Inspired from the post of @InaS Iam sharing the activities which tourists can enjoy for one day in my local city, Al-Khobar. AlKhobar city is in the Eastern province, Saudi Arabia. This city is well known for its clean and beautiful beaches along with the traditional food, local market (Souks), scientific parks and most importantly the head quarters of worlds largest Oil producer company “Saudi Aramco”. In this post I will share how atypical beach looks in my neighborhood along with the food varieties. I took the example of a beach located very close to my accommodation.
Places of Interest:
Beaches (Corniche): The beaches here are usually well surrounded with food restaurants, trees and play grounds.
Activities can be done at the beaches: Walking, jogging, fishing, Family picnic, Boating, Jet skiing, swimming etc. Many entertainment and cultural events are usually performed near this iconic location.
Public transportation in Saudi Arabia is still at early stage with only limited number of buses used for transportation from airport to the city. Taxis, Vehicle for hire and rental cars are the ones which are predominantly used for transportation.
Many rental car options are available at the airport. Passport, Visa, and International license is sufficient to get the car from any rental company.
Recommendation: If possible, select the comprehensive insurance coverage option. The price is nominal, and it is quite easy to cover the damage. Company name “Najm” is responsible to handle any accident and the related procedures.
Internet and Communication:
Mobile data and calling charges in KSA are relatively low when compare to other Arab countries.
For most tourists it would be expensive using the roaming services. The local sim cards are easily available for tourists at airports with local rates.
Zain, Friendi mobile, Virgin Mobile and Lebara are some service providers which offer sim cards for tourists staying for shorter duration. Passport and visa copy are needed to buy the sim card from any local store.
This is a very detailed post and pictures very clear and nice. Its looks a very serene and restful place. Is it open to the public now or is it still close because of the pandemic? Thanks for sharing
It is awesome @fasi6083 ! Thanks for sharing with us such a detailed post! I’m sure many other Local Guides will find it very interesting to read.
Your city looks so beautiful, and the food so delicious. The cheese tortilla with za’atar spices on top, I guess would be my favorite. Out of all of the dishes you shared, which one is your favorite?
Thanks for such a nice compliment @InaS I love the taste of Faham chicken served with Bukhari rice and in the juice category I like Falooda topped with a scoop of vanilla icecream.
That’s good @fasi6083 happy to hear you had an outing with your family and you enjoyed it. It’s great to be able to go out doors again and enjoy nature and life in general. Life is surely getting back to normal again. We are happy for that.
Indeed Al-Khobar is such a beautiful sea side city. I have always wanted to visit my brother that lives there when I was in the UAE. Till I left there I couldn’t make it. I hope to visit there when I come for umrah (lesser hajj) in the Kingdom sometime inshaAllah.
I hope the umrah visa allows your travel to the Eastern part of SA?
Thanks for the comment @Nuhuu Unfortunately, with Umrah visa you can travel only in Makkah, Medina and Jeddah. With a business visa you can explore the whole country.
That’s pretty much unfortunate. Also i heard that to-date there is no tourist visa to Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. How do people usually then make travel in and around?
