The Palm Jumeirah

The unique man-made island built in palm-tree shape with sand and rock formation, Palm Jumeirah is claimed as “eighth wonder of the world” This is definitely regarded as one of Dubai’s most ambitious and recognizable projects to date by Nakheel, a company owned by the Dubai government. It is one of three islands called The Palm Islands which will increase Dubai’s shoreline by a total of 520 km. The Palm Jumeirah is the smallest and the original of three Palm Islands (Palm Jumeirah, Palm Jebel Ali and Palm Deira), located on the Jumeirah coastal area of the emirate of Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates
The Palm Jumeirah consists of a trunk, a crown with 17 fronds, and a surrounding crescent island that forms an 11 kilometers long breakwater. The island is 5 kilometres by 5 kilometres and its total area is larger than 800 football pitches. The crown is connected to the mainland by a 300-metre bridge and the crescent is connected to the top of the palm by a subsea tunnel. Over the next few years, as the tourism phases develop, The Palm Jumeirah is touted as soon to be one of the world’s premier resorts. The island will double the length of the Dubai coastline.

The Jumeirah Palm island is primarily a retreat and residential area for living, relaxation, and leisure. It will contain themed boutique hotels, three types of villas (Signature Villas, Garden Homes, and Canal Cove Town Homes), shoreline apartment buildings, beaches, marinas, restaurants, cafes and a variety of retail outlets. The Palm Jumeirah will contain over 25 of the top international hotel brands including Movenpick Resort Oceana Palm Jumeirah, Moevenpick Resort & Spa Palm Jumeirah, Antara, Fairmont Palm Residence, Radisson SAS, Hilton, Metropolitan, Shangri La, One and Only Royal Mirage, Starwood, Marriott, Oberoi, Kempinski, Chedi, Taj Exotica Resort and Spa, Anantara Resort, and Dusit. Other developments will include Al Basri Building, Al Habool Building, Al Anbara Building, Emerald Palace, Oceana, and the Trump Plaza and Marina Residences.

After years of construction, the Palm Jumeirah is now home to a large quantity of residents, and the many luxury hotels scheduled to be opened on the outermost part of the island are well underway. This project has been important to the Dubai real estate market in many ways, demonstrating the engineering capabilities of developer Nakheel, leading to other similar projects like The Waterfront and Palm Jebel Ali, getting the Emirate of Dubai more worldwide attention, and showing residents a completely new way of living.

The Palm Jumeirah island offers buyers luxury freehold property and a lifestyle like no other. The island was conceived at the start of the Dubai property boom and has taken several years to complete, but the finished result should be worth the wait to eager property owners. Dubai is known for trying to have the biggest and best of everything, and the Palm Jumeirah is no different, with varying types of properties all catering to the high end of the Dubai real estate market.

The blue seas which lap the man-made shores are teeming with rays, hermit crabs and baracudas. Away from the ongoing construction, which has four years to run, life in the middle of the ocean is incredibly peaceful. It is a world away from the exclusive gated fronds back on the Palm, where the only sound is often the splash of a paddle from a kayak, the favourite pastime of Palm dwellers. "Life here is 150% better than in the UK," says Donna Dempsey, 46, a ballet teacher from Kent. "We have our garbage collected every day, we have clean streets, we have low crime. You can really chill here. Sometimes it's hard to go to work."