Hormuz Island: The Rainbow Island in the South of Iran
Hormuz Island is my favorite place in Iran because of its breathtaking landscape and unique culture. It’s one of the most colorful and magical islands not in the Middle East but in the world, and one of the most intact islands in Iran.
You will love the wide range of colors in nature on this tiny island. When you wander around, you will see different shades and hues of red, yellow, ochre, orange, green, white, brown, beige, gold, grey, and turquoise colors. This is why the island is also called the Rainbow Island of Iran.
Life is simply fascinating on the island. The locals use the red soil of Hormuz island for cooking and they only use tuk-tuks (rickshaws) and motorbikes to get around the island.
Map of Iran’s Hormuz Island with best places to visit
Just like Qeshm Island, Hormuz Island is also located in the Hormozgan Province of Iran. Hormuz Island is around 20 km from Qeshm Island and about 22 km from Bandar Abbas. Similarly to Qeshm Island, Hormuz is also situated in the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf.
These places are to be explored wearing proper shoes, not sandals or flip-flops.
#1 Red beach, Hormuz island
Some articles refer to this beach as the blood beach and the sea there, bloody sea. When my friends saw my photos when I was at Red Beach, they asked me why the water was red. It’s simply because of the red soil which has a high concentration of iron oxide. And when the color of the sand is really red in the water, the waves of the sea become colored pink.
This is one of the most unique beaches in the world.
Red sand on Hormuz Island – Rainbow Island Iran
#2 Silver beach, Hormuz Island
The Silver Beach is situated right next to the Red Beach.
This was one of the most interesting beaches I’ve seen in my life. Its sand is shining and glittering so strong and it’s full of colorful stones. I think now you understand why Hormuz Island is also called Rainbow Island.
Chilling on the Silver Beach
#3 Rainbow Mountains aka Rainbow valley, Hormuz Island
You can spend time here hiking a few miles if you have time.
Up on the colorful mountains with a view of the Persian Gulf – Iranian Islands
The colorful mountains with the different shades and hues of yellow, gold and Bordeaux – Hormuz Island
Brown, gold, orange and more beautiful colors – Rainbow Island Iran
Sitting on shell-like rocks – Rainbow Island Iran
#4 Valley Statues, Hormuz Island
If you go to the Valley of Statues, you can experience this wonderful view. What you see down there is called Mofannagh Beach.
When you keep falling in love in Iran again and again – Rainbow Island Iran
#5 Silence Valley, Hormuz Island
It’s probably called Silence Valley because it just takes your breath away. The entire Island feels like another planet but this valley had the strongest out of this world features.
Walk around the red rocks – Rainbow Island Iran
Path leading to the unknown on the Rainbow Island of Iran – Iranian Islands
Come and explore the Rainbow Island and with me!
#6 Rainbow Cave, Hormuz Island
The Rainbow cave was the most beautiful caves I’ve seen in my life. I don’t have a decent picture of the cave. So, I cannot show it to you. It was much more colorful than the caves on Qeshm Island.
#7 Hole in the rock , Hormuz Island
It’s simply a big hole in a big rock on one of the beaches.
#8 Soiled Carpet, Hormuz Island
You can find the world’s largest soil carpet on Hormuz Island which was made using 90 different colors soil of the island. When I was there, it was already quite old and faded. Therefore, it wasn’t that interesting.
The road to one of the beaches of the Rainbow Island of Iran – Iran beaches
#9 Portuguese castle, Hormuz Island
This is a fortress left from the colonial times in the 16th century by the Portuguese. It’s very different from any other fortresses I’ve seen. It’s simply because the stones used for building this fortress got a bit red too.
Entrance fee for the Portuguese Castle: 300,000 IRR
#10 Nadalian museum, Hormuz Island
This is a lovely museum owned by Ahmad Nadalian. He is teaching art to local women and sell their products in order to earn some money.
When backpacking in Iran, you will see that there are a lot of different ways to get around the country. The most unique way of moving around in Iran is definitely on Hormuz Island.
There are no cars on the island, only tuk-tuks (rickshaws) and motorbikes.
The entire island is around 30 km with a couple of roads. Thus, it’s really easy to navigate there. Let’s see how to get around on the magnificient Rainbow Island.
Our driver is taking us to the Red Beach of the Rainbow Island
Discovering Hormuz Island by TukTuk
In my opinion, the best way to get around the island is by tuk-tuk (rickshaw). This vehicle can normally accommodate 6-8 people. You can actually see the entire vehicle on the feature image of this blog post.
