Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Hormoz Islandزمره هريزج
0763 / POP 5677
A 30-minute boat ride from Bandar Abbas, sleepy Hormoz is a world away from the
bustle of the regional capital. When your speedboat rounds the sea wall and the captain
kills the motor you'll be engulfed by something almost completely unheard of in Bandar -
silence.
The only settlement is tiny Hormoz Village, where a richly evocative Portuguese sea
fort slowly erodes at its northern edge and an impoverished village nestles among palm
trees, pale-stone mosques and dusty laneways rarely disturbed by traffic.
The rest of the 42-sq-km island is virtually uninhabited. The rugged interior is a barren
land of forbidding peaks seared by centuries of fierce Persian Gulf sun. It's a popular des-
tination for geology buffs, who come to see Rainbow Valley, with its spectacular land-
scape of different-coloured volcanic rocks and soils.
There is nowhere to stay or eat on the island. Small grocery stores in the town sell
bottled water, soft drinks, biscuits and ice creams.
WARNING
The only way of reaching Hormoz is on an open speedboat. These can be difficult to get on and off, so if you're not
physically agile you may wish to give the trip a miss. And if you can't swim, avoid the trip at all cost - the boats
don't always carry lifejackets and when one flipped over recently 17 people drowned. Another big problem is that
the winds around the island are notoriously changeable and boat services can be cancelled at any minute. This
means that you could possibly be stranded on the island, which has no hotels or restaurants, overnight. Be sure to
check a local weather forecast before you leave Bandar Abbas.
History
Until the 14th century this was called Jarun Island - Hormoz was the name of a long-es-
tablished commercial town on the mainland. That changed when repeated bloody Mongol
raids prompted the 15th Amir of Hormoz to seek a home where his head had a greater
likelihood of remaining on his shoulders. He and many of his subjects moved first to Kish
Island, but finally settled on Jarun.
Standing sentinel over the narrow entrance to the Persian Gulf, this new Hormoz soon
became a grand emporium that attracted immigrants from the mainland and traders from
