Qeshm & Hormuz: Two Otherworldly Islands in Iran
Get a degree in STEM. Apply at NASA. Become an astronaut. Pass thousands of hours of training. Qualify for a space mission. Pack up your space boots, grab your helmet, say goodbye to your family. Stay two weeks in quarantine in Kazakhstan before flying off. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1. Liftoff... Wait... You don't need to do all this to go to space... Go to Iran, take a regular plane and visit Qeshm & Hormuz. It’s that easy! You’ll get what Qeshm Island is like if you mix a desert with crazy rock formations. Think about Mars, and there you have it - Hormuz Island. There are absolutely no other places like these in Iran. Everything about Qeshm and Hormuz is out-of-this-world.
View from Qeshm Island at dusk.
Arriving & Staying on the Islands
You can get to Qeshm either by airplane or by train + ferry. There are flights from major cities in Iran (Tehran, Shiraz, Isfahan, Mashhad) to Qeshm International Airport by Iran Air, Qeshm Air, Aseman Airlines and Mahan Air. Note that these flights are domestic and the websites are in Farsi, so if you choose to come this way it’s best to ask someone to book the flights for you. I flew from Shiraz to Qeshm with Iran Air and from Qeshm to Tehran with Qeshm Air. Hamid, legend of a man, helped me book the tickets. Ticket prices are 20-40 EUR. Bonus for those that take a flight from Shiraz: the most epic airplane views, evidence photos below!
Yet again, I fell in love with Iran for it’s diverse natural beauty: the Pink Lake Maharloo and the Qeshm Mangrove seen from above are pristine!
The Qeshm airport is located in the middle of the island, near Direstan. There is no public transport on the island, so your best option is to book a place to stay that will arrange an airport pickup. I can’t recommend you enough Aref’s Homestay for your Qeshm journey. You literally stay in his home, with his family and Aref knows everything about the two islands. He’s super fun and welcoming, which made the whole ending of this trip one of my favorite experiences overall in Iran.
Alternatively, to arrive at Qeshm, you can take a train/bus/car to Bandar Abbas, a city in the Southern Iranian mainland. From Bandar Abbas, get on a ferry or speed boat at the main harbor, Shahid Haqani Passenger Port.
You can get to Hormuz Island with a ferry from Qeshm. The ferry leaves every morning at 6:00AM and takes about 1 hour to arrive to Hormuz Island. To see the entire Hormuz Island you need about 4-5 hours on a tuk-tuk. You can rent a tuk-tuk upon your arrival at the Hormuz harbor. If you stay with Aref, he’ll not only arrange the best driver for Homuz, but also the most delicious home made seafood lunch. If you are vegan, you’ll have a hard time here, BUT, Aref knows a great falafel place on Qeshm Island. Honestly, this was the best falafel I’ve had in my life. Shameless disclosure: I bought 6 falafel wraps for provisions on my way back to Europe.
When to Visit
Every normal person visits Qeshm and Hormuz during November-February. Generally, the islands are hot and humid, but during November-February the climate is pleasant. If you are slightly suicidal, you can visit in September, like I did… average temperature is 32-35 °C (90-95°F) and humidity is around 75%… which means real feel is around 46°C or 115°F. Yep. Forget about staying outside for longer than 45 minutes, 1 hour hard maximum. If you are completely out of your mind, I guess, you’re welcome to try visiting during the summer.
Understand
Before we start delving in the natural wonders of the islands, can we all just enjoy this NASA satellite picture of Qeshm Island? I’m totally geeked out by how Earth looks from space…
Satellite picture of Qeshm Island. Source : NASA.
You might notice that Qeshm Island looks like a giant dolphin. In fact, locals call it “dolphin island” because of its shape. And yes, you can spot real dolphins swimming freely in the salty waters around the island. Let’s not forget to mention that the whole Qeshm Island is a UNESCO heritage site.
There are two other places in the above image I’d like to draw your attention to. Do you see the dark green area just behind the “back fin” and mainland Iran? This is the large Qeshm Mangrove and yes, it’s the same as the picture above. The view from the clouds is spectacular! It’s indistinguishable from a tropical island, but this is Iran, as diverse as it gets!
Now... take a look at the area near “the tail of the dolphin”, on the bottom. Do you see a reddish circle? This is a massive salt mountain called Namakdan Mountain. It’s surrounded by a salt field where the longest Salt Cave in the world is believed to be. Currently, only a small part of the cave is accessible to the public, but in the 1990’s a EU/Iranian cave expedition discovered massive chambers with salt crystals. The majority of the cave remains unexplored to this day.
Salt Cave, Qeshm Island.
And that’s why the magic of Qeshm and Hormuz is captivating: so many natural secrets are left to unveil. So many questions about these mysterious islands are unanswered to date. Being there, you are swept away by the sheer power of the raw elements: sand, salt, rocks, water and wind.
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Qeshm Island is also special for the people who call this place home. Unlike mainland Iran, where the principal religion is Shia Islam, the majority of the people on Qeshm Island follow Sunni Islam. You will see many Sunni mosques with modest decoration compared to the ornate Shia mosques. Adding to its diversity, Qeshm culture is influenced by the gulf countries and by India too. You will notice that many men wear a long white Kandura. The food has a taste of India: spicy curries are a local specialty that you need to try when there. They are delish!
