Kish Island

Kish is a small coral island of about 91 km² in the Persian Gulf, some 18 km off the coast of Hormozgan province, and Iran’s best-known beach resort. A medieval trading port, it was turned into a luxury retreat under the last Shah in the 1970s and has been a free trade zone since the late 1980s, which made it a magnet for shoppers and holidaymakers from the rest of Iran.

Qays, the medieval port

Long before the hotels, Kish was a trading station. Arab geographers knew it as Qays. From about the 11th century, as the older port of Siraf on the mainland declined, the rulers of Qays built up a fleet and took over much of the Gulf’s sea trade with India, East Africa and China. Pearls from the surrounding banks were a major part of its wealth. Its rise ended in the 13th century, when the kingdom of Hormuz took its place as the main power at the mouth of the Gulf.

The ruins of the medieval town, known as Harireh (حریره), lie on the north coast: low walls of coral stone, cisterns and the outlines of houses. Nearby is the Kariz, an old system of underground water channels about 16 m below the surface, cut through the shell and coral rock. It has been restored as a visitor attraction, sometimes called the “underground city”, with galleries, shops and cafés.

The Shah’s island

Until the mid-20th century Kish was a quiet place of fishing and pearl-diving villages. In 1972 the government set up the Kish Development Organisation to turn it into an exclusive resort for the royal court and wealthy foreign guests, with an airport, a palace for the Shah, villas and plans for a casino. Much of the project was unfinished in 1979, and after the revolution the island’s luxury image was quickly dropped.

The free zone

The Islamic Republic gave Kish a new role. It was approved as a free trade zone in 1989, and the Kish Free Zone Organisation was set up to run it in the early 1990s. Lower taxes and customs duties brought shopping malls, hotels and a steady flow of Iranian visitors buying imported goods. Kish has also been allowed its own entry rules for foreign visitors, separate from the mainland. These rules have changed over the years, so check the current official position before you travel.

Today the island has a resident population of tens of thousands and receives millions of visitors a year, most of them from other parts of Iran. Kish International Airport has frequent flights from Tehran and other cities, and ferries run from the mainland ports.

Things to see on Kish

The Greek Ship

The island’s most photographed sight is the wreck of the Koula F, a cargo ship built in Britain in 1943 that ran aground off the south-west coast in 1966. Attempts to salvage it failed, and its rusting hull now sits in shallow water. Iranians call it Keshti-ye Yunani, “the Greek ship”, after its last owners, and crowds gather there to watch the sunset.

Beaches and the coast road

A road and a cycle path run around the whole island, about 40 km, and bicycles can be hired along the way. The east coast has the main beaches and coral reefs that attract snorkellers and divers; the water is clear and warm for most of the year. Beaches are separated for men and women, in line with Iranian law, and resort rules on dress apply.

Other sights

• Dariush Grand Hotel, a large hotel decorated in a style copied from Persepolis, with columns modelled on its palaces.
• Dolphin Park, a leisure park with a dolphinarium and a bird garden at the south-east corner of the island.
• Malls such as the Pardis and Marjan shopping centres, still the main reason many Iranians visit.
• The Kish Native Anthropology House, a small museum of island life before the resort era: pearl-diving, fishing and boat building.

When to go

Kish is hot and humid from May to October, with summer temperatures regularly above 35°C. The busy season is the cooler half of the year, from November to April, and especially during the Nowruz holidays in late March, when hotels fill up and prices rise. For the island’s place in the wider region, see our pages on Bandar Abbas, Qeshm Island and Hormuz Island, and our guide to Nowruz if you are planning a holiday trip.

As with any part of Iran, check your own government’s travel advice before you go.