Palm Islands

Palm Islands

Palm Island is a famous manmade island in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. There are three main islands in Palm Island. These are the Palm Jumeirah, Palm Jebel Ali, and Palm Deira. These islands are well known for their unique shape, which looks like a palm tree. Also, Palm Island has luxurious resorts, residential areas, and various entertainment and leisure facilities. The most developed and famous island among the three is Palm Jumeirah. The Atlantis Resort and Atlantis Aquaventure Park are both well-known in Palm Jumeirah and also a reason for making Palm Jumeirah Island a well-developed and luxurious island.

The group of beautiful manmade islands was constructed by Nakheel Properties, a real estate developer owned by the government of Dubai. The main aim of constructing Palm Islands was to develop tourism in Dubai and promote international investment to Dubai. The Dubai government aimed to increase Dubai's coastal areas, create a unique landmark, and provide luxury residential, leisure, and entertainment spaces. By these developments, Dubai promotes its portfolio of tourism as a premium destination for visitors.

The development of the project of Palm Islands includes various contributors and organizations. Nakheel Properties, the developer of the project, is owned by the government of Dubai. The two companies specializing in marine construction and dredging, named Jan De Nul, a company based in Belgium, and Van Oord, a company based in the Netherlands, made a big contribution in land reclamation and digging of the island. They utilized state-of-the-art dredging vessels to shape the islands surrounded by millions of cubic meters of sand and rock.

A British international design and engineering consultancy named Hyder Consulting worked on the necessary support to the island, such as roads and bridges. Al Habtoor Engineering and Murray & Roberts, the companies responsible for the construction of the residential, commercial, and entertainment buildings on the Palm Islands, collaborated with labor force, subcontractors, and suppliers to create the amazing Palm Island.

The three main Palm Islands, including Palm Jumeirah, Palm Jebel Ali, and Palm Deira, do not have a single common official opening date. Each island has had its own date of development and opening ceremony. The activities of land reclamation started in 2001 and were completed by 2006. With various developments, Palm Jumeirah was officially opened on October 17, 2008.

The construction of Palm Jebel Ali started in the early 2000s. The completion period of the island was scheduled for 2008, but due to some financial crises and economic factors, the project did not complete before the scheduled date. After the delay, Palm Jebel Ali was officially opened on May 31, 2023.

Palm Deira was expected to be the largest island of the Palm Islands. The construction of Palm Deira started in 2004 following the start of Palm Jumeirah and Palm Jebel Ali. As of June 2024, the project has not yet officially opened.

The total cost for building the Palm Islands, including Palm Jumeirah, Palm Jebel Ali, and the starting phase of Palm Deira, is around 44 billion AED approximately.

Accessing Palm Island, especially Palm Jumeirah, can be done by many modes of transport like monorail, bus, taxi, and online ride services like Careem and Uber. The most famous route which connects Palm Island to Dubai is Sheikh Zayed Road (E11) through the exit marked for Palm Jumeirah. The monorail runs from the Gateway station at the base of the Palm to Atlantis located at the far end of the crescent.

Overview