Travel Guide Hawar Islands

The islands of Hawar form a chapel of desert islands, of which only the largest is inhabited. For a long time, the Territory was disputed by Qatar, but the International Court of Justice attributed them to Bahrain (see box). The situation remains tense and some of the islands are home to military bases. The island of Hawar houses a hotel, a police station and a royal residence. Everything else is a protected nature reserve. It is the most preserved territory of the whole Kingdom. In short, it's a little paradise for wildlife. Ornithologists will observe in the seasons many migratory birds or stunts. Some extremely rare species have elected them as the osprey and their famous nests that can measure more than two meters high. Mammals are also present on the island and live in total freedom: Bahrain gazelles, Arabian oryx, lizards, etc.Hawar Island is 18 km long and was the only archipelago in the archipelago where the Dawasir nomadic tribe resided part of the year. Two villages welcomed them during the pearl season. Then, once winter came, they were leaving on the coast of Saudi Arabia. These villages have now been inhabited and have since the beginning of the twentieth century. But the Dawasir were not the first inhabitants of Hawar. Archeological traces are strewn across the island, mainly graved rocks, and even a awalé, one of the most widespread games in Africa where rocks, seeds or shells are distributed in cups or holes. Hawar's is dug off the floor. To survive, people had developed an ingenious system to transform ambient moisture into drinking water, ancestor of humidity farms. Many are still visible today.Only the island of Hawar is still inhabited and this is where you can spend the night, in the Hawar Beach Hotel, or in individual bungalows, a little further away. Their teams organize safaris on demand to discover the extraordinary riches of this nature reserve. Prepare to discover breathtaking panoramas made of djebels, shifting sands and turquoise sea.Other main islandsSuwād al-Janūbīyah: accumulation of sand and pebbles. 10% of the Socotra cormorant population is part of the year. When cormorants arrive, the island becomes as black as their plumage.Suwād ash Shamālīyah: desert island. Some species of migratory birds stop there.Rubud Al Sharqiyah and Rubud Al Gharbiyah: seasonal homes of white throats.Muhazwarah: a fairly large island with an interesting geological characteristic, wadi (valleys) formed, proof that the water was present in a distant time.