The Red Sea Destination

Understand

As the name suggests, the Red Sea Project covers 200 km of Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast including 92 offshore islands, for a total of 28,000 km2. Like the megalomaniacal Neom project a bit further up north, it's a part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Sultan's many "Vision 2030" projects. Unlike Neom, it's actually open to visitors, if you have the desire to spend the piles of money to stay at expensive resorts located very, very far from everything.

Official tourism site Visit Red Sea

Getting there

By plane 1 Red Sea International Airport (RSI IATA) has limited flights to Dubai and major Saudi cities, with most flights operated only a few days per week. The nearest larger airports are in Medina and Jeddah.

By car The Red Sea Project is 550 km from Jeddah and 1,200 km from Riyadh.

Getting around

There is no public transport. Visitors are ferried around by a fleet of Lucid and Mercedes sedans.

Do

The islands of the Red Sea have impressive coral reefs. All resorts offer water sports facilities.

Drink & nightlife

Like the rest of Saudi Arabia, there is no alcohol available at the Red Sea.

Sleep

Resorts are scattered across the islands as well as inland. Pricewise, all of them fall firmly into the Splurge category. For more affordable accommodation, you'll need to drive 100 km to Umluj.

Islands

The following resorts can only be reached by boat or seaplane.

1 Nujuma, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve (Ummahat Islands). 63 villas with private pools. It is the holder of the hotly contested title of the most expensive hotel in the Middle East, with room rates averaging US$3400/night. (updated Feb 2025) 2 St. Regis Red Sea Resort (Ummahat Islands). 90-room resort designed by Japanese starchitect Kengo Kuma. US$1800. (updated Feb 2025) 3 Shebara Resort (Sheybarah Island). 73 Maldives-style overwater villas, only they're made of reflective stainless steel. Very Instagrammable, but a rather odd choice given the climate. US$1800. (updated Feb 2025)

Mainland

4 Six Senses Southern Dunes. 40 villas and a 36-room hotel complex in the middle of the desert. US$600. (updated Feb 2025)

Go next

The ruins of the ancient Nabataean city of Hegra, Saudi Arabia's answer to Petra, are around 1.5 hours away by car.