Jubail Island is a natural island of 40 million square metres in Abu Dhabi City, sitting between Yas Island and Saadiyat Island and built as a set of low density villages inside a mangrove landscape. It is the work of Jubail Island Investment Company, developed and managed by LEAD Development, which puts the masterplan at AED 15 billion. More than 1,000 homes have been completed and handed over, and only about 20 percent of the island is built on. This guide covers where Jubail Island is and how long the drive really takes, every village, every project on the official register, the homes and their sizes, the mangrove park and what it costs to visit, the schools and shops that are coming, and what to weigh before you buy.
Jubail Island at a Glance
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Where is it? | Between Yas Island and Saadiyat Island, in Abu Dhabi City |
| How big? | 40 million square metres, about 4,000 hectares |
| Developer | Jubail Island Investment Company, with LEAD Development |
| Villages | Marfaa Al Jubail, Nad Al Dhabi, Seef Al Jubail, Souk Al Jubail, Ain Al Maha, Bada Al Jubail, and RIMAS |
| Homes planned | 854 villas, 303 townhouses, 465 apartments and 164 land plots |
| Handed over so far | More than 1,000 homes, from 2024 onwards |
| How much is built on | About 20 percent of the island |
| Nature | Jubail Island Mangrove Park and more than 30 km of waterfront |
| Road in | Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Highway, the E12, at Exit 17 |
| Who can buy | Buyers of every nationality |
Where Jubail Island Is and How to Get There
Jubail Island lies in the shallow water between the Abu Dhabi mainland and the islands, and the regulator files it as the Al Jubail Island district of Abu Dhabi City. There is one way in by car: the Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Highway, the E12, then Exit 17 and the island's own bridge. That single entrance keeps passing traffic out, which is part of the appeal, and it is also the thing to test before you buy.
The island is far closer to the city than its quiet suggests. These times were read on Google Maps from Jubail Mangrove Park on a weekday afternoon in September 2026, each the route Google put first:
| Destination | Drive time | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Louvre Abu Dhabi, Saadiyat Island | About 12 minutes | 12 km |
| Yas Mall, Yas Island | About 17 minutes | 18 km |
| Abu Dhabi Corniche | About 17 minutes | 18 km |
| The Galleria, Al Maryah Island | About 19 minutes | 16 km |
| Zayed International Airport | About 19 minutes | 24 km |
| Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque | About 27 minutes | 32 km |
| The Dubai Mall | About 1 hour 15 minutes | 127 km |
That is the real argument for Jubail Island: mangroves at the end of the garden, with the Louvre, the Corniche and the airport all inside half an hour. Its nearest neighbours are Al Fahid Island across the channel and Al Raha Beach on the mainland shore.
The Six Villages, and the Seventh
The developer describes Jubail Island as six villages. A seventh, RIMAS, was launched more recently and now sits beside them in the same list.
| Village | What it is | Homes | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marfaa Al Jubail | The marina quarter | Apartments and villas | Marina berths in use |
| Nad Al Dhabi | Parks and family streets | Villas | First homes handed over in 2024 |
| Seef Al Jubail | Quiet shoreline villas | Villas | Being built |
| Souk Al Jubail | The town centre | Apartments and townhouses | Supermarket open |
| Ain Al Maha | Waterfront villas on the estuary | Villas | Being built |
| Bada Al Jubail | Gated beach mansions | 111 mansions | Plots under way |
| RIMAS | Newest village in the mangroves | Villas | Launched, due 2030 |
Marfaa Al Jubail looks across at Abu Dhabi island and holds Marsa Al Jubail, the marina district, with a yacht club, a waterfront promenade, shops and restaurants. The marina takes boats from 6 m to 45 m, and its 36 villas sit at the edge of the cluster.
Nad Al Dhabi is the family village, built around parks, a community pool, play areas, sports courts, a mosque and a kayak launch. It received the island's first residents, 44 homes handed over in the second quarter of 2024. Seef Al Jubail next to it is quieter still, spacious villas on the shoreline and in clusters inland, with parks and a beach club planned nearby.
Souk Al Jubail is the town centre where the villages meet, and where daily life already works. It carries the supermarket, four office buildings with a clinic, community pools, a mosque, a nursery and the retail high street, plus The Jubail Terraces, six low rise buildings of studios and one, two and three bedroom apartments.
