Things to do in Dammam

Landmark · Dammam waterfront

A long rebuilt seafront with parks, a landmark island pavilion and views across a shallow, extremely warm Gulf.

Local tip: This is the family Corniche rather than the fashionable one — Khobar's is the polished strip. Come here on a winter evening when Saudi families set up picnics on the grass and the fish restaurants along the road fill up. Almost nothing happens before sunset.

Culture · Dhahran

Aramco's cultural centre — a cluster of steel-clad forms holding a museum, library, cinema, theatre and children's museum, opened in 2018.

Local tip: It is far better than the phrase 'oil company cultural centre' suggests, and its touring exhibitions are frequently the best thing showing in the Kingdom. The Energy Exhibit is aimed at children and is the clearest explanation of the region's economy you will find anywhere. Book the cinema separately.

Nature · About 30 minutes south of Dhahran

A wide crescent of shallow sheltered water backed by dunes, with beach resorts, kite surfing and a lot of weekend traffic.

Local tip: The public stretches and the resort stretches are very different experiences and the resorts are worth the day fee for the facilities. Water is warm to the point of being unrefreshing in high summer; the good months are October to April, which is also when the wind is right for kiting.

Neighborhood · About 20 minutes north of Dammam

Date palm groves, a crumbling mud-brick citadel and one of the oldest continuously settled places on the Gulf, reached by a short causeway.

Local tip: Tarout Castle sits on a mound that has been occupied for thousands of years, and almost no visitor from the metro area ever goes. Combine it with the Qatif date market and the fish landing. Go with someone local if you can — the lanes are unmarked and the interesting parts are not signposted.

Food · Near the port, Dammam

The regional wholesale and retail fish market, where the Gulf's catch — safi, hamour, shrimp, kingfish — is sold and then cooked for you next door.

Local tip: The convention is to buy the fish at the counter and take it to one of the adjoining kitchens to be grilled and served with rice and sauce. Go early morning for the auction end of it, or evening to eat. Prices are per kilo and quoted quickly, so agree before it is wrapped.

Nature · About 90 minutes southwest

A UNESCO-listed oasis of millions of date palms fed by natural springs, with caves, an old souq and a landscape that looks nothing like the rest of the province.

Local tip: Inscribed by UNESCO in 2018 and genuinely enormous — this is not a garden, it is an agricultural region. Al-Qarah Mountain's caves stay cool in summer and are the one outdoor thing in the Eastern Province worth doing in August. Dates from here are the ones Saudis buy as gifts.