This is the detailed story of an absolutely unforgettable three-day journey through the highly diverse, incredibly beautiful landscapes of Saudi Arabia’s massive southern region. An unexpected, quiet break from the busy reception desk at Taj Polyclinic led to a sudden, highly energetic phone call from my good friend and trusted colleague, Dr. Ijas. He happily proposed a highly spontaneous, last-minute road trip. At first, we debated intensely between actively visiting the freezing, cool high mountains of Abha or taking a boat to the remote, highly peaceful Farasan Islands, which sit 50 kilometers out in the deep blue waters off the Jizan coast. Realizing that both destinations were conveniently located on a somewhat similar southern route, and luckily having enough free vacation time, we bravely decided to aggressively tackle both! We quickly gathered our good friends Rafi and Ansari, hastily finalized a massive, highly ambitious 1600-kilometer travel itinerary, and eagerly set off very early the very next morning.
Ishabil Trip at a Glance
Day 1: From the Coast to the Cool Peaks (Jeddah to Abha to Jizan)
We officially started our grand adventure exactly at 6:00 AM sharp, sitting comfortably in Dr. Ijas’s highly reliable car. The incredibly long, paved Jeddah-Jizan highway stretched out endlessly before us exactly like a dark ribbon cutting through the sand. As the bright morning sun slowly rose higher in the sky, illuminating the landscape, we sped past the final city limits of Jeddah, happily leaving the noisy, busy city life completely behind us. We were all incredibly excited for the long, open road ahead.
The Unexpected Oasis of Watermelons
For a very long, flat stretch of the coastal drive, the dusty roadsides were beautifully and surprisingly lined with vast, highly productive watermelon farms. In the very middle of the otherwise dry, arid land, seeing so much fresh, green fruit was a truly wonderful, unexpected surprise. We eagerly stopped at one small, rustic farm stall happily run by a highly friendly Sudanese worker. He smiled warmly and proudly showed us his freshly harvested watermelons, with excellent prices ranging from just 5 to 30 Saudi Riyals depending heavily on the size. We happily purchased a massive one and spent a few quiet minutes snapping beautiful photos of this surprising, bright greenery growing miraculously right in the hot desert sands.
Ishabil Fact: The Desert Blooms
When rare, highly concentrated heavy rain finally falls in the dry Saudi desert, countless seeds that have been sleeping completely dormant deep in the sand for years suddenly sprout! This incredibly rapid growth creates massive, temporary fields of highly vibrant green grass that local Bedouin farmers quickly use to heavily feed their grazing camels.
After quickly refueling the car and taking a very short, relaxing break at a busy gas station around 7:30 AM, we noticed something absolutely amazing. The surrounding land was completely and utterly covered in thick, vibrant green vegetation. This was the beautiful, highly dramatic result of recent, heavy seasonal rain passing through the area. The vast, sweeping stretches of fresh green grass, beautifully scattered with slowly wandering camels and the highly traditional, temporary canvas tents of local Bedouin settlements, offered a truly stunning, highly cinematic spectacle that we simply could not stop looking at from the moving car windows.
A Beachside Feast and a Sudden Change of Plan
By exactly 9:00 AM, our empty stomachs were rumbling very loudly, so we happily stopped for a heavy breakfast near the coastal town of Al Lith. We were incredibly happy to find a highly busy, bustling Boofiya (a traditional local cafeteria) actively run by fellow Malayalis. Since my actual home is in Kerala, India, happily hearing the highly familiar Malayalam language spoken and drinking their delicious, hot, sweet tea with fresh, crispy sandwiches felt absolutely amazing. By 11:00 AM, we had already successfully passed the coastal city of Al Qunfudhah. Realizing we were driving incredibly fast and were significantly ahead of our originally planned schedule, we boldly and spontaneously adjusted our whole travel plan. We decisively agreed that we would drive straight up the steep roads to the high, cool mountains of Abha today, and then carefully head back down to the coastal city of Jizan for the night.
We easily found a highly perfect, incredibly quiet spot for our lunch break situated right near the pristine sea coast at Al Birk. The sandy beach here had lovely, open, highly traditional thatched huts built with covered roofs to perfectly protect us from the highly hot, glaring sun. Thankfully, there were also very clean, modern public restroom facilities located nearby. We happily spread a very large, soft traditional carpet directly on the warm beach sand. We all sat closely together and thoroughly enjoyed a highly delicious, home-cooked Chicken Mandi that our good friend Ansari had lovingly and expertly prepared for us before leaving. Eating highly tasty, hot food right by the calming sea with great friends is simply the absolute best feeling.