Ain Al Maha is the waterfront village, villas around coastal landscapes and secluded beaches linked by bridges through the estuary. The island's school is planned here, with a petrol station, a community centre, a clinic, a park and a mosque.
Bada Al Jubail is the gated mansion village on the beach: 111 architect designed mansions, a residents' marina with 30 berths, a yacht club and private beach access. RIMAS is the newest release, a low density neighbourhood wrapped in mangroves with a resort style pool, a beachfront gym and a mangrove trail, published with a completion of the first quarter of 2030, a land area of 542,351 square metres and plots of 800 to 1,716 square metres.
Every Jubail Island Project on the Official Register
Abu Dhabi Real Estate Centre, ADREC, publishes a directory of registered projects, each with a project number, a unit count and a build progress figure. This is the Al Jubail Island list on 21 September 2026, and it is the best check on what is actually finished:
| Project as registered | Homes or plots | Build progress |
|---|---|---|
| Jubail Island, Phase 1 | 121 villas | Built |
| Jubail Island south, Phase 2 | 654 villas | About 98% |
| Al Jubail Island Phase 3 | 340 villas | About 98% |
| Jubail Terraces | 269 homes | 100% |
| Marsa Al Jubail | 36 villas | 100% |
| Ain Al Maha Village | 73 villas | About 78% |
| Bada Al Jubail 1 | 37 plots | About 69% |
| Bada Al Jubail 2 | 80 plots | About 13% |
| Rimas | 316 villas | Not started |
| Nad Al Dhabi North | 13 villas | Not started |
Every row is registered to Jubail Island Investment Company, which is what lets the homes be advertised and sold. The register also shows how little is left in the finished phases: Phase 3 reads 325 of 340 homes sold, and Ain Al Maha Village 72 of 73. Ask for the project number on the reservation form and match it to the directory before you pay anything.
Homes, Sizes and What They Cost
The island is planned for 854 villas, 303 townhouses, 465 apartments and 164 land plots, and more than 10,000 residents. Villas run from four to six bedrooms, townhouses from two to four, apartments from studios to three bedrooms, and the Bada Al Jubail mansions from six to eight. These are the built sizes the developer publishes on its own floor plan pages:
| Home | Bedrooms | Built size |
|---|---|---|
| Apartment | Studio | About 61 sqm |
| Apartment | 1 bedroom | About 109 sqm |
| Apartment | 2 bedrooms | About 182 sqm |
| Apartment | 3 bedrooms | About 240 sqm |
| Villa | 4 to 6 bedrooms | 337 to 831 sqm |
| RIMAS villa | 4 to 6 bedrooms | 444 to 960 sqm |
| Mansion | 6 to 8 bedrooms | 1,168 to 3,084 sqm |
Mansion plots at Bada Al Jubail run from 2,000 to 6,000 square metres across nine mansion types. On the villas, the built area works out at roughly 40 to 45 percent of the plot, and every home is handed over with a fitted kitchen and integrated appliances.
The developer publishes no price list. Nothing on the official Jubail Island site quotes a price for a villa, an apartment, a mansion or a plot, so any figure you read elsewhere is somebody's estimate rather than the developer's number. Prices are quoted on enquiry, unit by unit, and they move with each release. Ask for the Down Payment and the full instalment schedule in writing before you commit, with the service charge in the same message. Mortgages are available through most major banks, and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, which financed the development, signed an agreement in April 2026 to offer home finance to buyers here. Our villas guide, townhouses guide and apartments guide show what the same money buys across Abu Dhabi, and you can browse every villa for sale in Abu Dhabi on our site.