The price depends on your negotiation skills. It should be between 200,000 (~1.20 € / ~1.30 USD) and 500,000 IRR (~2.90 € / ~3.20 USD) for an hour. The more you are, the less you pay per person.
If you spend a day or 2 days on the Rainbow Island, I would recommend this solution.
Discovering Hormuz Island by bike
You can rent a bike at the harbor when you arrive. There are other places as well to find bikes to rent. They are close to the port. Just ask around and you will find them. It costs a maximum of 100,000 IRR (~0.60 € / ~0.70 USD) per hour. I would personally only rent a bike if I stayed there at least for 3 days.
Discovering Hormuz Island on foot
As the island is really small, you can just walk around. If you are staying a lot of time there, it’s also a wonderful idea.
3.1. 4 Best things to eat on Hormuz Island
#1 SEAFOOD WITH THE RED SOIL OF HORMUZ ISLAND
One of the most interesting things I ate was the red soil of Hormuz Island. We can say that the most important spice on the island is their own soil.
For example, the soil of Hormuz Island is one of the most important ingredients of seafood recipes.
But there is even something more interesting than that.
#2 LOCAL BREAD WITH THE READ SOIL OF HORMUZ ISLAND
Let me show you a very delicious thin and crispy bread made called Tomshi. The little red dots are the red soil of the island. To make this bread you need dough, eggs, cheese, the island’s soil, and fish sauce.
The traditional flatbread of Hormuz Island
On a side note, the red soil of Hormuz Island is not only used for seasoning food but also for dyeing, glass, ceramics, and cosmetics.
#3 FISH STEW aka GHALIEH MAHI
Ghalieh Mahi is a fish stew made with herbs and rice.
#4 FALAFEL
Falafel is the easiest food to get on Hormuz Island.
3.2. WHERE TO EAT ON HORMUZ ISLAND
#1 HOMESTAY
Everything I ate in Hormuz was provided by Saeed and his family.
#2 ON THE STREET OR IN RANDOM HOUSES
But there are also women cooking on the street or in houses and sell food such as falafel or crapes.
#3 CAFÉS & RESTAURANTS
Moreover, there are some cafés where you can have some tea and snacks.
There are also a couple of cafés such as the Gelak Café where you can also find tasty seafood.
The only way to get to Hormuz is by ferry/boat.
You will either need to travel there from Bandar Abbas or Qeshm Island.
To get to Bandar Abbas, book a bus ticket with 1stQuest and apply your 5% discount using the discount code, Globetrotting.
If you travel from Tehran or Isfahan, you might want to fly as they are too far from Bandar Abbas.
Bandar Abbas from Tehran: ~ 1,300 km
Bandar Abbas from Shiraz: ~ 935 km.
Bandar Abbas from Shiraz: ~ 570 km
FERRY TIMETABLE TO HORMUZ ISLAND
Below, you will find the ferry timetable for all the departures to and from Hormuz Island.
The ferry schedules below are all up-to-date. The prices below are the latest records from May 2020.
The price for each single ticket is 150,000 IRR (~ 0.90 € / ~ 1 USD).
FROM QESHM ISLAND TO HORMUZ ISLAND
The journey takes around 50-60 minutes.
Departures times: 7:00 and 14:00
FROM BANDAR ABBAS TO HORMUZ ISLAND
The ferry departs from the Shadid Haqani Passenger Port.
The duration of the journey is around 45 minutes.
Departure times: 6:15, 9:00, 12:00, 14:00, 15:00, 21:30
FERRY TIMETABLE FROM HORMUZ ISLAND
FROM HORMUZ ISLAND TO QESHM ISLAND
Departure times: 8:00 and 16:00
FROM HORMUZ ISLAND TO BANDAR ABBAS
Departure times: 7:00, 10:00, 13:30, 15:30, 19:00
It is said that the best time to travel to Hormuz, the Rainbow Island, is winter as in winter the temperature is around 25°C degrees (77°F). But this is also when there are so many tourists on Hormuz Island.
I was there at the end of October. At that time, it was around 30°C (86°F). Honestly, it was still too hot for me. It might have been too hot but that is probably why there were no crowds.
Hormuz doesn’t get a lot of foreign tourists but it’s extremely popular among Iranians. If you want to avoid crowds, avoid traveling to Hormuz Island around the weekend which is Friday, and on public holidays.