The Steep Ascent to the Historic Rijal Alma
Leaving the fast, flat coastal highway at Al Birk, we suddenly turned and headed directly inland towards the towering, cloudy mountains of Abha. Initially, the rural road was a highly slow, physically challenging climb for the car. But soon, it miraculously flattened out into a massively wide, sweeping plateau completely and utterly covered with endless, highly dark black volcanic rocks. It visually looked exactly like the barren, rocky surface of another distant planet! Further on, the paved road began violently twisting and turning highly sharply straight through the high, rocky mountains. We carefully drove through highly scenic landscapes that genuinely felt much more like a lush, green, rainy hill village in India rather than the incredibly dry, arid Saudi interior we were highly used to.
-EDIT.jpg "Twisting Mountain Roads to Abha")
We drove smoothly past the bustling town of Mahayil and soon eagerly approached the highly famous, deeply historic village of Rijal Alma. We passed carefully through a very quiet small town area and drove completely through a highly dark, long mountain tunnel before finally, dramatically descending deep into the old stone village. Because it was officially the quiet off-season for tourism, we happily found very few other tourists wandering there. It genuinely felt exactly like we had the entire, ancient historical place entirely to ourselves to peacefully explore.
This entire, massive mountainside village is a highly true, undisputed marvel of ancient Arab engineering. The beautiful, imposing buildings are meticulously made of pure, heavy stacked stone and stand incredibly up to eight full stories high. Some of these incredibly amazing, durable structures date way back an astounding 900 years! We eagerly walked around the area, deeply explored the fascinating local history museum, and highly admired the highly unique, brightly colored geometric designs painted on the doors and windows. We happily took many photographs and quickly grabbed a very hot, comforting cup of traditional tea before moving on. We also very briefly visited a highly interesting nearby Honey Refinery complex, exactly where we saw a very large, traditional windmill and highly old, rustic wooden buildings, before finally safely returning to the main, paved mountain road.
The Truly Terrifying Abha Pass
The specific road we took next heading directly towards the peaks of Abha led us to an incredibly unexpectedly steep and genuinely terrifying mountain pass. The highly sudden, incredibly sharp vertical ascent and the highly dramatic, incredibly tight hairpin curves were very visually shocking. The paved road just visually kept going straight vertically up directly into the low-hanging clouds! We genuinely and deeply feared the straining car engine might suddenly stall or we might tragically slide backwards right into extreme danger over the cliff edge. It was honestly, without a doubt, the absolute most frightening, dangerous-feeling mountain road I had ever personally encountered in my entire life.
Ishabil Tips: Conquering the Mountains
When carefully driving up incredibly steep, high-altitude mountain passes in Saudi Arabia, absolutely always turn off your car's air conditioning! This crucial step instantly gives your straining engine much more raw mechanical power to climb safely without stalling completely on the dangerous, sharp curves.
Finally, successfully reaching the very flat summit of the massive mountain brought immense, overwhelming relief to absolutely all of us. We quickly stopped the car, eagerly stepped out onto the ground, and were instantly and shockingly greeted by a freezing, biting blast of cold mountain air. The incredibly stunning, sweeping panoramic mountain views from the very top were absolutely breathtaking. We were also highly surprised and warmly welcomed by dozens of highly playful, loud wild monkeys rapidly running around the massive rocks! We had successfully arrived exactly at Jabal Soudah, which is widely known globally as one of Abha's absolute highest and deeply most beautiful areas. We drove highly slowly through the incredibly thick, highly lush, and damp greenery. The highly famous tourist cable cars were unfortunately closed because it was the quiet off-season, but the sheer, raw natural beauty of the area was more than enough. Eventually, we stood near the edge, looked far down, and beautifully spotted the highly glowing, modern city of Abha spread out magnificently far below us exactly like a giant, illuminated bowl.
