Overview
Dubai Islands is Nakheel's master development off the Deira shoreline: five interconnected islands — Central, Marina, Shore, Golf and Elite — built on reclaimed land and planned for homes, resorts, beaches, parks and golf courses on what used to be called Deira Islands. Nakheel is the master developer and also the seller of the three schemes it has on offer there today: the final phase of Bay Grove Residences, Bay Villas and Rixos Hotel & Residences.
Key facts
- Developer
- Nakheel
- Location
- Off the coast of Deira on Dubai's northern shoreline (formerly Deira Islands), reached from the mainland by the Infinity Bridge, Dubai
- Unit types
- 1-4 BR apartments and one 4 BR penthouse, Townhouses, semi-detached villas, garden villas, waterfront villas and 6 BR beachfront villas, 1-3 BR apartments, 4 BR duplexes, beach houses and ten villas
- Prices from
- 2,000,000 AED
- Areas from
- 908 sq ft (84 sqm)
- Handover
- Bay Grove Residences final phase: estimated construction completion June 2029, with the final 30% instalment due on handover. Nakheel publishes no handover date for Bay Villas or Rixos Hotel & Residences; both are shown as under construction.
- Community size
- Five interconnected islands spanning 18.6 square kilometres, introducing approximately 57 kilometres of coastline including 21 kilometres of beachfront, and designed for more than 231,000 residents across some 49,000 homes
- Phases on sale
- Bay Grove Residences — final phase (Phase 4), Island B, Bay Villas, Dubai Islands — Island B, Rixos Hotel & Residences, Dubai Islands
Only one priced launch
The final phase of Bay Grove Residences is the only launch on the islands with published prices, floor plans and a payment plan; Bay Villas and Rixos Hotel & Residences publish none of the three.
A district still in build
These are reclaimed islands under construction: on Nakheel's own June 2026 inspection Bay Villas stood at 16.67% and Rixos at 33.36%, while Bay Grove's final phase is sold against an estimated completion of June 2029.
Beachfront beside old Dubai
Nakheel puts Gold Souq Metro Station 10 minutes away, Dubai International Airport 20 and Downtown Dubai 24, which is an unusual set of drive times for a beach address.
Status
Selling. Nakheel announced the final phase of Bay Grove Residences on 3 July 2025 — 257 units in four buildings on Island B — after the earlier phases sold out; it is still listed under New Launches with a live brochure, floor plans and payment plan. Bay Villas (636 units) and Rixos Hotel & Residences are also listed under New Launches and are under construction, at 16.67% and 33.36% respectively on Nakheel's 11 June 2026 inspection.
Location
Dubai Islands sits off the Deira coast on Dubai's northern shoreline, reached from the mainland by the Infinity Bridge, with further crossings planned to the Al Shindagha Corridor. Nakheel's own drive times put Gold Souq Metro Station at 10 minutes, Dubai International Airport at 20, The Dubai Frame at 22, Dubai World Trade Centre and Downtown Dubai at 24, and Business Bay at 33. That places the islands nearer the airport and the older centre of the city than the beach addresses on the Jumeirah side, and further from Dubai Marina and Palm Jumeirah. The metro is a drive rather than a walk, so count on a car while the island roads, bridges and promenades are still being built.
- Gold Souq Metro Station10 min
- Dubai International Airport20 min
- The Dubai Frame22 min
- Dubai World Trade Centre24 min
- Downtown Dubai24 min
- Business Bay33 min
About the developer
Nakheel is a Dubai-based master developer and a member of Dubai Holding (Dubai Holding Real Estate). Its waterfront projects, including Palm Jumeirah, have added more than 300 km to Dubai's original 70 km coastline. Nakheel states that around 700,000 people live in its communities and that its master developments cover some 15,000 hectares.
On Dubai Islands Nakheel is both the master developer and the seller, so the roads, beaches and parks around a home here are delivered by the same company that sells the home — the arrangement it used on Palm Jumeirah. It publishes a construction-progress page for each project, showing its own inspection percentage next to the Real Estate Regulatory Agency's, so a buyer can track the build without going through a sales office. What it does not publish is money: outside the Bay Grove Residences final phase, Nakheel releases no prices, sizes, payment plans or handover dates for its Dubai Islands projects.
