Whilst visiting the Farasan Islands we made a boat trip to see birds on the offshore islands. The bots can be hired from local fisherman at a rate of 150-200 SAR per hour, and we took a boat from the harbor next to the main port where the island ferry lands and departs. As a foreigner, you need to have your iqama or passport with you as it is checked by the coastguard office before you can leave, which is situated next to the harbor itself. The trip time starts only after the all clear from coastguards has been obtained. We spent three hours on the boat and saw birds at very close range including Pink-backed Pelican in the harbor as we were leaving as well as offshore. Brown Booby was a common breeding bird on the offshore islands with birds nesting close to the edge of islands allowing very close approach and never leaving their nests. Other breeding birds seen in good numbers included both Sooty Gull and White-eyed Gull, with the former much more common than the latter. Good number of terns were seen fishing offshore that were mainly White-cheeked Tern but several Bridled Tern were in amongst them. The terns looked bluish on the underparts due to the strong sunlight reflecting the colour of the shallow blue-green water onto the white undersides of the terns.
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| Brown Booby |
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| Brown Booby |
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| Brown Booby |
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| Pink-backed Pelican |
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| Pink-backed Pelican |
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| Sooty Gull |
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| White-eyed Gull |
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| White-eyed Gull |
