Blue Waters Island, Dubai | Ain Dubai

Bluewaters is a vibrant lifestyle destination featuring distinctive residential, retail, hospitality, and entertainment options. All who arrive are spoilt for choice. Home to Ain Dubai, the world’s largest observation wheel, it is also a shopper’s paradise, housing unique retail and dining concepts. Bluewaters’ bridge and multi-mode transport systems make this urban island easy to access. Bluewaters Island is an artificial island 400 meters (1,300 ft) off the Jumeirah Beach Residence coastline, near Dubai Marina, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The project was approved by Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and unveiled on February 13, 2013. It is built on reclaimed land by Meraas Holding, with dredging work conducted by Van Oord, the Dutch firm known for its work on Palm Jumeirah, at an estimated cost AED 6 billion (1.6 billion USD, including the Ain Dubai, formerly the Dubai Eye). The island includes entertainment, hospitality, residential, and retail zones, and is forecast to attract more than three million visitors annually The island features two five-star hotels with direct beach access. Bluewaters also has around 200 beverage and retail and food outlets in the ground level of residential buildings and entertainment section of the island. The total number of residential buildings on the island is 10. Each of these is considered mid-rise and features 15 storeys or fewer. Bluewaters Island will feature the AED 1 billion ($274m) Ain Dubai (formerly the Dubai Eye), a 274-metre (899 ft) tall giant Ferris wheel. When completed, it will be 85.4 m (280 ft) taller than the current world's tallest Ferris wheel, the 167.6 m (550 ft) High Roller, which opened in Las Vegas in March 2014, and 177.5 m (582 ft) taller than the 225.5 m (740 ft) New York Wheel planned for Staten Island. Design and construction are being undertaken by Hyundai Contracting and Starngth Engineering. Construction started in May 2015. The wheel will be able to carry up to 1,400 passengers, in its 48 capsules, and provide views of Dubai Marina and landmarks such as Burj Al Arab, Palm Jumeirah, .Its base will serve as an entertainment zone, and an 89-square-metre (960 sq ft) LED screen will be mounted on the wheel creating an electronic platform for broadcasting, advertisements, and other information. The first passenger capsule was installed on August 21, 2020.