I’ve visited well over 100 ports around the world on cruises over the past decade, but an island I stopped at on a recent cruise quickly became one of my favorites.
The port is Sir Bani Yas, the largest natural island in the United Arab Emirates. The port offers a private island experience and a safari though the Arabian Wildlife Park.
Sir Bani Yas was originally a private island for MSC Cruises when they started visiting there a decade ago, but other cruise lines now also visit the island. The port was one of five stops on my recent sailing on Celestyal Journey.
So what makes Sir Bani Yas so unique and incredible? Let’s dig in!
Private Island Experience
As soon as you step off the pier at Sir Bani Yas, you are on the beach. On the day that I visited there were two ships in port, our ship Celestyal Journey and MSC Euribia.
Each cruise line had their own beach area, although MSC’s was much larger since their ship held four times as many passengers as ours.
You really could just sit in whichever lounger you wanted, but if you wanted a drink, you had to go to your cruise line’s bar at their beach. This is because you used your cruise card to order drinks like you do at all cruise line private islands.
The beach was really large and just gorgeous. It rarely rains there so it really is a great beach stop on a cruise. There were tons of loungers and umbrellas.
There was live music and even gift shops to pick up some souvenirs. I highly recommend picking up some Dubai chocolate.
Safari
Even though the beach is gorgeous on Sir Bani Yas, the highlight of the day was the safari.
At the center of the island is Sir Bani Yas Arabian Wildlife Park and you can book a shore excursion to take a 90 minute safari through it. You board an open air bus right at the cruise port and it’s a very short drive to the park.
This wildlife refuge is home to 17,000 free roaming animals and it takes up over half the island.
A few animals are kept in secure areas due to them being predators, but most are free to roam the 5.5 square mile park.
If you are visiting Sir Bani Yas as a family, kids will love the safari. It’s not too long and not too short, it’s really perfect at 90 minutes.
It really is one of the most unique cruise ports I’ve ever visited and it’s one that I would love to return to.