Jubail Island Mangrove Park and the Nature Around It
Jubail Island Mangrove Park is the reason many people know the island at all. It opened in January 2020 as the first self contained educational, nature and leisure destination of its kind in Abu Dhabi and reopened on 1 October 2020 after a closure that spring. A boardwalk of about 2 km runs through the mangroves, rangers lead the guided walks, and kayaks and an electric dragon boat take you onto the water. You do not need to live on the island to visit:
| Experience | What it is | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Boardwalk | Walk the mangrove boardwalk on your own | AED 10 to 20 |
| Boardwalk with a ranger | Guided walk with a park ranger | AED 40 to 50 |
| Scenic tour | 20 minutes in an electric car | Free to AED 40 |
| Kayak tour | One hour, single or double kayak | AED 80 to 130 |
| Sunrise kayak tour | A longer guided paddle at first light | AED 96 to 150 |
| Electric dragon boat | One hour, guided, on the water | AED 80 to 120 |
The nature is not scenery bolted on afterwards. Abu Dhabi Media Office describes the island as a conservation area for coastal and marine ecosystems, and in October 2023 the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi signed an agreement with Jubail Island Investment Company to create the Jubail Mangroves Innovation Centre for mangrove research and restoration. The island also carries Abu Dhabi Royal Equestrian Arts, inaugurated on 30 October 2025, the fifth academy of its kind in the world and the first outside Europe. For the ecological case in more depth, read our article on Jubail Island's mangrove community.
Schools, Shops and Everyday Life
An honest area guide has to separate what is open from what is promised. Open today: the mangrove park and its cafe, a supermarket of about 1,000 square metres at Souk Al Jubail, tennis, basketball and football facilities, jogging paths and play areas, and the equestrian academy. Coming, with dates the developer has published: four themed community centres and their mosques, community pools, the marina district and yacht club, a skate park, a fire station, and the retail high street with four food and drink pavilions and over 8,000 square metres of retail floor space. The finished island is planned with 33 km of cycling tracks, 102 km of pedestrian paths, an ADNOC petrol station and more than 1.2 million square metres of parks and open space.
On schooling, the nursery comes first: Jubail's Redwood Center of Excellence takes children from six months to six years, and the developer says it welcomes its first pupils in the first quarter of 2026. The school is Gordonstoun, following the British curriculum for ages 4 to 18 in the Ain Al Maha village. Be careful with the date, because the developer has published more than one: its question and answer page says the campus is handed over in the third quarter of 2026 with teaching from the first quarter of 2027, while a later article of its own says September 2027. Until it opens, families use schools off the island, which means the drive over the bridge. The community itself is run by Jubail Island Community Management, the body to ask about the service charge on any home you are shown.
Who Jubail Island Suits
- The family that wants a garden, a quiet street and mangroves instead of a tower, in the city.
- The buyer who works in central Abu Dhabi or on Saadiyat and wants a short commute.
- The nature buyer, for whom the boardwalk, the kayaks and the birdlife are the whole point.
- The boat owner, because two marinas are on the island rather than an hour away.
- The buyer of a very large home, since the mansion plots here run to 6,000 square metres.
It suits the buyer who wants shops, restaurants and schools at walking distance far less well. If that is you, Al Reem Island and Yas Island are the busier answers, and Hudayriyat Island and Ramhan Island the other quiet coastal options.
Things to Weigh Before You Buy
- The island is not finished. Several registered projects are still building, and the town centre, the school and much of the retail are dated rather than open.
- There is one road in. Drive the E12 and Exit 17 at the hour you would really drive it before you sign anything.
- Much of the finished stock has sold, so a ready home often means buying from an owner, at whatever that owner asks.
- No price list is published, which makes comparison harder. Insist on the unit's own price, Down Payment, instalments and service charge in writing.
- Everyday shopping is thin. One supermarket serves the island, and anything larger means the bridge and the highway.
- Prices and rents move in both directions, and bank rates move with them. A strong sales record shows demand on the day; it is not a promise about resale value or rent.
Test any income assumption with our rental yield calculator, and read our guide to returns on Abu Dhabi property and our investor guide first. If you buy before completion, our off-plan buying guide covers the paperwork.
Who Can Buy and What It Costs
Jubail Island is open to buyers of every nationality, and the developer states plainly that people who are not UAE nationals can buy freehold there. A home worth AED 2,000,000 or more meets the value threshold for the 10 year Golden Visa, which brings most of the island into range; our Golden Visa guide sets out the rules and our expat buying guide the paperwork.
Budget past the price. Abu Dhabi charges a 2% registration fee on the sale price, and the sale must be registered with ADREC through the DARI platform within 21 days of the contract date, with a penalty of AED 10,000 for a late registration. Valuation, mortgage and service charge costs sit on top, and our breakdown of buying costs in Abu Dhabi lists them. The title deed is issued once the home is complete and the payments are settled.
How to Buy on Jubail Island
- Pick the village first. The marina, the town centre, a shoreline plot or a mansion decides almost everything else.
