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Pro
great beaches, great landscapes, no big hotels
Con
hard to get to.
In a nutshell
The paradise island
BohdanaR Says: It would be a great pitty not to walk in charming Socotri mountains. You can choose from a wide range of treks accoring to your stamina. We went for a three day trek to cross Haghier Mountains: started in wadi Deneghen where we loaded our stuff on a camel. That mae it easier...
BohdanaR Says: Shouab is a long white sand beach on the western coast of Socotra island. It's a wonderful place with turqoise water, cliffs full of birds, empty clean beach, and unique mangroves. There is no other way to get to Shouab than by a fishermen's boat from Qalansiya. It takes...
SocotraRandy Says: I can't pick just one thing about this island. But at the top of the list is just to explore it from one end to the other, and if you've a mind, scuba dive along the way, big game fish for world record Marlin, Dolphin, Swordfish, Tuna, or take a camel trek across the island,...
MichaelFalk1969 Says: You can hire a fisher boat, complete with fisherman, in Qualanisya to Shoab Beach for roughly 15.000 Yemeni Rial. Usually the boats only go out in the morning between seven and nine and take you for an one hour-ride through the turquoise-coloured coastal waters, along a...
Adeeb's Eco-Lodge: The best restaurant on Socotra
BohdanaR Says: No doubt the best restaurant on Socotra island is in Adeeb's Eco-lodge. Abdalla Adeeb went for a cooking course in Mercure Hotel in Aden and from his puffy figure you can tell that he loves food. He serves food in palm leaf shelters in his eco-lodge compound located on the...
hydronetta Says: You are camping in Socotra, so your driver/guide will be responsible for your meals. Though not very imaginative and rather repetitive they were delicious, cooked with care and praise God the island has fresh fish!
There is not much to do on Socotra in the night. Locals go to bed after the last prayer because they wake up for the morning prayer at 4 am. However there is an attractive night activity for you from end of April to September: watching turtles coming to Socotri beaches to lay eggs. The best place to spot them is Qadamah beach. Get ready for a long romantic walk on the beach and if you're lucky enough you come across a huge Loggerhead turtle crawling from the sea and looking for the best spot to lay her eggs. It's a magic experience! Even if you don't see any turtle, walking in the sand with millions of bright stars over your head is just perfect.
Dress Code: Take flip flops and take them off for walking in the sand. Bare foot walking in the sand is much less exhausting than when wearing any kind of shoes.
Updated Jun 24, 2012
Address: Qadamah beach
MichaelFalk1969 Says: It is absolutely necessary to hire a 4WD with a local driver/guide. While the tar road that surrounds the island is in a good condition, if you want to reach the more remote areas like Diksam a 4WD is a must. It is pretty cheap to hire a driver: 10.000 Yemeni Rial per day...
dutchwindmill Says: Yemenia from Sana'a (or Aden or Mukalla) is the only viable way to go to Socotra. They usually operate two flights a week, but in summer they will usually have one only. They may have taken bookings for a return on the second weekly flight already, before they decide to...
Shaking hands and touching noses among men
BohdanaR Says: There are many rules regarding meeting people on Socotra. When two local men meet, they grab each other's hand and touch noses three times. Nowadays, they often stick just with modern hand shake. Shake hands with them if offered a hand shake. Some traditional men from the...
A lonely old man living in Socotra cave
Denis_Romanov Says: Exploring Socotra island, I met a wonderful old man, more than 45 years of living in a small cave.To see and talk to people like him, you need to deviate from the standard tourist programs and walk inland.The old man in the photo lives in an amazing location next to the...
hydronetta Says: In Habido's hospital which we visited to see how health care is provided, we came across this poster. As we were explained it shows that the patient's family and friends should be supportive of an HIV/AIDS infected person
Helpfulness
Not a voluntary tourist trap, but one we set for ourselves. When we arrived at the gorgeous Arher Beach, we instantly made camp and were happy to have this deserted beach all for ourselves. Then we wondered about the significance of the little sand pyramids dotted all over the beach. A faint memory of a National Geographic documentary lead to the conclusion that these might be crab dens. With sunset, we saw hundreds of hand-size crabs heading for the sea. As we couldn`t put every item we had into our tents, we were virtually under siege during the night: crabs climbing into cooking pots and making noise, crabs gnawing at backpacks, clothing and towels, and the sinister "click-click-click"-sounds of fast-moving crabs accompanied us throughout the night. Needless to say that I didn`t get much sleep then.
