of extinction in the wild. Millions of trees were planted, water was piped in, and what had been bare desert island became a working savannah. Today the Arabian Wildlife Park covers more than half the island and holds thousands of animals: large herds of oryx and several species of gazelle, along with introduced giraffe, hyena and a small population of cheetah, watched on game drives that feel unexpectedly like East Africa until you notice the Gulf on the horizon. The island also holds a salt dome, mangroves, mountain-biking and kayaking, and the excavated remains of a pre-Islamic Christian monastery.

What you actually see

• Arabian oryx herds - the species this island was created to save.
• Game drives - giraffe, gazelle, hyena and cheetah across the planted savannah.
• The ancient monastery - excavated remains of a pre-Islamic Christian community.
• Kayaking the mangroves - the sheltered coast and salt flats.

When to go

November to March is the comfortable season; summer here is extremely hot and game drives run only at the edges of the day. Wildlife is most active early morning and late afternoon year-round. The island is reached by a scheduled ferry tied to resort stays.

Honest expectations

Access is effectively limited to guests of the island's resorts, which are expensive, so this is not a day trip for most people. The wildlife is introduced and managed rather than naturally occurring, which some visitors find hollow and others regard as legitimate conservation; the oryx recovery is genuinely a success story. It is three hours from Abu Dhabi plus a ferry, so it needs at least a two-night stay to be worth it.

Nearby

The Liwa oasis and the Empty Quarter dunes are inland; Abu Dhabi is three hours east.