Al Jazirah Al Hamra — "the red island" — was once a pearling and fishing village built on a low coastal islet that has since been joined to the mainland by silt. When the Zaab clan walked out in 1968, they left a complete settlement of around a hundred coral-stone houses, two mosques, a watchtower, and a souk — the only abandoned traditional village left in the UAE.
The buildings are slowly collapsing, but enough remains to give a powerful sense of what coastal life looked like before oil money rebuilt the country. You can walk freely through the lanes, peer into roofless rooms with rusted oil lamps still on the walls, and climb the watchtower. Visit in the cooler months and bring water — there is no shade and no facilities. Go at sunrise if you can.