ABU DHABI

A luxe-island playground

Sarah Freeman goes island hopping in the UAE capital of Abu Dhabi to explore mangroves, Maldivian-style hideaways, the city’s luxury shopping and world-class golf courses

The UAE’s capital, Abu Dhabi, may have long languished in Dubai’s shadow, but the dynamic island city is shaping an exciting future while managing to preserve the country’s traditional heritage. Beyond its rapidly growing skyline are beautiful beaches, dense mangroves and waterways that divide the city into both natural and man-made islands. It’s worth remembering that modern Abu Dhabi as we know it only dates back to 1960 when oil was first discovered. Before then, the emirate was a quiet backwater of fishing villages lined by date palms and inhabited by camel-herding Bedouin tribes. Wild Arabian oryx once roamed in areas like Al Maryah – a natural island that is fast becoming the city’s leading financial hub and luxury-shopping destination. In the late 1700s Abu Dhabi was a haven for wildlife, which could explain the city’s namesake, which translates to “Father of the Gazelle”. Perhaps the region’s most renowned natural feature is its 60 square kilometres of natural mangrove forests that became the gateway to the emirate’s pearl-diving heritage, which accounted for as much as 95 percent of the region’s income in the 19th century. The 1930s saw the region’s pearl industry collapse as a result of the Japanese invention of the cultured pearl, but the city managed to prosper once more with the discovery of nearly 10 percent of the world’s oil reserves in the early ‘60s. Far from being a one- trick pony, the last 20 years has seen Abu Dhabi diversify with the development of its islands, such as Yas, an artificial island that sports the only hotel in the world that overlooks a Formula 1 racetrack, and Saadiyat, the cultural heartbeat of the city that brings together world- class golf, unbroken white sandy beaches and the soon-to-be-opened Guggenheim and Louvre museums – all within a 27- square- kilometre area. The completely natural but previously uninhabited Nurai Island is Abu Dhabi’s answer to the Maldives – an übercontemporary boutique resort that sits alongside the Arabian Peninsula, and puts the city on the ultra-luxury map. It is fitting – and probably no coincidence – that Abu Dhabi’s skyline and mosque are visible from most places in the city. Despite its modern façade and constant reinvention, the UAE’s capital upholds many of its old traditions and continues to embrace the rich cultural heritage that has withstood the test of time.