As some of you know, my wife and I moved to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in mid-February 2014 to teach at Effat University.
During our spring break this past week, we rented a car and did as much sightseeing as possible. We drove to Ta'if, where we saw cute little baboons and rode a camel, and we got to know our new city better by visiting Tahlia Street and spending time on the Corniche.
We also went to the beach. Yes, the beach. If you do your research and aren't afraid of driving to parts unknown, knocking on doors, and talking to strangers, you can find some private beaches that are geared towards westerners - where you can bare all.
And we did just that. We wrote down some vague directions we found on a Jeddah forum, drove up north of the city, made a bunch of U-turns, talked to a few people, knocked on some doors and gates we thought for sure would lead to nothing, paid some guy 200 Saudi Riyals ($50), and spent the day on Silver Sands Beach getting the most righteous sunburn we've had in a while.
Below is a photo and video montage of Silver Sands Beach. Maybe THIS will make you want to move to Saudi Arabia. ;)
Note to self: I need to add the Red Sea to the list of seas I have swam in.
Click here to learn how to get there.