Hormuz Island: Place of a Thousand Colors

By Ewelina Lepionko

What color of the beach do you prefer white, multicolored, blue, or yellow? How about the red one?

Hormuz Island is 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. 

Hormuz is today a calm place, home to a small village, Iranian artists, and the natural wonders created by the island’s geography.

Hormuz, also called Ormuz, is mostly barren, the hilly island of Iran on the Strait of Hormuz, between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, 5 miles (8 km) off the coast. Hormuz village is the only permanent settlement. Resources include red ochre for export.

Hormoz, in addition to its red soil, is famous because it is covered with golden, silver, and white sands and soils. Soils of different colors have been formed due to different chemical reactions. Lime, white color, copper, green color, iron, red color, as well as different elements and compounds, have created different colors. So, when we walk around the island, the soil around us changes color every few hundred meters.

Due to its location, Hormuz Island has a tropical climate. Almost all the year, the humidity is about 95%. Summers are extremely hot and humid, with sunny days, and an average high temperature of more than 45 °C. The lowest temperature at night is approximately 30 °C.
surfiran

Life in Hormuz is still very much traditional; all people are centered in the main and only village of Hormuz. 

One of the main attractions of Hormuz Island is the way the local women dress. These clothes that are known as “Bandari Clothes” consist of slim-fit pants embroidered with gold threads and a chador full of floral patterns. 

Popular sports among visitors to the island include the Red Beach, Rainbow Valley, Salt Mountain, and Valley of Statues. 

Hormuz Island has a mountain rich in red oxide soil, called “Gelack”, which is not just a valuable mineral for industrial purposes, but the locals use it as a spice in their cuisine, such as sauces, jams, etc. The mountain being on the shoreline makes the peculiarly red beach and red waves of the sea an unmissable sight to see. 
itto.org

The Red Beach is only one among Hormuz Island’s various rocky sand beaches with their mysterious sea caves. 

State authorities had to take measures to protect Hormuz due to the overuse of red ochre which makes the beach so red.