Sir Bani Yas Island is a study in what political will and ecological investment can achieve. In the 1970s, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan — the founding president of the UAE — began a personal project to reintroduce extinct and endangered Arabian wildlife to a salt flat island in the Gulf. Over fifty years, the project transformed 87 square kilometres of arid coastal land into a functioning wildlife reserve supporting over 10,000 animals, including the first captive-born Arabian cheetah and populations of oryx, addax, and gazelle that have been reintroduced to the wild elsewhere in the region.
The result is a safari experience with no precedent in the Middle East: open 4WD game drives through acacia woodland past Arabian oryx — the animal that may have given rise to the unicorn legend, its single-horn profile distinctive at distance — alongside giraffe (introduced for diversity), hyena, and over 170 bird species. The guides are specialist wildlife staff, not hotel concierges; the information they carry about the individual animals’ histories and behaviours reflects years of daily contact with the same population.
Anantara’s island resort occupies the northern tip of the island, with direct Gulf beach and views across to the Abu Dhabi coast. The three accommodation options range from beach villas to desert lodges to a palace-style property. Game drives run twice daily at dawn and dusk; kayaking through the island’s mangroves (the most significant mangrove ecosystem in the UAE, and critical habitat for waterbirds) operates between game drives. The combination of wildlife, beach, and cultural context (the island also holds one of the oldest Christian churches in the Arab world, discovered in excavations) makes for an unusually rich short-break proposition.
Access is by ferry from Jebel Dhanna terminal (2 hours from Abu Dhabi) or by seaplane from Abu Dhabi. A private road-and-ferry transfer from Dubai is approximately 4 hours.
