In the central Khalid Lagoon of downtown Sharjah just east of the historic Sharjah Heritage Area, Al Noor Island is a 45,000-square-metre artificial island that has been transformed into one of the most thoughtfully designed small public garden and leisure parks in the broader United Arab Emirates. The island opened to the public in December 2015 following a comprehensive three-year landscape-and-architecture development programme led by the Sharjah Investment and Development Authority, fulfilli.....

On the western shore of the Khalid Lagoon in the heart of downtown Sharjah, the Central Souq (also widely known as the Blue Souk) is the largest traditional market in the United Arab Emirates and one of the most architecturally distinctive market buildings in the broader Gulf region. The dramatic 80,000-square-metre, two-storey market opened in 1979 to a design by the British architectural firm Halcrow, occupying a substantial purpose-built complex that has served continuously as the principal t.....

Within the broader Yas Island entertainment district along the central western coastline of Yas Island just east of central Abu Dhabi, Island of Legends is a substantial indoor adventure-and-entertainment complex that brings together a collection of themed adventure activities, immersive entertainment experiences and family-friendly attractions in a single integrated indoor venue. The 60,000-square-foot complex opened in December 2018 as part of the broader Yas Island family-entertainment progra.....

Part of the Al Qasba leisure district in Sharjah, Masrah Al Qasba is a theatre set among the canal-side attractions of the Al Qasba development in the Al Khan area. Its name means simply "the Al Qasba theatre" in Arabic. Al Qasba is a waterfront leisure and cultural district built around a canal, lined with restaurants, an observation wheel, art spaces and family attractions. The theatre forms the performing-arts anchor of the district. As a purpose-built performance venue, it stages plays, mu.....

With dozens of slides spread across a pirate and palace theme, Pearls Kingdom Water Park is the water-park half of the Al Montazah Parks complex in Sharjah. It stands beside Al Khalidiya Lagoon, across the water from the emirate's Flag Island. Al Montazah Parks was developed by the Sharjah authorities as a family leisure destination, pairing the water park with an adjoining amusement park. Pearls Kingdom is the aquatic side of that combined attraction. The park is built around a fantasy world .....

Pearls Kingdom Waterpark opened in mid-2024 along Al Khalidia Street in Abu Dhabi, occupying a 25,000 square metre site themed around the historic pearl diving heritage of the Trucial Coast that sustained the region's economy for centuries before the discovery of oil. The park is operated by Tilal Liwa Hospitality Group and forms part of a wider family entertainment district that includes a hotel, retail concourse and outdoor amphitheatre. Themed zones recreate stylised versions of an Emirati p.....

Built in 1823 as the residence and seat of power of the ruling Al Qasimi family, Al Hisn Fort stands at the centre of Sharjah city as one of the most significant historic structures in the United Arab Emirates. The whitewashed coral-stone and mudbrick fortress served for more than 150 years as the home of successive Sharjah rulers, the centre of government administration and, at various points, a prison and a defensive stronghold guarding the creek and the surrounding settlement. Much of the ori.....