Milestone
Wynn Al Marjan Island completes 550 metre beachfront and lagoon
By Staff Writer | 12 August 2026
Wynn Al Marjan Island has completed a 550 metre beachfront and sheltered lagoon at its Ras Al Khaimah resort, ahead of a scheduled opening in 2027.
The shoreline runs more than half a kilometre along Al Marjan Island. The sheltered lagoon is designed for swimming and water-based activities, and an engineered offshore reef has been installed to support marine life.
According to the resort, coral and marine species have begun establishing themselves around the reef, and osprey are nesting in the surrounding area. No value has been published for the marine works.
The waterfront is arranged as three separate beach environments, described as Resort Beach, Adult Beach and Enclave Beach, each with a different setting.
Our ambition was to create a shoreline where guests can escape - somewhere they can swim in calm, clear water and enjoy the beachfront in complete privacy.
Max Tappeiner, President, Wynn Al Marjan Island
Marine works and the consents behind them
Completing a constructed shoreline, a sheltered lagoon and an engineered offshore reef is marine engineering rather than resort fit-out, and it sits under a different consenting regime from the buildings behind it. Dredging, reclamation and any structure placed on the seabed require environmental approval, and the conditions attached to those approvals govern when work can proceed.
Seasonal restrictions are the usual constraint. Marine works are commonly limited by turbidity conditions, by water temperature and by the breeding and nesting seasons of protected species. Those restrictions produce a working window rather than a continuous programme, and a delay that pushes work past the end of a window is not recovered by adding resource; it waits for the next one.
The reference to coral establishing on the reef and to osprey nesting nearby indicates that ecological performance forms part of how the works are being assessed. Where ecological outcomes are written into a consent as conditions, they carry monitoring obligations that continue well beyond practical completion, and the party holding those obligations is a question the contract documents should answer explicitly.
The resort behind the shoreline
The integrated resort remains under construction and is scheduled to open in 2027. It will comprise 1,530 rooms and suites, together with 22 restaurants, lounges and bars. Also planned are a theatre, a five star spa, designer retail, event and celebration space, multiple pool areas, a beach club and a private beach.
Beachfront accommodation includes a private bungalow with a plunge pool and butler service. Activities planned for the lagoon include swimming, snorkelling, paddleboarding and kayaking. The resort sits less than 50 miles from Dubai International Airport.
For contractors and consultants the sequencing point is the one worth taking. Completing the marine works well ahead of the opening date is not presentation; a constructed shoreline needs time to stabilise, and the landscaping, services and beach structures that follow it cannot start until it has. Finishing the water before the building is the correct order on a resort of this kind, and a marine package running late would carry consequences across the whole opening programme.