Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Getting There & Away
The national carrier Yemenia OFFLINE MAP GOOGLE MAP ( 201474;
www.yemenia.com.ye ) has one-way flights to Sana'a (US$82), Felix Airways ( 565656;
www.felixairways.com ; Airport Rd) covers the same route for a little less (US$74).
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Kamaran Island
Tantalising the adventurous with thoughts of pristine reefs and ancient tales of pirates,
smugglers and buried treasure is a string of desert islands floating in the limpid waters of
the steamy Red Sea. However, due to the fact that the pirates and smugglers, if not the
buried treasure, are still out there, most of these islands, including the jewel in the crown,
the Hanish Islands, have long been out of bounds to tourists.
All is not lost though; Kamaran Island, sitting a kilometre or so off the coast, offers
would-be sea dogs a chance to live the life of a castaway.
Kamaran Island offers excellent diving as well as a range of organised activities, but
don't come expecting balmy tropical beaches. Utterly barren and blasted by unceasing
winds, this is a real desert island in every sense of the word.
The only formal place to stay, Kamaran Island Resort ( 733711742; www.kamaran.net ; r per person
with all meals US$65) , at the northern end of the island, has a shabby collection of Tihama
style traditional huts with filthy common bathrooms and decent seafood meals (nonguests
pay an unfathomably expensive US$20 per meal). The resort rents out diving equipment
and boats as well as snorkelling gear.
Other entertainment includes exploring Kamaran towns' weathered and partially col-
lapsed coral buildings and end-of-the-world atmosphere.
Getting to Kamaran is half the fun. From Al-Hudayda travel up through unremittingly
desolate scenery to the bleak, wind-battered town of Al-Salif which is truly the town the
Gods forgot. The port for Kamaran, which sits just to the south of the main fishing port,
consists of a fallen-over hut and a tea shop. Boats depart to Kamaran village every hour or
so.
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Jabal Bura
 
 
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