Banana Island Resort Doha by Anantara (day tour)

Banana Island is an artificial island off the foreshore of Qatar. It is an exclusive island resort by Anantara. The island offers various amenities comes with a world-class service. Surely a surprise treat you can find in Qatar. As on their website, an island paradise of natural exclusivity.

To visit the island, it is required that you have a reservation in any of their services: dining, spa or hotel accommodation. The reservation is quite difficult than we thought for a lunch buffet on a Friday and our friend, Venj who managed the booking did it 2-weeks in advance. For hotel accommodation, you can definitely do it on their website.

An international lunch/dinner buffet with boat transfers is for QAR 275 per person on a weekend, and QAR 200 on weekdays with regular drinks included.

Al Shyoukh Terminal is located along the Corniche road which is the same side of the Museum Islamic Arts (MIA).

The luxury boats are scheduled to leave the port every hour. The travel time to and from the island is 20 minutes.

Inside the luxury boat. Comfortable and spacious seats.

I guess this is also perfect for long sailing trips!

At 11:45 A.M, we all gathered at the terminal. After we settled the payment, we stayed in the lounge for a short picture taking sessions and off we board the boat.

The lounge from the terminal is impressive. They offer complimentary dates and coffee while waiting to board.

The boat then docked, and we finally reached our destination. The sounds coming from bamboula is entertaining. The island-feels starts from here but we only have limited time and access so we have to make a lot of pictures in every corner of it!

 

The beach can only be accessed by in-house guests. 

 Some greens and colorful flowers!

After making ourselves hungry and taken tons of pictures, we headed to Azraq for the lunch buffet which we are all looking forward to. Azraq is the only restaurant who offers buffet though there are other dining options available.

My husband and I has practiced eating on buffets so we both know how to fill in our tummies.

Tips:
1. Walk around and scan what are the foods before getting a plate and spot on the most expensive food available. Also look for something you can't prepare at home and you can't buy somewhere.

2. Don't fill in your plate with too much food right away. One plate, one small serving at a time.

Remember: You can always go back. 

The sushi bar welcomes us and it made me more excited.

Beside the sushi bar are some fresh chilled oysters.

Inside the restaurant, there are more options waiting for us. The variety of dishes took us 3 hours to try most of it. There's Mexican, Arabic, Italian, Continental, Indian cuisines. Salad bar, Sushi bar, Grilling station,

While this one is right on target.

 The husband indulged his plate on somes slices of rib eye steak that was perfectly rare and juicy.

While I savor on this sweet and tender BBQ beef ribs.

Look, ONION RINGS! 

Arabic Station

The dessert corner are mixed with surprising treats. Candies, gummy bears, cheese cake, chocolate cakes, creme brulee, tarts, macaroons and various ice cream flavor! Some has bland taste, others has just enough taste, while others are too sweet. I remember how much I like the lemon ice cream which is sour but really a-must-try. The cakes are in big slices so I didn't bother getting a slice since I don't want to waste half of it. While the bannofee is heavenly good.

And this corner is flooded of fresh fruits!

We were not entitled to use the club car so we had no chance to check out the rest of the resort. So far this is just the part of the island that our feet could access.

Sayonara! Until next time!

We left the blissful island at 4:30 P.M. We are all satisfied with the day tour. If budget permits, then I will definitely book an overnight stay here. Inshallah! I sense, it will be a long negotiation with the frugal husband.

 

Banana island is a perfect escape from a fast-moving life in the city. From the relaxing view to its vibrant service is just a wonderful experience for all us. I wish that they also designate a club car for day tour guests that allowed a short trip to see the whole beauty of the island.

Qatar Living: Day-to-Day

In Qatar..

.. 'kobus' (Arabic Bread - Pita) is tasty, soft and always always freshly baked. 

Photo: wikipedia

..you can see fancy cars everywhere - daily. It's a norm!

..you can wear gold accessories all the time. Accessorize all you can, all you want, all day, all night.

..Sorry Gentlemen, "LADIES" first:

..they have well-maintained public parks, museums, and other interesting recreational places:

..traffic: road, traffic lights, highways and road signals are excellent. Most roads has roundabout:

..when it comes to fashion nobody is getting left behind, however:

..Oil / Gas / Petroleum is cheaper than a bottle of water.

There's a lot to share, but let me stop from here. I'm sure there's more to discover. Ciao!

Road Trip: Sealine Beach

Sealine Beach is one of a weekend getaway spot here in Qatar. Indeed an excellent hide-away from the busy city life. It is located at Mesaieed which is 45-minutes drive from Doha.

We took the Wakra Road going to Mesaieed which is known to be the shortest and convenient way. We left Doha from Airport Road at 3:00 P.M and we reached the Sealine at exactly 3:45 P.M.

During the week, I prayed that it will not be too sunny over the weekend as the summer season has started. Thank God it rained last Thursday night, so we're lucky that we have had a breezy Friday. ☁ ☀ ☁ 

Along Wakra Road, there are establishments and restaurants that you can stop by for a quick break. Since we want to arrive early as possible, we headed straight to Mesaieed.

The road and signs are excellent. We're still thankful that only few cars and trucks are on the road. Some SUVs  are running at 120 kmph but my husband stayed cool and driving at 80 kmph. Besides, we doesn't know the way. 

The whole trip went pleasant. To be honest my emotion is mixed up with excitement and a bit nervous since it's husband's first time to Sealine. I kept reminding Alfred to keep his sight on the road while I do the navigation (which I'm not good at, so thanks to google map) as well as keeping my eyes on our friends' car which was also our guide.

At 4:00 P.M the sun is still up but the wind is just perfect. It's not as hot as I expected on a desert. Surely the rain of last night's helped to cool down the weather for us!

As we reached our destination, the camel ride was our first stop and the camels are all lined up to welcome us. 

Camels sat down as we hopped on their back.

The camel ride cost 20 riyals with a guide who will walk you around for 5-minutes and kalas. 

After the camel ride, we headed to the beach side where people are staying there for picnics and bbq, while some enjoys swimming at the beach. The water is clear and the surroundings is somehow clean, however, the only downturn is that there isn't any comfort rooms available.

After picture taking at the beach, we headed to the other side for an ATV ride. I'm the only one in the group who hasn't tried it so they let me. The cost is 120 per hour, but our friend tried to negotiate the price and we finally got 50 riyals for 30-minutes. Before anything else, we handed over our Qatari ID, and sign an agreement (which I didn't know what it is for but I signed it though). There are ambulance available near the ATV site which is a good thing. The guide will teach you how to run the bike then you're good to go.

There's a nearby private beach resort named Sealine Beach Resort. As I did my research, entrance fee is 135 riyals per head. They have restaurant/s (not sure of the choices, check out their link) where you can buy food and drinks. We passed by to it but didn't see the beauty of the resort.

Friendly advise: Read the road signs as there are parts of Mesaieed road strictly prohibits taking photos. If they said no, No!

Overall, it was a wonderful road trip. To summarize, the Sealine would give you the desert feels. Riding a camel, ATV & Sand dunes are worth trying while the beach is peaceful and calm which is relaxing enough to complete your trip.

It's always best to enjoy every moment and pay something for experience.

“If we look at the world with a love of life, the world will reveal its beauty to us.” 

~Daisaku Ikeda