Where is Socotra?
Socotra is located 380 kilometres off the south coast of mainland Yemen in the Indian Ocean. It lies between the Arabian Sea and the Guardafui Channel in one of the world’s biggest shipping channels. There are six islands in the Socotra Archipelago, with the main island of Socotra making up 95% of the land mass in the island group.
Socotra is also only 232 kilometres from the tip of East Africa and is much closer to Africa than it is to mainland Arabia.
Towns of Socotra
There are two main population centres on the island. Hadiboh, known as the capital, is the largest town and is the main point that you will fly in and out of. Hadiboh is where you can find hotels and is where the majority of the population reside. This is by far the hub of infrastructure, and anything you need while visiting Socotra, this will be your best chance to get it.
On the west side of the island is the smaller town of Qalansiyah which lies just south of the amazing Detwah Lagoon world heritage site. This town has little in the way of facilities and is usually a place where people stop for lunch when visiting nearby areas. Currently, there are no hotels here for tourists.
There are also a number of small towns along the north coast in between Qalansiyah and Hadiboh, such as Gubbah, Qashio, Mori and Hulaf. All of these are quite small and have small populations.
