Inside incredible £400 billion plans for super-luxury island resort with underwater pyramids & 650ft tall hotel
INCREDIBLE pictures show futuristic plans for a super-luxury resort on a desolate island in the Red Sea.
At the heart of the Shushah Island - which is part of Saudia Arabia’s £400 billion NEOM project - will be a 650ft tall hotel and will even feature an underwater museum.
The NEOM project project is the brainchild of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and work has also begun on the incredible structure.
Work has already begun on a mind-boggling 110-mile long sideways skyscraper dubbed The Line, the centrepiece of the project that's so far grabbed the world's attention.
But The Line is just one of six gigantic projects that are part of a wider £5.5 trillion plan aimed at transforming Saudi Arabia.
Now new pictures of Shushah Island have revealed more of the scale of the country's ambitions to attract tourists for a future when its oil eventually runs out.
READ MORE ABOUT SAUDI ARABIA
The strict Islamic country only began allowing tourists in 2019 but it appears to be going all out to develop the Red Sea to bring in visitors.
Currently Shushah Island is desolate 250 acre outcrop but as these pictures show, it will be unrecognisable by the time the resort is up and running.
Tourists will be able to sail to the island and anchor their boats at a floating marina with 43 berths.
There’s also two seaplane docks for the mega rich who want to fly there.
Most read in The Sun
Once on the island, visitors will be have the choice of a 600ft tall standalone hotel with 300 rooms, a boutique hotel, a luxury boutique hotel or village apartments to stay.
The island is home to spectacular coral reefs and the plan is to use the development to renovate them so they form the centrepiece of the resort.
A coral garden will provide a research into coral preservation and attract international scientists, researchers and eco-conscious travellers.
There will also be an underwater museum so visitors will be able to immerse themselves into the undersea world.
The aim is for the coral garden to be finished in 2025, according to NEOM and King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).
The final completion date and the separate cost of developing the island have so far not been revealed.
NEOM is keen to stress its green credentials and says the island will become a “bold landmark” of regenerative tourism – the idea that a site can have a positive impact on the environment.
Shushah Island will complement plans for Sindalah Island, another luxury resort being planned by NEOM for the Red Sea.
Spanning more than 84 hectares, the resort will be home to three major properties with more than 400 rooms and 300 suites, a beach club, large marina, wellness centre and plenty of restaurants.
As well as the two islands, plans have already been unveiled for a ski resort, in the country more associated with sand than snow.
If that wasn't enough, NEOM also wants to built an eight-sided floating city which if built would be the world's largest floating structure have been unveiled.
The remarkable futuristic OXAGON project, off the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia, would be arranged around water-filled squares linked by canals.
Saudi officials hope the sci-fi city will help the Middle-Eastern nation diversify itself away from oil and attract more tourists.
Meanwhile, construction has already begun on The Line, drone footage released at the end of last year shows.
The megacity has also begun hiring for thousands of jobs, from from prison officers to engineers.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
But human rights activists have called on western firms to boycott the development because Saudia Arabia’s appalling human rights record.
Three tribesman were last year sentenced to death for refusing to leave their homes to make way for the construction site.