- Decide between ready and off-plan. A finished villa gives you keys and a street that works; an earlier phase gives you choice and a longer wait.
- Match the project number on the reservation form to the ADREC directory, and check the registered phase, not the marketing name.
- Ask in writing for the price, the Down Payment, every instalment, the service charge and the current handover date of that specific unit.
- Drive the route you would really drive, at the hour you would drive it, and walk the village at the weekend.
- Set the full budget with the 2% registration fee, using our affordability calculator and mortgage calculator.
- Speak to an advisor. Contact Masterpiece Property or book a video call for availability, floor plans and viewings.
Masterpiece Property is a licensed Abu Dhabi brokerage. We check the permit and the handover paperwork on every home we show, and we arrange viewings on site. We cover the neighbouring islands in the same depth, from Saadiyat Island and Yas Island to Al Raha Beach and Al Jurf, and you can compare villas on Saadiyat Island today. For more, browse our guides and our off-plan projects.
FAQ
Where is Jubail Island in Abu Dhabi?
Jubail Island is a natural island in Abu Dhabi City, between Yas Island and Saadiyat Island, reached from the Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Highway, the E12, at Exit 17 over the island's own bridge. It is about 12 minutes from Louvre Abu Dhabi, 17 minutes from the Abu Dhabi Corniche and 19 minutes from Zayed International Airport.
Who is the developer of Jubail Island?
Jubail Island Investment Company owns and registers the projects, and LEAD Development develops and manages the island. The developer puts the value of the masterplan at AED 15 billion, and the regulator lists every phase on the island under Jubail Island Investment Company.
What are the villages on Jubail Island?
Six villages: Marfaa Al Jubail with the marina, Nad Al Dhabi with the parks, Seef Al Jubail on the shoreline, Souk Al Jubail as the town centre, Ain Al Maha on the estuary and Bada Al Jubail with the mansions. RIMAS, launched more recently, is the newest neighbourhood.
What homes are for sale on Jubail Island?
The island is planned for 854 villas, 303 townhouses, 465 apartments and 164 land plots. Villas run from four to six bedrooms, townhouses from two to four, apartments from studios to three bedrooms, and the Bada Al Jubail mansions from six to eight on plots of 2,000 to 6,000 square metres.
How much does a home on Jubail Island cost?
The developer publishes no price list, so prices are quoted on enquiry and change with each release. Ask for the price, the Down Payment, the instalments and the service charge of the specific unit in writing, and treat any figure you see elsewhere as an estimate.
Can foreigners buy property on Jubail Island?
Yes. The island is open to buyers of every nationality, and the developer states that people who are not UAE nationals can buy freehold there. Confirm the title type on the specific home before you commit.
Is Jubail Island finished?
Not yet. More than 1,000 homes have been handed over since 2024 and several phases read as built on the official register, but others are still under construction, and the town centre and the school are dated rather than open. The developer describes delivery as staggered through 2027.
What is Jubail Mangrove Park?
It is the island's public nature destination, opened in January 2020 and reopened on 1 October 2020, with a boardwalk of about 2 km through the mangroves, ranger led walks, kayaking and an electric dragon boat. Visitors do not need to live on the island.
How much does Jubail Mangrove Park cost?
On the park's own booking pages, the boardwalk is AED 10 to 20, a ranger led walk AED 40 to 50, the scenic electric car tour free to AED 40, a one hour kayak tour AED 80 to 130 and the sunrise kayak tour AED 96 to 150. Prices change, so check before you travel.
Are there schools on Jubail Island?
The nursery, Jubail's Redwood Center of Excellence, takes children from six months to six years and the developer says it opens in the first quarter of 2026. The school is Gordonstoun, for ages 4 to 18, planned in Ain Al Maha. More than one opening date has been published for it, so ask for the current one.
Are there shops on Jubail Island?
There is a supermarket of about 1,000 square metres at Souk Al Jubail, plus a cafe at the mangrove park. The retail high street, the four food and drink pavilions and over 8,000 square metres of retail floor space are still being built, so anything bigger means a drive off the island.
Is Jubail Island a good place to live?
It suits people who want space, quiet and nature with a short drive into the city, and it already has more than 1,000 occupied homes. It suits people who want shops, restaurants and schools within walking distance far less well, at least until the town centre and the school open.
