The Farasan Islands are a coral archipelago off Jazan, and Saudi Arabia's first UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.
The islands were recognised under UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere programme as the country's first natural reserve of that kind. They hold dolphins, sea turtles, migratory birds and the Farasan gazelle, along with reef systems that get very little pressure.
There is Ottoman and older building on the main island, and the pace is entirely different from the mainland.
Getting there and when to go
Reached by ferry from Jazan on the mainland, so the crossing has to be planned into the trip.
What the tourism authority says
Saudi Arabia’s First UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Recognized as the Kingdom’s first natural reserve under UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Program, the Farasan Islands embody a rare harmony of sea and land.
Sources
Photograph: https://www.flickr.com/people/26116471@N03 Wajahat Mahmood, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.