Kish (all images)

Kish is an Iranian island in the Persian gulf 16km long and 8km at its widest point. It's only 20km off the Iranian coast, but primarily accessible by plane from Iran or the UAE, as the ferry connections to the Irnian mainland are not easily available to non-Iranians. Kish has a special visa-free status, allowing visitors from the UAE to visit the island without an Iranian visa. Kish is relatively flat and is surrounded by beautiful white coral sand beaches and turquoise waters. The island has been developed for a long time as a tourist destination and has a pretty good tourist infrastructure. However due to restrictions from the Islamic faith, men and women are not allowed to be together on the same beach and women must be dressed appropriately in public places. Kish has a number of good quality hotels and attracts a large number of tourists, most of whom are Iranian nationals. Besides the beaches Kish has a few tourist attractions, one of them being the ancient Harireh town, where there are ruins of 800 year old buildings.