Balochistan: the Makran Coast and Hingol
Apply for your eVisa- Code:BA
- Type:province
- Population:13.2M (2014)
- Area:347,190 km²
- Capital:Quetta
Introduction
Balochistan is Pakistan's largest province, a sparsely peopled expanse of desert, bare mountain ranges and a long Arabian Sea coastline that fills the country's arid southwest. It is a land of big, empty landscapes — juniper highlands and fruit orchards around Quetta, the lunar rock country of the Makran, and a shoreline of cliffs, fishing towns and untouched beaches — and it holds some of Pakistan's most surprising and least-visited natural wonders.
Overview
Balochistan's great draw is its raw, cinematic scenery: Pakistan's largest province unrolls a dramatic Makran coast, deserts of wind-carved rock, high juniper plateaus and remote shrines that almost no one visits. It is Pakistan at its most remote and elemental — and all the more memorable for those who reach it.
Discover Balochistan
The Makran Coastal Highway, running west from Karachi toward Gwadar, is one of the great drives of Pakistan — a smooth ribbon of road threading between the Arabian Sea and a wall of eroded desert mountains. Its scenic climax is the stretch through Hingol National Park, where the crescent beach of Kund Malir, backed by ochre cliffs, is regularly named among the country's most beautiful. The coast keeps unfolding surprises the whole way: hidden coves, the fishing town of Ormara on its hammerhead peninsula, and, offshore, the uninhabited Astola Island with its clear water and nesting turtles, reached by boat from Pasni. For travellers who make the journey, the emptiness and scale of the Makran are the whole point.
Ways to Experience This Destination
One of Asia's great coast drives — the beach of Kund Malir, hidden coves and offshore Astola Island.
Wind-carved desert, the Princess of Hope rock, bubbling mud volcanoes and the Hinglaj Mata shrine.
A hill retreat among ancient juniper forest, with the preserved Residency of Pakistan's founder.
The highland capital, its dry-fruit bazaars and the orchard valleys and lakes around it.
Frequently asked questions
Visaja keeps this page's contact details and visa guidance under continuous review — still, requirements can change at short notice, so confirm the essentials with the mission or the official government portal before you travel.