Information About Jeddah:

Jeddah now occupies 560 Square km and its Red Sea coastline measures 80 km from North to South with a population of approximately 3 million.

The city of Jeddah is known as “The Bride of the Red Sea” with its dazzlingly beautiful coral reefs and myriad colors and sizes of fish.

Jeddah’s real treasure lies in the Red Sea with magnificent Dive Sites, Underwater Photography, Off-Shore Boat Dives, Wreck Diving, Water Skiing, Wind Surfing, etc…

Shoping in Jeddah

Jeddah has all the services and shopping centers that are to be expected in any modern city throughout the world. It has a number of Souqs (traditional Arab market places) of varying sizes and qualities, on the same scale there are the big modern shopping malls that offer all the different World Brands. Examples of malls are: Jeddah Mall, Tahliah Center, and Mega Mall.

Bargaining

Bargaining is common practice in the Souqs. The price quoted is always before discount resulting in an invitation to bargain; however, an agreement on a price is not always achieved.

Restaurents

There are a good variety of restaurants in Jeddah offering a wide range of options. There are independent restaurants, hotel restaurants such as La Brasserie at Le Meridien Hotel, Madinah Road, fast food such as Burger King, McDonalds, Hardees, Jollibees , Coffee

Shops

such as Starbuck’s, Bernie’s, Cafe Aroma, etc. One can find the different cuisines to include French (“La Cuisine”: Palestine St., Opposite Jamjoom Center), Italian (“Ciao”-The Italian Restaurant, Off Andalus St. next to Gulf Royal Seafood, “Il Castello”-off Khalid bin Waleed St.), American (“Chili’s”, “TGI Friday’s”, both on Al Andalus St.), Chinese (“Gulf Royal”, Prince Abdullah St., “Shangri- La”, Tahlia St., Galleria Mall), Indian (“Maharajah”, Shubukshi St., right off Palestine St., just before Sofitel), Indonesian (Gadou Gadou), Filipino (“Bulakeno”, behind El Maghrabi, Madinah Road), Middle Eastern (“Yildizlar”, Off Andalus St.).

Schools

Children of expatriate Employees can attend any of the International schools available in Jeddah. Below are names and contact details of some of the schools that may be of interest to you

Business Hours

Government Departments 07:00 a.m. to 14:30 p.m.

Private Companies 08:00 a.m. to 13:00 p.m.

14:00 p.m. to 18:00 p.m.

Banks 08:00 a.m. to 2005-4-7:00 p.m.

15:00 p.m. to 19:00 p.m.

All Government Offices are closed on Thursdays and Fridays (Weekends).

All Companies are closed on Fridays.

Calendar Year

All Government Offices and some Private Companies base their business operations on the Hegiran year. The Hegiran calendar is based on the Phases of the moon and consis

There are two main events in the Hegiran year, Ramadan (the ninth month of the year) where Muslims fast from dawn to sunset during the entire month and Hajj (the twelfth month of the year) where Muslims perform their Pilgrimage to Makkah.

Holidays

The official holidays in Saudi Arabia are Eid Al-Fitr, which concludes the fasting month, Ramadan and Eid Al-Adha, during the month of Hajj.

Currency

The Saudi Arabian currency is the Riyal, which is divided into 100 Halalas. Notes are in 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500 Riyals denominations, coins are in 5, 10, 25, 50, and 100 Halala denominations.

The Riyal is quoted in US Dollars. 1 Saudi Riyal (SR) = 3.7550 US Dollar ($)

Climate and Temperature

Jeddah’s climate is generally humid. Humidity figures can sometimes reach up to 98%. In general, the weather in Jeddah is considered very hot in summer but mild in winter. Rainfall in Jeddah is very slight.