Updated Mar 31, 2008
Helpfulness
Luggage and bags: large & small backpack
Clothing/Shoes/Weather Gear: stout hiking boots
raincoat
lots of longsleeved t-shirts
hat or headscarf
Toiletries and Medical Supplies: toilet paper
sunscreen !!!
malaria medicine (like Malarone) - just in case
Photo Equipment: lots of charged batteries (rare possibilities to recharge)
Camping/Beach/Outdoor Gear: waterproof/mosqito-proof tent
sandhooks
beachgear (preferably longer beach baggie trousers to avoid sunburn)
Miscellaneous: water
provisions (tuna, bread, salami etc.)
vitamin, calcium and magnesium tablets
Written Mar 30, 2008
Qiso Oasis - a huge palmeria with fresh water
BohdanaR Says: In Qalansiya, tourists usually go to charming Ditwah Bay, some of them take a boat to Shouab. But not far from the village, a real gem is hidden under the rising sandstone cliffs. Qiso Oasis is a large garden of date palm trees where it's lovely to take a rest and have a...
Denis_Romanov Says: Socotra is a perfect place for those who like trekking.All our programs offer trekking routes that allow you to get to know better the island’s nature and inhabitants. We adjust our programs to the time of your coming. If you come after a monsoon season we would recommend...
Denis_Romanov Says: Underwater hunting on Socotra is strictly prohibited by law. But nobody has anything against free diving and spinning.For free diving we would recommend the whole northern coast of Socotra where it is quite easy to enter the sea. Here, the sea floor is made of volcanic rocks...
Denis_Romanov Says: The best time for diving on Socotra is the period from September to October and from March to May, when wind falls and the sea calms down.We have pleasure in organizing diving tours for you on Socotra. We offer you to take advantage of professional knowledge of Fouad Naseeb,...
Windsurfing & Kiting in Socotra
Denis_Romanov Says: Socotra can be too dangerous for wave-riding, but it is an excellent place for measuring speed during a monsoon season....from November to January you can use only kite (not so strong wind for windsurfing).from February till May - usually no wind...Maybe in the future we...
Helpfulness
Favorite thing: Surprisingly, Socotra was much cleaner than the rest of Yemen where wild rubbish dumps are common. As a traveller, you should try to keep it that way and take care that you do not leave your rubbish at the wonderful places where you`re staying. To bring some plastic bags for collecting your personal waste at the campgrounds would be a sensible idea.
Updated Mar 31, 2008
Socotra (Yemen) - a strange and blissful island !
Socotra Island is part of Yemen (a great destination in itself), but the friendly Socotri islanders have their own distinct heritage, part Yemeni, part African, part Portuguese, part whatever...
Socotra Yemen -- some like it remote
Socotra is a very interesting place for VTers who are into geology. Socotra island is considered to be the most isolated chunks of a continent in the world, it is not a volcanic island or a mid ocean...
I came to the island out of curiousity, and stayed because I thought this had to be one of the most incredible places on earth, and after three months here, I still feel the same. Being only one of......
Socotra - A Forgotten Island You Will Never Forget
Socotra island lies deep in the Arabian sea south from the coast of Yemen. (Yemen is an Arab country in the south of Arabian Peninsula. No, it is not a region in Africa!) In fact, Socotra is closer to...
Build your own Socotra page
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