Farasan Islands

A protected archipelago in the Red Sea south of Jizan, the Farasan Islands consist of over 80 coral and sandstone islands and islets sheltering one of the most intact reef systems in the northern Red Sea. The islands were occupied during the Roman period — an unusually far-reaching imperial presence at this latitude — and ruins of a garrison building survive on Farasan al-Kabir. Dugong, sea turtles, and rare osprey colonies inhabit the islands alongside globally important populations of Saudi gazelle.