A Golden Sunset at Abu Khayal Park
We carefully drove completely down into the busy city limits and headed straight to the highly popular Abu Khayal Park. This is a highly stunning, beautifully manicured terraced hillside garden completely overflowing with incredibly bright, vibrant flowers and highly thick, tall green trees. Our arrival timing was absolutely, flawlessly perfect for the golden sunset. We happily stood closely together and thoroughly enjoyed the incredibly wide, unobstructed view of the sprawling city located directly below us, the highly adjacent, towering green mountains, and the highly dormant, suspended cable car lines crossing the sky. We happily and deeply savored the incredibly cool, highly crisp mountain evening air.
Next, we excitedly visited Abha’s highly famous, vibrant Art Street. This highly lovely, creatively decorated area is truly, magically enchanting during the peak tourist season when the highly famous, bright purple Jacaranda trees are fully in bloom. We happily walked around the area, deeply appreciating the highly lovely, highly refreshing cool weather. Then, we comfortably settled down right on the soft green grass in a nearby public park to happily drink warm, sweet tea paired with some highly crunchy, spicy chips we had smartly brought all the way from home. It was an absolutely perfect, deeply peaceful ending to a highly very long, exhausting day of continuous driving.
As the dark night rapidly grew much, much colder in the mountains, we quickly got safely back into the warm car and immediately began the long, winding 200-kilometer drive straight back down to the coastal city of Jizan. Even though a massive major portion of this specific road was still highly mountainous, the paved roads here were incredibly wide, highly well-lit, and felt much, much safer than the highly terrifying vertical pass we took earlier in the day. We finally reached the highly warm, incredibly humid port city of Jizan exactly at 10:30 PM. We very quickly checked into a highly comfortable, budget-friendly hotel located very near the bustling seaport, had a very quick, late dinner, and went to sleep right away. We were incredibly exhausted but highly eager for our big, exciting sea adventure scheduled for the very next morning.
Day 2: Farasan Island – Paradise Found, Then Unexpectedly Trapped
The Incredible Free Ferry to the Islands
We woke up incredibly early the very next morning and eagerly rushed straight to the highly busy Jizan ferry office to quickly get our boarding tickets for the remote Farasan Islands. We had originally, highly ambitiously planned to physically take our own car on the massive ship, but we incredibly quickly learned from the staff that heavy vehicle transport absolutely must be officially booked many days in advance. So, we highly safely parked Dr. Ijas's car right at the secure port parking lot and simply bought standard foot passenger tickets. The absolute best, most incredible part? The massive ferry ride is provided completely free of charge by the government! Yes, a massive, scenic one-and-a-half-hour sea journey covering exactly 50 kilometers costs absolutely zero Riyals. We also carefully made absolutely sure to securely book our return tickets for 3:00 PM scheduled later that afternoon.
We excitedly boarded the highly large, incredibly impressive multi-level ferry. It is absolutely big enough to comfortably accommodate about 40 large cars and an incredible 800 passengers! It is fully complete with highly comfortable seating, strictly separate quiet areas designated for women and families, and a highly nice, well-stocked little cafeteria. Soon, the massive ship horn blew loudly, and we were officially out moving in the highly deep, open blue sea. We passed several tiny, completely uninhabited sandy islands and massive, slow-moving commercial cargo ships. We looked far back and saw the dusty mainland rapidly heading away from us. Eventually, the highly beautiful, incredibly flat Farasan Islands magically emerged directly on the bright, hazy horizon.
Touring the Beautiful, Historic Island
Upon finally docking smoothly at the busy island's port, a highly friendly, smiling Bangladeshi driver immediately approached our group. He eagerly offered to personally take us on a full, highly guided tour in his spacious van and, absolutely most importantly, he promised to personally guarantee our timely return exactly back to the port for the crucial 3:00 PM return ferry. We highly gladly accepted his affordable offer and eagerly began our extensive island exploration.
Our very first stop was the highly historic Al Qassar Heritage Village. This is an incredibly ancient, beautifully preserved settlement meticulously made entirely of raw coral and heavy stone. The incredibly old houses, highly narrow, winding alleys, and ancient village structures were beautifully and perfectly preserved. It genuinely felt exactly like physically walking straight back in time. After exploring that, our rumbling stomachs loudly reminded us it was definitely time to eat. We happily stopped at a very small, highly authentic Kerala restaurant located right in the very middle of Farasan town for a massive, heavy breakfast. We eagerly ate highly hot, flaky parottas and incredibly spicy meat curries to quickly get our vital energy back for the day.