Why this project
- The final phase of Bay Grove Residences carries a printed price list — from AED 2,000,000 for a 1 bedroom to AED 10,330,000 for a 4 bedroom — so you can compare the islands against other Dubai waterfront before you speak to anyone.
- Its payment plan is published in full: 20% down payment on booking, six instalments across construction and 30% on handover, against an estimated completion of June 2029.
- The master plan is large enough to become its own district: 18.6 square kilometres across five islands, about 57 kilometres of coastline including 21 kilometres of beachfront, and some 49,000 homes planned for more than 231,000 residents.
- Three different products sit under one developer on the same islands: apartments and a penthouse at Bay Grove, five villa typologies across 636 units at Bay Villas, and hotel-branded residences at Rixos with a 700 metre beach.
- The amenity programme is a destination, not a clubhouse: beaches, parks, golf courses, hotels and resorts, shopping centres and wellness facilities, with Souk Al Marfa already trading on the islands.
Master plan & phases
The master plan is five interconnected islands — Central, Marina, Shore, Golf and Elite — and Nakheel's most recent release describes 18.6 square kilometres carrying about 57 kilometres of coastline, of which 21 kilometres is beachfront, with roughly 49,000 homes planned for more than 231,000 residents. Those figures have moved: earlier Nakheel releases described a 17 square kilometre development with over 60 kilometres of waterfront and over 20 kilometres of beaches, so read the current numbers as the latest version of a plan still being drawn rather than a settled measurement. Three Nakheel launches are on sale today: the final phase of Bay Grove Residences on Island B, four buildings holding 257 residences; Bay Villas on Island B, 636 units across five villa typologies; and Rixos Hotel & Residences. Bay Grove is the only one of the three with published prices, floor plans and a payment plan — the other two are listed as new launches and shown as under construction.
Unit types, areas & starting prices
| Unit types | Areas from | Prices from |
|---|---|---|
| 1 BR apartment — Bay Grove Residences (final phase) | 908 sq ft (84 sqm) | From 2,000,000 AED |
| 2 BR apartment — Bay Grove Residences (final phase) | 1,247 sq ft (116 sqm) | From 3,110,000 AED |
| 3 BR apartment — Bay Grove Residences (final phase) | 1,999 sq ft (186 sqm) | From 4,940,000 AED |
Published prices
- 2 BR + maid apartment — Bay Grove Residences (final phase)From 3,920,000 AED
- 4 BR apartment — Bay Grove Residences (final phase)From 10,330,000 AED
Published areas
- 4 BR apartment — Bay Grove Residences (Building 15)3,149 sq ft (293 sqm)
- 4 BR penthouse — Bay Grove Residences (Building 15)5,972 sq ft (555 sqm)
Every price and size shown here belongs to the final phase of Bay Grove Residences on Island B, and the areas are total areas that include the balcony; Nakheel publishes no price list, floor plan or size table for Bay Villas or Rixos Hotel & Residences.
Payment plan
Bay Grove Residences final phase (Nakheel price and payment plan sheet): 20% down payment on booking, 10% December 2025, 5% April 2026, 10% August 2026, 10% December 2026, 10% April 2027, 5% August 2027, 30% on handover June 2029. Estimated construction completion June 2029. The superseded Phase 3 sheet ran 20% on booking, 10% September 2025, 5% January 2026, 10% May 2026, 10% September 2026, 10% January 2027, 5% May 2027, 30% on handover March 2029. Nakheel publishes no payment plan for Bay Villas or Rixos Hotel & Residences.
The plan is 20% on booking, six instalments during construction and 30% on handover, timed to an estimated completion of June 2029 — and it applies to the Bay Grove Residences final phase only. Nakheel's published sheet still lists instalment dates that have already passed, including December 2025 and April 2026, so the schedule is re-based to the date you book: ask for it dated, in writing, before you pay anything.
