Saudi Arabia is a strict Islamic country in the Middle East. The kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the largest country at the Arab peninsula. Thanks to its size it has deal with many neighbouring countries: Jordan, Oman, Koeweit, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Yemen are all neighbours of Saudi. The country is lead by king Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and his family. Although most people will visionise desert when thinking about Saudi Arabia it apears to be much more varied. There are forests, grass lnads, mountain areas and of course also the well-known desert. Thanks to the wealth of oil Saudi has become a prosperous country.
In history Saudi has gained a seperate place in the Islamic world. The holy mosque in Mekka is a place where every single Moslem must go to for at least one time in his life. Moreover also the holy city Medina tales an important place in Saudi. For us there is no visit to Mekka; No, our attention is going to the coast line of Saudi Arabia; and more in particular the coast line with the red sea. The sea is well known to us from our trips to Egypt, but we are more than curious to meet the underwater life over here.
Traveling to Saudi Arabia requires a pre-arranged visum. We fly with Saudi Arabia airlines from Paris to Jeddah at the west coast of Saudi. From Jeddah you can reach several different diving areas. You can leave from the harbour of Jeddah for a divetrip Yanbu in the north. There is also the possibility to drive a bit south an join a diveboat to the Farasan Banks from there. Our trip goes to the Farasan Banks, which lies at the same hight as the border of Sudan with Erythrea at the other side of the red sea. After a drive of approximately 3 hours from the airport of Jeddah we step on board of our liveaboard for this week; the dream island.