Next, we excitedly visited a highly unique, picturesque beach where massive, towering rock formations looked exactly like highly beautiful, giant sea shells and smooth pearl sculptures. Even though we later learned from locals that they were actually highly artificial concrete structures built for tourists, they were still incredibly amazing to look at! After taking many fun photos there, we stopped to rest directly beneath the huge, towering Madhi Bridge. This incredibly long, highly modern bridge leads directly to the neighboring Sajid Island. It is a highly beautiful, incredibly peaceful spot perfectly suited for photography, with the highly clear, deep blue sea flowing smoothly underneath and bright white seabirds continuously flying all around us in the clear sky.
The Unbelievable Hidden Gem
Our highly experienced driver then excitedly told us he had a very special surprise. He aggressively drove the van up a highly steep, rocky seaside hill and suddenly slammed on the brakes right at the edge! Though the sudden stop was highly startling, the incredible view that greeted us looking right over the cliff edge was absolutely, utterly mesmerizing. We looked straight down at a highly bright, incredibly vivid turquoise-blue sea, absolutely perfect, untouched white sandy beaches, and several small, traditional wooden boats anchored peacefully in the highly clear, shallow water far below. It was a completely, entirely unexpected and highly stunning hidden visual sight.
It was at that exact, beautiful moment we all collectively realized the huge, unexpected blessing of specifically not bringing our own car to the island. Had we driven ourselves, we would have unfortunately stuck strictly to the main, highly boring paved roads and we would absolutely never have found these incredible, highly hidden, remote coastal treasures. Our brilliant local driver knew absolutely all the best, hidden secrets! We spent a highly long, relaxing time there, just standing and enjoying the highly strong, salty ocean breeze blowing off the water. Afterwards, we excitedly drove to a very large, highly beautiful seaside garden where we immediately took off our shoes, happily waded into the highly warm, shallow sea water, and took many funny, highly memorable group photos standing right in front of the giant, colorful "Farasan" welcome sign.
Suddenly Stranded on the Remote Island!
Time was rapidly pressing, and we absolutely did not want to risk missing our scheduled boat. We hurriedly drove back to the main port, successfully arriving with plenty of time to spare. But soon after we confidently walked into the busy passenger waiting room, we received very shocking, highly distressing news. Because of suddenly, violently high winds and very rough, highly dangerous sea waves out in the channel, the scheduled 3:00 PM return ferry was completely, officially canceled! We sat down heavily and waited highly anxiously, eagerly hoping and deeply praying that the very next 4:30 PM scheduled ferry would still safely run. But very soon, the loud public speaker crackled loudly, and the highly bad, definitive announcement came: the late ferry was entirely canceled too!
Ishabil Fun: The Ultimate Travel Fail
When we officially heard the final cancellation announcement, we all just looked blankly at each other in total, absolute shock. We had absolutely no extra clean clothes, no basic toothbrushes, and almost all our extra money and travel bags were safely locked tight in the car parked a full 50 kilometers away across the rough ocean! We literally just had to laugh out loud at our terrible, hilarious luck.
We were officially, completely stranded on the remote island for the night. With absolutely no safe, small private boats legally allowed to run in the highly bad, dangerous weather, and the safe mainland a full 50 kilometers away across the highly rough, dark ocean, we were utterly, entirely stuck with nowhere to go.
Day 3: Experiencing Island Life and the Long Drive Home
Finding Emergency Shelter and Food
Stranded and becoming very, very hungry—since we had only eaten that heavy breakfast many long hours ago—our immediate, highly urgent focus entirely shifted from happy tourism to basic, gritty survival! We knew we urgently had to reach the main, highly populated Farasan Town, which was located about 10 kilometers inland away from the highly quiet, isolated port. We luckily found a small, dusty shared van that quickly took us there for just a highly cheap 5 Riyals each. First things first, we went straight to the local ferry booking office and successfully, highly aggressively secured guaranteed, confirmed tickets for the very next morning’s first ferry ride.
Then, we eagerly followed our hungry noses and happily found a highly hot, highly busy Broast fried chicken shop. To my absolute, highly pleasant surprise, it was actively run by highly friendly people from Vengara, a very familiar town back in the Malappuram district in India, located very close to my own home village! While eagerly and highly impatiently waiting for our crispy chicken and hot fries to cook, we happily chatted loudly with the local staff in our native Malayalam tongue. They calmly told us a very crucial, highly important fact about daily island life.
