First Beach Trip

We live right on the Red Sea and we've been here over a month and we finally actually made it to the beach. We have to go to a beach for westerners because women have to wear their abeyahs into the water at the public beaches. It sort of makes swimming a bit of a trial. It was a day trip even though it is only 30 minutes or so across town to get there. It was very different from the beaches back at home. First of all, the actual beach area is quite small, no large expanses of sand on the private beaches. This beach was perhaps a couple of hundred feet across and no one lays on the sand. Everyone has a lounge chair underneath a palm frond umbrella. As you can see, from David's picture, it was a really strenuous day.

The water is azure, extremely clear, with 20+ feet of visibility. The fish are beautiful, vivid colors and designs. I truly wish we had an underwater camera so we could share those views with you.

The beach is totally self enclosed and requires ID cards to get on and security is pretty tight. There is a restaurant and snack bar on site. You can rent a little cottage that is literally on piers and is constructed completed over the water for $300 USD a night. We thought the price was outrageous but it was pretty.

The end of the day was gorgeous.