Oiling it Up in Abu Dhabi

Question: What would you do if you were an ambitious emir with a pocket full of petrodollars to spend?

The answer is obvious: Grab a desert island, open up a Ferrari theme park and start gunning the engines.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi has a lot more on his mind than Ferrari fantasies in the desert. There are water theme parks to build, art museums to raise, golf courses to design, marinas to construct, polo clubs, villas and shopping malls to be created. All this is taking place at a pulsing pace on the scenic eco-reserve of Yas Island, 30 minutes west of Abu Dhabi by 10-lane expressway in the United Arab Emirates.

Yas Island, otherwise known as Bani Yas for the area's original local tribes, spreads for about 33 square miles inside the Gulf of Oman. Once a full-fledged wildlife and nature reserve with an active conversation and breeding program, a little more than half the land is morphing into a $39 billion steroidal pleasure center, residential spot and business park promising to be nothing short of everything money can buy.

First there was the mad rush to complete the $40 million Yas Marina Circuit, by November 1 for the venue's first Formula One event aptly named the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Aldar is also facilitating the building of roller coasters, a Ferrari Theater, a 900,000-square-foot retail mall, a 12-acre water park, four polo fields, a Warner Brothers theme park, an equestrian center, championship golf courses, a marina and floating harbor, beaches and beach clubs, an exhibition hall, a signature hotel overlooking the race track, drag race, rally driving, dune buggy and go-kart tracks, villas, apartments and lots of beach hotels. And that does not include the prince's all-encompassing plans for a cultural district on nearby Saadiyat Island, where some of the world's best-known design makers (think Frank Gehry, Jean Nouvel, Zaha Hadid and Tadao Ando) are building the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, a branch of the Louvre, a maritime museum and a performing arts centre for world-class theatre and opera. A general completion date offered aims for 2014 with an overall infrastructure scheme for the city of the future that culminates in 2030.

Guests of the new 500-room Yas Marina Hotel get a private window on the action as the 3.4 mile race course sporting 21 white knuckle turns runs right through the property, engines gunning at 200 mph.

But the park is meant to be a family attraction, too, offering not just top class racing events. Thrill-seekers won't miss a G on the 210-foot twin rollercoaster drops that allow riders to race against each other to the bottom. Or they can get close to the real thing by test-driving the circuit with skilled instructors in the only Ferrari driving school in the world beyond the barriers of the Ferrari Maranello base.

Softer excitement can be found through go-kart racing, rally driving and dune buggying in the theme park. The Water Park in Yas Island provides refreshing action between the races but not without some gasps of its own. The Giant Maelstrom, Velkoma water bomber, Master Blaster and "hurricane" rides get the blood pumping. Other activities include cable water skiing, scuba diving and sand lounging. Horse buffs can test their mettle on the polo fields or in the equestrian centre.

As more than 400 extinct-in-the-wild Arabian Oryx look on, joined by an odd assortment of African transplants from giraffes and hyenas to cheetahs, the quiet of this island preserve has also given way to an assortment of clean energy initiatives to power the new development: wind turbines, solar complexes, desalinization plants. The wildlife park was created more than a quarter century ago on the island to ensure the survival of Arabia's endangered species. Archeological sites, too, have been discovered on Yas Island -- the oldest to date being a pre-Islamic monastery dating back to 600 AD.

The Desert Islands Resort & Spa on Yas Island offers an assortment of rooms, suites and villas on the beach and provides access to the island's natural preserves.

Plans for Yas Island have brought a string of new hotel development activity now putting a shape on the island's skyline. But a little luxury at the Kempinski Emirates Palace on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi may be the perfect complement to a Ferrari-focused holiday. Oversized rooms and suites pullout all the stops in "palace"-themed decor and come equipped with laptops, room controls, 52-62" plasmas, private terraces and private check-in/check-out. A dozen cafes and restaurants, a Moroccan-inspired Anantara Spa, a world-class art exhibition gallery, fitness programs and a bevy of private beaches and pool areas make up the rest of the experience.

To visit this amazing island call the Wizards today!