Community
DAMAC prices and sizes this community as a whole, not cluster by cluster. That shapes what can honestly be said about any individual island, and it is where most comparisons of this project go wrong.
DAMAC Islands is a 30 million sq ft masterplan of 5,915 villas and townhouses across six themed clusters: Maldives, Bora Bora, Bali, Fiji, Seychelles and Hawaii. Townhouses appear as four-bedroom mid units and five-bedroom end units. DAMAC publishes a community-wide starting price of AED 2.75M rather than per-cluster pricing, so cluster choice is about position and theme, not price.
Read this first
It changes what a comparison between Maldives and Bali can honestly claim.
DAMAC publishes one starting price for DAMAC Islands as a whole, AED 2,750,000, and a shared catalogue of unit types across all six clusters: a four-bedroom mid townhouse and a five-bedroom end townhouse, alongside villa types. It does not publish a price, a size or a handover date for any individual cluster.
So when a listing quotes you a price “for Bora Bora”, it is either the community figure with a cluster name attached, or a broker’s own quote for a specific unit. Both may be accurate. Neither is a developer statement about that cluster, and this page does not present them as one.
Community
All figures are DAMAC's own. No cluster-level pricing is published.
Clusters
The themes differ. The townhouse product does not — all six draw on the same unit catalogue.
DAMAC Properties
Under constructionFrom AED 2.75Mcommunity-wide starting price
DAMAC publishes prices and sizes for DAMAC Islands at community level, not per cluster. The figure shown is the community-wide starting price.
DAMAC Properties
Under constructionFrom AED 2.75Mcommunity-wide starting price
Cluster-level pricing is not published; the figure shown is community-wide.
DAMAC Properties
Under constructionFrom AED 2.75Mcommunity-wide starting price
Cluster-level pricing is not published; the figure shown is community-wide.
DAMAC Properties
Under constructionFrom AED 2.75Mcommunity-wide starting price
Cluster-level pricing is not published; the figure shown is community-wide.
DAMAC Properties
Under constructionFrom AED 2.75Mcommunity-wide starting price
Cluster-level pricing is not published; the figure shown is community-wide.
DAMAC Properties
Under constructionFrom AED 2.75Mcommunity-wide starting price
Cluster-level pricing is not published; the figure shown is community-wide.
Tahiti is frequently listed as a DAMAC Islands cluster. It belongs to DAMAC Islands 2. The nine other names on DAMAC’s community page — Whispering Waterfall, Botanic Garden and the rest — are amenity zones, not places you can buy a home in.
Unit types
Sizes below come from DAMAC’s own community guide rather than the project page, which does not publish them.
| Unit type | Bedrooms | Built-up area | Position in the row | What to check |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Townhouse, mid | 4 | Up to 2,185 sq ft | Middle of the terrace, two shared walls | Garden depth and which side the living space faces |
| Townhouse, mid | 5 | Up to 2,829 sq ft | Middle of the terrace | Whether the fifth bedroom is a full room or a converted study |
| Townhouse, end | 5 | Up to 3,158 sq ft | End of the terrace, one shared wall | The plot width, which is the reason for the premium |
No plot sizes are published for any unit type at DAMAC Islands. On a townhouse, that is the figure that decides how the home actually lives, so it is worth asking for in writing.
Payment
DAMAC describes its Islands plan qualitatively and publishes no percentage split for either Islands or Islands 2.
| Structure | How it is usually written | Cash needed early | What to check |
|---|---|---|---|
| Construction-linked | Instalments released against building milestones | Moderate and spread out | Milestones can slip, which moves your payment dates with them |
| 60/40 | 60% before completion, 40% at handover | High during construction | You need the 40% ready on a date the developer controls |
| 80/20 | 80% before completion, 20% at handover | Highest during construction | Most of your money is committed before you can inspect the home |
| 20/80 | 20% up front, 80% at or after handover | Low | A large balloon payment lands at handover, usually needing a mortgage approved on time |
| 1% monthly | A fixed monthly percentage alongside milestone payments | Low but continuous | Check what still falls due at handover once the monthly run ends |
| Post-handover | Part of the price paid in instalments after you move in | Lowest | Resale before the plan finishes is usually restricted; read the developer’s transfer terms |
Portal listings mirroring DAMAC’s sales terms in other communities report a 20% down payment, 55% across construction instalments and 25% on handover. That gives a reasonable expectation of the shape, but it is not a statement about this community, and the split you are offered may differ by unit type and by the day you buy.