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Another distinctive part of Qeshm culture is the face mask worn by many Bandari women. I first read about these masks in a BBC article in 2017. I was blown away by the vivid colors in the images and since dreamt to photograph them myself. Truth be told, when I was there, I felt uncomfortable putting women in the spotlight. In fact, you will see that women on the island are highly protected by their family. Photographing them is not necessarily difficult, but personally, as a woman myself, I felt like I was about to objectify a cultural and religious symbol worn by other women. I decided to simply enjoy seeing the colorful masks as women pass by without disturbing them in any way. As a tourist, you will have the chance to try the masks yourself in every souvenir shop you visit on the island.
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Camels are part of people’s identity in Qeshm. You will see many camels roaming freely in the desert landscapes. Also, I never realized that people can eat camels until I saw a camel butchery for the first time in my life on the island. Iran is the first country I visited in the Middle East, so this was a kind of revelation. Apparently, camel meat is a local’s favorite on the island. I still find it hard to imagine that these elegant desert creatures can end up in a plate, but that’s just me, I guess. 😬
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Let’s switch location and talk about Hormuz Island. Arguably, this island is even more peculiar than Qeshm. The name Hormuz is legendary due to the Hormuz Straight - the channel where a third of the world’s liquefied natural gas and almost 25% of the total global oil passes through. It’s quite crazy that this important world trade location is named after a tiny island that looks like a red cookie from above... The almost perfectly round shape of the island is accompanied by a landscape suitable for a movie set about Mars. Seeing Hormuz with your own eyes is an experience you won’t forget. Places rich with such inexplicable natural phenomenons are rare. Add the geo-political context to the picture and you get an island that is truly unique in the world.
See & Do
Qeshm island is quite big. There is no public transport on the island itself, thus the only way to get around is by car. There is no car rental office (to my knowledge), so your best option is to find where to stay and someone to guide you from there. Once again, I highly recommend you to stay at Aref's Homestay as you will be living in the home of a native Qeshm family. His lovely wife Shirine cooked for us one of the best food I had in all Iran.
Qeshm Island
The three must-see places in Qeshm are the Valley of the Stars, Chahkooh Canyon and the Salt Cave Of Qeshm. Mind you, there are many more wonders in this island such as a private beach where you can swim in bikini (yes, still in Iran), places where you can go diving, villages that specialize in making wooden boats, a secret valley where you can climb freestyle the rock formations... no wonder this island is a UNESCO heritage site! Aref knows all these places and you’ll be in good hands if you spend your time in the island with him. You can tour these places in 2 days, but I stayed 4 days with Aref’s family because it’s not every day that I get to stay on such a crazy island.
Chahkooh Canyon, Qeshm Island.
A special mention goes out to the Valley of Stars. This surreal valley has an energy few places in the world posses. Some legends say that 2 million years ago, a star fell there and formed its wondrous rock shapes. Others say this place is haunted by ghosts and you can hear their whispers if you listen carefully to the wind. I felt like being inside a life-sized Salvador Dali painting with the spellbinding beauty creations of Mother Nature. A masterpiece on its own, this place is a must visit.
Panoramic view of the Valley of Stars, Qeshm Island.
Hormuz Island
Guys, I’m not even joking when I mention the names of the points of interest in Hormuz… Ready? The places you should see in Hormuz are: Silence Valley, Rainbow Valley, Rainbow Cave, The Valley of the Statues, Silver Beach, Turtle’s Beach. If you’re into geology, this island is like a blessing on your Iranian journey. All your mineral formations geeky fantasies will become reality. Although I write less about Hormuz Island than Qeshm Island here, believe me, if you get to the south of Iran, you should see it. I will just publish several photos below, you be the judge about the level of awesomeness Hormuz has.
Rainbow Valley, Hormuz Island
Impressions
Looking back at my trip to Iran, I feel eternally grateful that it ended with a stop on Qeshm and Hormuz islands. If you look for images about Iran on the web, you will most likely see the beautiful architecture and gardens in the main touristic cities. I like to call these images “the book cover” of Iran. You look at them, and you have no doubt where they are taken. But the book about Iran is much more than its cover. The pages are filled with history, endless stories of power, battles, glory, a historical timeline one can dedicate a lifetime to fully comprehend. Qeshm and Hormuz have their own “alien” chapter in the book. They are a living proof that Iran has everything to offer for those who seek diversity. They are a puzzle yet unsolved. An enchanting riddle of Mother Nature. The less seen face of Iran.
As I’m writing these words from home in Europe, I find it hard to believe I spent a few days on these magic islands. The unforgiving heat, the salty water, the sands, the wind, the dirty road tracks are all left behind and my trace on the islands is long forgotten. What’s left is a memory of these days in my life where every night I went to sleep tired from the daily adventures. I couldn’t believe I was still on planet Earth. The sand in my hair, the salt on my lips, the humidity in the air: those were my sole connection with the earthly life. The reality of these two islands is crazier than what your imagination might portray before you visit them. And this is exactly why, my dear reader, you should go there and see them with your own curious eyes.
Copyright © Alex Kovacheva, Nomad Photos. All rights reserved.