Yas Island is to Abu Dhabi what Dubai is to all the Emirates: the main entertainment center, in the construction of which huge amounts of money were pumped. In the five years that have passed since the opening of Yas Island to tourists, the prestigious Formula 1 circuit has appeared here, which hosts the annual Grand Prix, the engineering marvel – the Ferrari theme park, the fantastic Viceroy Hotel, standing right on the race track, and water amusement park with fifty rides. Naturally, all this is directly aimed at the “voluntary withdrawal” of tourist money – which, however, the tourists themselves do not regret at all: they recklessly drive racing cars on the Yas Marina track, accelerate almost to the speed of sound on the Ross Formula and squealing joyfully on the water roller coaster. See jibin123.com for United Arab Emirates customs regulations and visa requirements.
How to get to Yas Island
Yas Island is practically part of the coastal Abu Dhabi: only a narrow channel separates it from the land, so moving to the island may well be overlooked. You can get here by taxi (the easiest way, the cost from the city is no more than 20 AED) or public bus route number 190 from both Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Prices on the page are for July 2021.
Yas Island is separated from the center of Abu Dhabi about 20 km.
What to ride
In addition to standard taxis, there is a more democratic way to get around Yas Island: free Yas Express buses of two ring routes – blue and red. The blue express runs from 9 am to 9 pm, the red express from 9 am to 2 am, each route departs about once every half hour. The blue one will take you to Ferrari World and Yas Mall, while the red one will take you to the marina, the beach and the golf club. The routes intersect, making it easy to plan a route.
Yas Island Hotels
There are seven hotels and apartment complexes on Yas Island. The most promoted is the Yas Viceroy hotel: half of the building faces the marina, half the land, in addition, it is “cut” by the Formula 1 track (this is the only hotel in the world that stands directly on the track). Of the decorations – thousands of LEDs located on the roof and creating the effect of the atmosphere around the building. Radisson Blu and Crowne Plaza also appeared here, as well as the “five”, from the less pompous – Rotana and the Staybridge Suites apartment complex.
The most affordable accommodation option on Yas Island is the non-Emirati concise Centro Hotel.
Beaches
Yas Island has the only beach, which is free for guests of one of the hotels or apartments on the island (you need to present a hotel key card or resettlement voucher) and paid for everyone else. The beach is sandy, the coastline is wide enough, which, coupled with a gentle entrance to the water, make it an ideal place for families with children to relax. You can sit on a sun lounger under an umbrella or in an open Caribbean-style hut with transparent curtains. There are water sports stations on the beach. Opening hours – daily from 10:00 to 19:00, Saturday – women’s day, entry for the fair sex at half price. The cost of visiting the beach: for adults – 60 AED on weekdays and 120 AEDon the weekend. Children under 12 years old enter free of charge. The price includes the use of a sunbed, umbrella and towels.
Cuisine and restaurants
As elsewhere in the Emirates, on Yas Island it costs nothing to dine in style with dishes from almost any of the world’s cuisines. Each hotel has at least five restaurants, plus numerous restaurants and cafes in the city and marina, as well as beach snack bars.
Taste the best dishes of international cuisines accompanied by a dazzling show at the Burlesque Restaurant and Lounge – the fun here is truly Parisian, from the time of Lautrec.
Yas is the island of Formula 1, attractions and shopping.
Shopping and shops
Since November 2014, the main magnet for shopaholics has been Yas Mall – the largest in Abu Dhabi and the second largest in the country: the total area is as much as 235 thousand square meters. meters! Among the interesting things are the largest Debenhams store outside the UK, the first Lego Concept store in the region and the first Brooks Brothers boutique in the emirate. In addition, there are hundreds of other shops and boutiques, as well as (where would it be without it) an ultra-modern 4Dx cinema with a large VOX Max screen.
You can buy useful things for your home and replenish your home library at the Ace shopping center, and there is also an IKEA on the island.
Entertainment and attractions of Yas Island
Yas is the island of Formula 1, attractions and shopping, but historical sights and “serious” culture cannot be found here – you need to go to the city of Abu Dhabi for them.
The main center of attraction on the island is the magnificent theme park Ferrari World, the world’s first entertainment complex dedicated to the Ferrari brand. More than 20 attractions await guests: from a children’s carousel made of Ferrari prototype cars and a harmless virtual tour of the Maranello factory to the Fiorano GT Challenge catapult roller coaster and the great and terrible pneumatic (!) Formula Ross roller coaster: in 5 seconds you will be dispersed to 240 km/h A bunch of shops and restaurants of Italian cuisine are attached to the load of the park.
Yas Marina Raceway is the island’s second must-see attraction. During the tour, you can find out how much effort (not to mention funds) is required to maintain the track in working order and what are the features of holding competitions on it. And here you can also drive a car (you can choose from a racing car with an open cockpit, a closed Aston Martin, and even a real Formula 1 car) and independently go through all 21 turns of the track throughout its 5554 m. The price of pleasure is from 400 to 2000 AED.
Yas Waterworld water park solemnly closes the big three attractions of the island. 43 water attractions await visitors, connected by a single theme – the search for a lost pearl by an Arab girl – a character in an Arabian fairy tale. Among the very best are a 238-meter tornado slide, three-meter artificial waves for a board and a half-kilometer roller coaster.
You can hang out in the laser smoke on Yas Island at the O1NE club, as the name implies – the only worthwhile entertainment place in all the Emirates.
