Your own Red Sea island: Saudi Arabia opens sales on Laheq Island from $1.6 million

Until recently, Saudi Arabia real estate rarely came up when buyers talked about a home by the sea. Laheq Island is changing that: off the kingdom’s west coast, the first island community on the Red Sea is under construction — a private island aimed at the very wealthy. It is neither a hotel nor another beachfront compound, but an island where nature, privacy and service are planned as one whole. The first villas are on sale, and the project is due to reach full scale by 2028.

Laheq Island at a glance

• Island size — around 400 hectares.
• Getting there — roughly 15 minutes by boat from the mainland.
• Developer — Red Sea Global, owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF).
• Architect — Foster + Partners.
• Villas — from SAR 17.6 million (about USD 4.7 million, or AED 17.2 million).
• Apartments in The Ring — from SAR 5.9 million (about USD 1.6 million, or AED 5.8 million).
• Completion — 2028.

The waters around the island still hold coral reefs and mangrove forest. Today it looks more like a nature reserve than a luxury development site, and the masterplan is built around that.

The Ring: the island’s centre of gravity

At the heart of the island stands The Ring, a circular building about 800 metres in diameter. There will be no dense blocks: light structures seem to float above the ground and barely touch the landscape. The ring will hold residences, a gallery, restaurants and the Souq Marketplace, a square of boutiques and food concepts.

It also shapes the day: calm in daylight hours, with life moving into restaurants and public spaces after dark. The whole project follows a concept called the Forever Garden — the shoreline is not built up wall to wall, and the island develops so that nature stays in charge.

Red Sea villas and apartments for sale

Laheq’s residential areas are divided by landscape — beach, canals, marina or golf. The launch collection, Silene Villas, offers three to eight bedrooms in natural materials, with soft lighting, architecture that does not compete with its setting, and interiors by Poltrona Frau and RH. Prices start at SAR 17.6 million.

Apartments in The Ring are for buyers who want to be at the centre of things, next to the restaurants and public spaces. The entry point is a third of the villa price, from SAR 5.9 million.

Amenities: marina, golf and private clubs

• a marina taking yachts up to 60 metres;
• beach clubs and a golf club for residents and visitors;
• private clubs for couples, for gentlemen and for families;
• a sailing school, tennis and padel courts, fitness and yoga, water-sports centres, running and cycling paths.

The biggest amenity, though, is the Red Sea itself: a yacht, a kayak or a sail is an everyday option here, not a weekend treat.

Protecting the reefs and mangroves

Before building, Red Sea Global surveyed the island and its waters in detail. The mangroves were left untouched, and the eastern part of the masterplan was redrawn to avoid the reefs. Canals are designed for natural water exchange, all island transport is electric, power comes from renewables, and sensors will monitor water, air and ecosystems in real time.

Red Sea resorts: The Red Sea megaproject

Laheq is part of The Red Sea, Saudi Arabia’s state megaproject designed as a global centre of regenerative tourism — tourism that restores nature instead of wearing it down. The numbers:

• around 28,000 sq km, including more than 90 uninhabited islands, one of the world’s largest barrier reef systems, volcanoes, desert and canyons;
• a cap of one million visitors a year;
• phase one — an international airport and 17 resorts, nine already operating according to the developer, with roughly 3,000 rooms;
• by 2030 — up to 50 hotels, about 8,000 rooms and over 1,000 residences on 22 islands and six mainland sites.

Shura Island, the destination’s hub

Fifteen minutes by boat from Laheq lies Shura Island, the centre of the destination, with 305 residences planned. Edition, InterContinental and SLS are open, Marival is expected in 2026, and Four Seasons Private, Jumeirah and Grand Hyatt will follow. Shura is also getting Shura Links, Saudi Arabia’s first golf course, the Shura Marina, up to 40 restaurants and Marina Residences by RSGH. For a Laheq owner, that means private island living with a full resort’s infrastructure a few minutes away by water.

AMAALA, the wellness resort

AMAALA is a separate destination built around wellness and recovery, with Marina Village, the Corallium Marine Life Institute and the AMAALA Yacht Club. Phase one covers 7,349 residences and The Collection villas, alongside Clinique La Prairie, Rosewood and Nammos hotels.

Single-resort islands and the mainland

Some islands are given over to a single resort: Shebara, the St. Regis Red Sea Resort, Nujuma and the Ritz-Carlton Reserve. On the mainland, Desert Rock sits inside the rock, and Turtle Bay in the dunes acts as the service centre, with the TBH Hotel, Red Sea Hospital, a beach club, 22 shops, a mosque and a sports club, all scheduled to open in 2026.

Is it time to buy property in Saudi Arabia?

Laheq does not disappear into a tourism cluster, nor is it an ordinary gated community: it is private island life with global resort brands next door.

The key difference from Dubai is market maturity. In Dubai every deal is visible in the Land Department register, and a home in a good district sells within weeks. Saudi Arabia’s luxury property market for foreign buyers is still taking shape, there is no resale on the Red Sea islands yet, and liquidity is an expectation rather than a fact. Buying on Laheq today is a lifestyle choice and a bet that the project gets built at the promised scale — not an asset with a clear exit.

Based on information from Red Sea Global.