The honest drawbacks
What may not suit you, before you book, with the other side of each point.
You are buying into a reclaimed island district that is still being built. On Nakheel's June 2026 inspection Bay Villas stood at 16.67% and Rixos at 33.36%, so for years the view from a finished home will include cranes, hoardings and closed roads.
CounterweightThe progress is at least measurable: Nakheel posts a percentage per project beside the regulator's own figure, off-plan payments in Dubai are held in a project escrow account and released against construction, and the earlier Bay Grove phases sold out before this one was released.
The address is Deira, not Jumeirah. The mainland side of the bridge is an older, denser, working part of Dubai, with none of the polish that buyers expect around Downtown or the Marina.
CounterweightThat is exactly what buys the drive times: 10 minutes to Gold Souq Metro Station, 20 to Dubai International Airport and 24 to Downtown Dubai. The islands are a separate reclaimed district with their own beaches and access road, not a plot inside old Deira.
The beaches, marinas, golf courses and retail arrive in phases across five islands, and the amenity list is a plan for the whole master development rather than a description of what is open on the day you move in.
CounterweightSome of it is already working — Souk Al Marfa trades on the islands today — and Nakheel has been awarding infrastructure contracts for Island B, where both Bay Grove and Bay Villas sit, so the first amenities land where the first homes do.
Only one project has a public price. Bay Villas and Rixos Hotel & Residences are marketed with no prices, no unit sizes, no payment plan and no handover date anywhere on Nakheel's own pages, which makes the villas almost impossible to benchmark on your own.
CounterweightThe Bay Grove list still sets a public floor for apartment pricing on the islands, and the villa price lists are issued on request: nothing stops you asking for all three in writing at once and comparing them side by side before any visit.
The wait is long. Bay Grove's final phase is sold against an estimated completion of June 2029, and until then you are paying instalments on a home you cannot use or rent out.
CounterweightThe published plan spreads the cost over that period instead of demanding it up front — 20% at booking, instalments through the build and 30% at handover — and the same horizon is what keeps the entry price below finished waterfront stock elsewhere in Dubai.
Nakheel's own published figures for the islands have moved between releases: 17 square kilometres in the older announcements and 18.6 in the newer ones, with the coastline quoted at over 60 kilometres, then about 59, then about 57. The master plan you are told about today is not the one that was announced.
CounterweightThe movement is in master-plan marketing figures, not in the unit you sign for. What binds anyone is the sale agreement, the floor plan and the area registered with the Dubai Land Department, and the newest figures come from Nakheel's most recent infrastructure release rather than an old brochure.
Amenities & services
The amenity list reads like a small city rather than a compound: beaches and parks, golf courses, hotels and resorts, restaurants and cafés, shopping centres, wellness facilities and entertainment hubs, with Souk Al Marfa already open on the islands. Much of that is a visitor programme as much as a residents' one, which is what should eventually put a marina, a golf course and a hotel strip within walking distance of a home — and also what will make the promenade outside your building busy at weekends. Day to day, the thing you actually use is a swimmable beach and a waterfront walk you reach on foot instead of by car.
- Beaches
- Entertainment Hubs
- Golf Courses
- Hotels & Resorts
- Parks
- Restaurants & Cafés
- Shopping Centres
- Souk Al Marfa
- Wellness Facilities
Who this project suits
- End-user families: Bay Grove offers 3 and 4 bedroom apartments and Bay Villas five villa typologies up to 6 bedroom beachfront homes, on islands planned around beaches, parks and golf rather than a single pool deck.
- Investors: at AED 2,000,000 the Bay Grove 1 bedroom is the cheapest published entry to the islands, in a district where Nakheel is still releasing supply and where the final phase followed earlier phases that sold out.
- Upgraders: apartments, townhouses and villas sit inside one master plan run by one developer, so you can move up from a Bay Grove apartment to a Bay Villas townhouse or villa without leaving the islands.
- Second-home buyers abroad: hotel-branded residences at Rixos and beachfront villas sit 20 minutes from Dubai International Airport, and the Bay Grove plan spreads payments across the construction period for someone paying from outside the UAE.
