Banana Island

Doha can get pretty fancy. Living in the wealthiest country in the world has its perks. 

All along the corniche are strange signs pointing towards an elusive "Banana Island." It took me quite a while to figure out exactly what they were referring to and where they were actually pointing. After being reassured by my students that it was not, in fact, made of bananas, it became a part of my bucket list to visit this banana island. Read More...

Banana Island is located about 20 minutes away from Doha and prides itself on being a luxurious getaway from the city. It is advertised as having Maldives-style rooms above the water of the Arabian gulf. It is also quite private- you must have a reservation to access the ferry to the island.

In order to make it over, we booked a restaurant reservation at Riva, the Italian restaurant. When we arrived at the port, they offered us coffee, tea, and dates, the regular, fancy Arabian snacks.

When I told my students I would be going to Banana Island they were very impressed. They often tell me they "go to banana" and were doubtful that I would make it there.

There are two options for getting to Banana Island. One is to hire a private helicopter from the airport. Unfortunately, that wasn't exactly an option for us, so we got to take the catamaran ferry from the port.

It was really nice.
Until we started moving.

A very fast moving boat + no outdoor space + windy = you can guess.
But they very nicely gave us Banana Island themed (barf) bags. I kept one (that was clean) as a souvenir.

The dinner was really good! Riva had great service and great food!

It is a dry island (no booze allowed!) so I had a yummy strawberry drink and Danielle even got a hot apple cider.

I had the lasagna, but honestly, I was having some serious food envy.

After stuffing my face with an appetizer, entree, and dessert, we took a walk along the beach.

There were a string of pools along the building as well as a kids area. We didn't make it far enough to see the huts over the water, although I am sure we would have been escorted away from them fairly quickly even if we had.

It was quite windy and we headed back to the dreaded boat soon after.

It was not any better after having eaten.

Although the boat ride left much to be desired, the food was amazing. It would be nice to see Banana Island during the day time although I doubt I could muster the courage to get back on the ferry.

But another positive was that I did earn quite a bit of street cred with my students.

Miss Leanne went to Banana!