Dubai in itself is a marvel, with its wealth of luxury living, spectacular hotels, high end shopping and its breathtaking cityscape, that boasts some of the world's tallest and most pioneering architecture to date. As if its glimmering, unique and record breaking skyline wasn't opulent enough, Dubai's coastline is also somewhat sensational. Formed of artificial clusters of islands, The World, which takes the shape of the world map and The Palm Islands, three palm shaped archipelagos, takes this monumental destination to a whole different level of opulence. It would appear that there are no limits to Dubai's sensational excessiveness, so far they will go, that even the destination's coastline is a luxury and its design is still yet be completed, with the cosntruction of The Universe Islands in the pipeline.
These four artificial archipelagos that sit within the Persian Gulf, off the coast of Dubai, were conceptualised by the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and constructed by property developer Nakheel Properties. The islands are composed by sand excavated from Dubai's coastal waters and each island cluster has its own breakwater, which takes the form of a crescent. The breakwater acts to consume the impact of waves and protect the islands from affects of weathering on the coast. To see this phenomenal designer coastline is to believe it and so big are these astonishing archipelagos, they can be witnessed from space.
The World Islands
The World or World Islands in Dubai takes the shape of a world map. The project went into development in 1994 and was completed some fourteen years later on the 10th January 2008. World Island's consists of 260 islands with an average of 100 metres of water between each island. The islands are named after countries, individually owned by various organisiations, projects, hotel groups and resorts.
The Palm Islands
There are three Palm Islands off Dubai's coastline, the Palm Jumeirah, Palm Jebel Ali and Palm Deira. Each island is designed in the shape of a palm tree, with a crescent formed around each archipelago. In total the Palm Islands extends Dubai's coastline by 520 kilometres. The Palm Jumeirah went into construction in June 2001, the Palm Jebel Ali went into construction in October 2002 and the Palm Deira in October 2004. The Palm Deira is yet to be completed, however the design is rumoured to be eight times larger than the Palm Jumeirah and five times larger than the Palm Jebel Ali. The Palm Deira is currently the world's largest articficial island.
Palm Jumeirah
Palm Jebel Ali
The Palm Deira
The Conceptualisation of The Universe
Nakheel Properties is yet to complete their masterpiece in the Gulf and is due to further enhance Dubai's beautifully astonishing coastline with the construction of another archipelago that will take the name The Universe, taking the formation of the solar system and the Milky Way. The project was announced in 2008, with an estimated completion date between 2023 and 2028, however it would appear that the construction of Dubai's The Universe in the Persian Gulf has been put on hold. The image above is a conceptualisation of how the Dubai coastline will look once The Universe is incorporated.
This magnificent designer coastline is enough to lure tourists the world over to this lavish destination. Attraction Tickets Direct has a range of attraction tickets and experiences to enhance a Dubai getaway, including Dubai helicopter sightseeing tours to marvel at this manmade miracle.