Before you book: points to verify
- Get the project, the building, the unit number and the contractual handover date written into the sale agreement. June 2029 is an estimated completion, and the superseded Bay Grove phase sheet carried a different date, so the contract is the only date that binds.
- Ask for the payment schedule re-based to your booking date. The sheet Nakheel publishes still shows instalments dated December 2025 and April 2026, both already past, so insist on a dated schedule in writing before the first payment.
- Confirm the project is registered with the Real Estate Regulatory Agency, that your off-plan purchase is recorded on Oqood at the Dubai Land Department, and pay only into the project escrow account named in the agreement.
- Ask for the service-charge estimate per sq ft in writing for your specific building or cluster, and check it against the Land Department index: island infrastructure, beaches, promenades and marinas are recurring running costs, not one-off features.
- Check what you are paying for, twice: confirm the sea-view, floor and plot premiums on your unit, confirm whether the quoted area is the total area including the balcony or the internal suite area, and read the resale clause — Dubai developers usually require a minimum percentage paid plus an NOC fee before you can assign during construction.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the starting price at Dubai Islands?
Nakheel publishes prices for one project only: the final phase of Bay Grove Residences, from AED 2,000,000 for a 1 bedroom, AED 3,110,000 for a 2 bedroom, AED 3,920,000 for a 2 bedroom with maid's room, AED 4,940,000 for a 3 bedroom and AED 10,330,000 for a 4 bedroom. Bay Villas and Rixos Hotel & Residences have no published price, so we request the official price list for those and send it as issued.
What unit types are available?
Bay Grove's final phase has 1 to 4 bedroom apartments and a single 4 bedroom penthouse across four buildings on Island B. Bay Villas has five typologies — townhouses, semi-detached villas, garden villas, waterfront villas and 6 bedroom beachfront villas. Rixos Hotel & Residences mixes 1 to 3 bedroom apartments, 4 bedroom duplexes, beach houses and ten villas.
When is handover?
Bay Grove Residences' final phase is sold against an estimated construction completion of June 2029, with the last 30% due on handover. Nakheel publishes no handover date at all for Bay Villas or Rixos Hotel & Residences; both are shown as under construction, at 16.67% and 33.36% on its 11 June 2026 inspection.
What is the payment plan?
For the Bay Grove final phase: 20% down payment on booking, six instalments during construction and 30% on handover. The published sheet still carries instalment dates that have passed, including December 2025 and April 2026, so the schedule is re-based to your booking date and must be confirmed in writing. Bay Villas and Rixos publish no payment plan, so we request today's plan from the developer.
Where is it and how far is the city?
The islands lie off the Deira coast on Dubai's northern shoreline, reached by the Infinity Bridge. Nakheel puts Gold Souq Metro Station at 10 minutes, Dubai International Airport at 20, The Dubai Frame at 22, Dubai World Trade Centre and Downtown Dubai at 24 and Business Bay at 33. There is no metro station on the islands, so plan on driving.
Is anything ready, or is it all off-plan?
Everything Nakheel is selling on Dubai Islands today is off-plan. Bay Grove's final phase is sold against an estimated completion of June 2029, and Bay Villas and Rixos are under construction with no published completion date. Parts of the islands already function — Souk Al Marfa is open — but a home you buy now is bought on the strength of a plan, not a finished building.
What will the service charges be?
Service charges are set per community and approved by the Dubai Land Department, and an island district carries the cost of running beaches, promenades, marinas and the infrastructure that links the islands. Ask the sales advisor to confirm the estimate per sq ft for your building in writing, then check it against the official index before you book.
Can foreigners buy, and does a unit qualify for the golden visa?
Yes, buyers of any nationality can own outright: Dubai Islands is a freehold area, and an off-plan purchase is registered on Oqood at the Dubai Land Department and converted to a title deed after handover. Property at or above the current investment threshold set by the UAE authorities lets the owner apply for long-term residence; the threshold is a government rule rather than a developer offer, so we confirm it per unit against the price and the payment stage before you rely on it.