Dolphins are seen before a motorboat carrying tourists near the Qeshm Island, southern Iran.

The largest island in the Persian Gulf, Qeshm is a major destination for local and foreign backpackers as it embraces attractive beaches, variety of indigenous native villages and abundance of wildlife, including birds, reptiles, dolphins and turtles.

Its sun-scorched mainland is fringed with biologically diverse mangrove forests, and geologically significant canyons, hills, caves, valleys. Photo: Irna/ Bahman Zarei