Islands 2
This is the most common misunderstanding about this community, and it changes handover by several years.
| DAMAC Islands | DAMAC Islands 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Size | 30M sq ft | 20M sq ft |
| Clusters | Six: Maldives, Bora Bora, Bali, Fiji, Seychelles, Hawaii | Eight: Bahamas, Tahiti, Bermuda, Barbados, Cuba, Maui, Mauritius, Antigua |
| Townhouses | 4 and 5 bedroom, mid and end | 4 and 5 bedroom, mid and end, sizes published |
| Starting price | AED 2.75M community-wide | AED 2.75M or AED 2.99M — DAMAC’s own pages disagree |
| Handover | Q4 2029 published for one villa type | Q2 to Q4 2030 by unit type |
DAMAC Properties DAMAC Islands 2
Under constructionFrom AED 2.75Mcommunity-wide starting price
Two DAMAC pages give different starting prices for this masterplan, AED 2.75M and AED 2.99M. We show the lower figure and flag the discrepancy rather than picking one silently. Unit types published are a 4-bedroom townhouse up to 2,185 sq ft and 5-bedroom mid and end townhouses up to 2,829 and 3,158 sq ft.
The price discrepancy is on DAMAC’s own site: its community page and its guide article give different starting figures for Islands 2. We show the lower one and flag the conflict rather than choosing silently.
Plot position
With cluster pricing unpublished, position is the variable you can actually negotiate on.
One shared wall instead of two, more natural light and usually a wider plot. Developers price the difference in, and it is the position that resells most easily.
Shared walls on both sides and the smallest plot in the row. This is the entry price into a community, and it is what a headline “from” figure almost always refers to.
Nothing directly behind the garden — a park, water feature or boundary instead of another home’s back wall. The premium can be significant and it is worth confirming on the masterplan, not the render.
Gardens face each other across a boundary wall. Cheaper, and perfectly liveable, but privacy at the rear is the trade-off buyers notice after moving in.
Evaluating
Both are on offer inside the DAMAC portfolio, and the trade is not only about waiting longer.
A later handover spreads instalments over more years, which lowers the monthly commitment and raises total exposure to delivery risk.
In a 30 million sq ft masterplan, the first residents live on a construction site for a while. Ask which phases complete before yours.
The balance at handover is assessed by a bank in that year, on your circumstances then. A 2030 handover is a long way to forecast.
Thousands of near-identical units hand over around the same time. That is worth thinking about if you may want to sell soon after.
Buyer fit
FAQ
DAMAC publishes a community-wide starting price of AED 2,750,000 rather than a price per cluster or per unit type. Because that figure covers the whole masterplan, it should be treated as the floor for the community, not as a quote for a specific four or five-bedroom townhouse.
Six: Maldives, Bora Bora, Bali, Fiji, Seychelles and Hawaii. Tahiti is often listed alongside them but belongs to DAMAC Islands 2, a separate masterplan. The nine other names on DAMAC’s community page are amenity zones rather than residential clusters.
DAMAC’s own guide gives four-bedroom townhouses up to about 2,185 sq ft and five-bedroom mid and end units at roughly 2,829 and 3,158 sq ft. Those figures come from the guide article rather than the project page, and no plot sizes are published anywhere.
A five-bedroom villa unit type on DAMAC’s project page shows Q4 2029. DAMAC Islands 2 publishes Q2 to Q4 2030 depending on unit type. Townhouse-specific handover dates for the original community are not published, so ask for the date written into the sales agreement.
They are separate masterplans. Islands is 30 million sq ft with six clusters and earlier handovers; Islands 2 is 20 million sq ft with eight different themes, published townhouse sizes and handovers in 2030. DAMAC describes Islands 2 as a sequel that expands the concept, not as a phase of the first.
DAMAC describes the plan only qualitatively and publishes no percentage split for either Islands or Islands 2. Portal listings quote structures such as 20% down, 55% during construction and 25% on handover for other DAMAC communities, which is a reasonable expectation but not a developer statement about this one.
Islands, Islands 2 and Lagoons look similar in marketing and behave very differently on handover, price transparency and cluster choice. We will lay them out side by side.
Full methodology · Data sources · Corrections policy
Prices, availability, payment plans and handover schedules change. Verify current information with the developer or an authorised agent before committing to a purchase.