Socotra   forever

The boat trip to this beach is definitely a highlight of any trip to Socotra and is normally a scheduled part of the local tour operator’s one-week itineraries.

On a fine day – and you can only do it on a reasonably calm day – everything about it is perfect.
The boats are colourful, the fishing rewarding (expect fresh fish for dinner), the jutting pink cliffs extraordinary, the seabirds plentiful – and the sea such a brilliant blue-green that we thought we were looking at some exotic gull flying close to the water until we realised that its greenish breast was a reflection of the sea. There is a resident pod of spinner dolphins and, although they may not give you a display of spinning, they will happily play around your boat.

Birders will have a wonderful time identifying the birds nesting (or resting) on the cliffs.
Expect to see brown boobies and Socotra cormorants and flying around are sooty gulls and great crested terns. Further out to sea, if you’re very lucky, you might see a masked booby, Persian shearwaters and Jouanin’s petrel.

Surely one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. The boat trip from Qalansiyah is part of the treat: brown boobies and Socotran cormorants pose on the pink cliffs and spinner dolphins accompany the boat. The sandy beach is sprinkled with shells and coloured pebbles.
Perfect for a swim.