Ishabil Tips: Island Travel Planning
Sudden ferry cancellations are highly, incredibly common in Farasan due to the highly unpredictable, strong coastal winds. If you are a visiting tourist who has a highly strict, non-refundable international flight to catch from the mainland airports, absolutely always plan to officially leave the island at least two full days early so you absolutely don't get terribly stuck and miss your expensive plane!
With our intense hunger fully and completely satisfied, we walked slowly around the highly quiet, dark town to actively search for emergency accommodation. Thankfully, because it was officially the highly slow off-season for tourism, we happily found a very clean, reasonably priced hotel room very, very quickly. Since absolutely all our heavy, packed luggage and fresh, clean clothes were still securely locked in the car trunk far back in Jizan, we simply just had to make do with exactly what we were currently wearing. We washed our tired, dusty faces in the sink and prepared for a highly funny, highly unexpected night stranded on the island.
A Warm Community Feel in the Souq
We eagerly went out later at night to happily walk around the highly lively, brightly lit local Souq (traditional market). We incredibly ran into many, many highly familiar faces—people we had clearly seen sitting on the morning ferry who were also highly stranded and walking around just like us. The entire island genuinely felt exactly like a highly close-knit, incredibly friendly local village where absolutely everyone shared the exact same, funny problem. Amazingly, even our highly friendly Bangladeshi driver from much earlier in the day magically found us wandering in the busy crowd! He incredibly kindly promised to personally come to our hotel and drop us safely at the port incredibly early the very next morning.
We excitedly visited the busy local Fish Market, highly hoping to see massive, exotic deep-sea catches, but we ultimately didn't buy anything as the daily selection was actually quite poor and picked over that specific night. Since the very next day was officially the highly anticipated start of the holy month of Ramadan, which strictly meant fasting completely from sunrise to sunset, we smartly bought plenty of highly fresh fruits, sweet packaged juice, and highly tasty, spicy chicken Shawarma for our crucial Suhoor (the important pre-dawn meal) and went quietly back to our simple, small room to finally sleep.
The Journey Safely Back to Jeddah
We woke up incredibly, highly early, long before the highly peaceful morning call to prayer echoed. We quietly ate our prepared Suhoor meal closely together in the small room and properly performed our Fajr prayer. Our highly faithful, incredibly reliable driver happily arrived outside the hotel exactly as he had firmly promised, and we reached the highly busy, crowded port just exactly as the massive, towering ferry was actively getting ready to load its eager, tired passengers.
Thankfully, the deep sea was perfectly, highly calm again. The massive ferry officially left the dock right exactly on time and, moving incredibly smoothly at a very good, fast speed through the deep blue water, safely and successfully reached the mainland Jizan port by exactly 9:00 AM. We practically ran out the doors to happily retrieve our parked car. It was sitting perfectly safe right exactly where we had confidently left it. We quickly filled the large gas tank with cheap fuel and immediately began the massive, grueling, over 700-kilometer drive straight back north towards our home in Jeddah.
The incredibly long coastal highways were relatively highly empty and incredibly peaceful largely because it was the very first day of the highly observed fasting month. We drove incredibly smoothly, passed safely through the quiet outskirts of Jizan, visually saw the highly familiar, steep turnoff for the Abha mountain road located near Al Darb, and happily kept going straight. We finally stopped quietly near Al Qunfudhah for our afternoon prayer and a very short, highly much-needed physical rest, happily realizing we had successfully completed exactly half of the massive return journey. We made one absolute final, highly refreshing stop to buy another incredibly fresh, juicy watermelon on the dusty, sunny roadside before finally, happily reaching the highly busy, highly familiar streets of Jeddah right around 6:00 PM.
This incredibly spontaneous, highly ambitious three-day journey was completely filled with so many incredible, unforgettable extremes. We physically experienced the freezing, highly contrasting cold air of Abha’s high mountains, the deeply calm, flat, pristine beauty of the Red Sea coast, the highly sudden, heart-pounding terror of the incredibly steep mountain pass, and the completely, entirely unexpected adventure of being officially stranded on a remote Farasan Island. Sharing this absolutely wild, highly unpredictable trip with great, highly reliable friends made it truly, undeniably an absolutely unforgettable, highly cherished chapter in my extensive travel diary.
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