Kish is a 91.5-square-kilometre resort island in Bandar Lengeh County, Hormozgan Province, off the southern coast of Iran in the Persian Gulf. Owing to its free trade zone status, the island has numerous malls, shopping centers, tourist attractions, and resort hotels.

Tourist attractions on Kish Island:

Kish Island, located in the Persian Gulf close to Qeshm Island, is Iran’s most popular island resort and the fourth most popular tourist destination in southwest Asia. What really makes this island “the pearl of the Persian Gulf” and a wildly popular tourist destination, are its numerous attractions and recreational facilities. Let’s take a look at some of the most popular attractions that contribute to Kish Island’s booming tourism.

The Greek Ship

The Greek Ship is a 75-year-old cargo ship that has been beached in the western part of Kish Island since 1966. It has become a major Kish tourist attraction in recent years, where hundreds of people gather on the beach to watch the beautiful view of the sunset in the evening.

The Greek Ship was built in 1943 by the British and its original name was Empire Trumpet. Over its long life, this ship has numbers of British, Iranian, and Greek owners. They changed its name frequently. The last owner of this ship was Greek, which explains its current name. Naturalist, Persian Cyrus, Hamedan, and Koula F are some of its former names.

Kariz-e Kish

Not many people travel to Kish for its historical attractions, so it surprises them to know that Kish has one of the oldest underground cities in Iran. The Kariz Underground City, Kariz literally meaning Qanat or aqueduct, was built over 2000 years ago by the inhabitants of Harriyeh city in order to collect pure water.

Carving aqueducts in Iran was a crucial discovery for survival from the very beginning as it is dry land. As time passed, the carving aqueduct was not a burden anymore and turned to architectural art. This underground structure has special characteristics like being coral in its nature, Sweetwater flows, cool temperature, ancient fossils, etc.

Kish Diving Center

Diving is one of the sea and water amusement that most people like to experience at least once in the waters of the Persian Gulf. The waters around Kish Island are the habitat of a variety of marine organisms such as coral, and decorative and edible fish that you can see by going to the Kish Diving Center.

There is a great program for you and your companions. Seeing the beautiful view of the Persian Gulf provides the peak of thrilling and unique calmness under the blue sky for tourists and visitors who have traveled to Kish Island.

Dolphin Park

Dolphin Park has many shows, and in addition to the dolphinarium, it includes a bird garden, a circus, a laser show, a saltwater aquarium, and a landscape area. This complex is designed to entertain both children and adults. 

The dolphins are very charming animals and they put on exciting shows with the help of their coaches. Watching them swim around and dive can be a very memorable experience. Other animals such as sea lions, walruses, and penguins are living in the complex, too. The pools of the park have been filled by the water from the sea, and the animals are living in an environment similar to their natural habitats.

Traditional dishes of Kish:

Traces of fish can be seen everywhere in the traditional dishes of Kish and Iran’s Southerners in general, but the natives of Kish use different seasonings to flavor the food. For this reason, the taste of their food may be slightly different from other southern regions of the country. 

Here are the most famous traditional dishes you can find in Kish Island:

Samak Mashwi

This popular dish of the natives of Kish Island is prepared from fresh fish and Arabic spices. The main ingredient of this dish is fresh fish from the Persian Gulf, which is grilled or fried. Since the inhabitants of the island cook this dish with Arabic spices, it has a wonderful taste for those who like spicy food.

Mazroobeh

Mozrubeh is another traditional dish of Kish which is a form of soup with a special and unique taste. To prepare the soup, fish is combined with local vegetables and flavored garlic.

Ghalieh Mahi

Ghalieh Mahi is one of the most well-known traditional dishes in the south of Iran. It is served a lot among the conventional dishes of Kish, and maybe because of the seasonings that are added to it, it has a slightly different flavor from other regions. To prepare this dish, fish is roasted with delicious and aromatic vegetables and cooked with seasoning and other aromatic and tasty ingredients.

Shrimp Stew

Shrimp stew has an appearance similar to Ghormeh Sabzi, Ghalieh Mahi, and other Iranian dishes that are made with vegetables. with the difference that it uses shrimp instead of meat or fish and the variety of vegetables is less. Its primary and basic flavor is garlic, which is added during cooking. They also add a special pickle to it, which is usually tamarind.

Margoog

Margoog is a kind of authentic Arabic food that is cooked in Kish with a different recipe. This authentic Kish dish contains all kinds of fresh vegetables. Margoog is prepared from lamb meat, potatoes, carrots, hot green peppers, eggplant, tomatoes, onions, garlic, and special spices. To cook it, meat and vegetables are first cooked separately and then mixed. In the end, small pieces of Sangak bread dough are added to the dish. Like all Iranian stews, Margoog is served with rice.

Pudni

This dish is one of the strangest traditional dishes of Kish. Pudni is a dish cooked with fish meat, specifically shark meat hunted from the coasts of Kish. Shark meat is a little difficult to cook. In order to be able to fully cook the meat, locals of Kish first cook it in lemon juice and turmeric. Then they squeeze the meat until the water inside it is completely out. Then it is roasted with spices and aromatic vegetables and served with rice.

Majboos Rice

Majbous rice is an Arabic food and is made from a combination of rice, fish, lamb or chicken, onions, tomatoes, coriander seeds, fennel, cumin, black pepper, cloves, cinnamon sticks, cardamom, and turmeric. The recipe is not that difficult. Pieces of meat, fish, or chicken are put in the pot and special spices such as cloves, black pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, and local spices are added to them. In the end, add the grated tomato and let the ingredients cook well together. The natives of Kish serve this dish with rice.

Mahmar (Sugary Rice)

Mahmar is one of the popular and local dishes of Kish Island. To prepare this rice, they pour a lot of sugar into it during cooking, so that its color turns yellow, then it is served with fish.

Hariseh

Hariseh is a kind of traditional kind of Halim. Wheat and meat are used to prepare this dish. Soaked wheat and meat are cooked together and stirred regularly until the ingredients are completely crushed, then some butter is added to it. They use sugar, butter, and cinnamon as the toppings.

Khabiseh

Khabiseh is a sweet pudding and is considered among the traditional dishes of Kish. It is a type of Arabic halva that is very easy to prepare. Wheat flour or rice flour is fried in oil. In another container, water and sugar are mixed together. Then they add it to the fried flour and mix well until it takes the shape of a Halva. Sometimes they add cardamom or saffron inside the mixture before removing it from the heat.

Compiled by Mohaddeseh Pakravan