The kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the largest country on the Arabian Peninsula, which occupies 2.2 million square kilometers with the population of more than 30 million people. It shares borders with Jordan, Iraq and Kuwait to the north, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to the east, Oman to the southeast, and Yemen to the south. It is washed by the Persian Gulf in the northeast and by the Red Sea in the west. The capital of the kingdom is Riyadh. The official language is Arabic.

The national currency is the Saudi riyal. Money can be exchanged at the airport, banks or exchange offices. All major credit cards are accepted at shops, hotels and restaurants. ATMs are widely spread.

Most part of the kingdom is covered with the Arabian Desert. The climate is hot and dry with the average summer temperature of 45 degrees Celsius.

Saudi Arabia is often called "The Land of the Two Mosques", referring to Mecca and Medina - the two main holy cities of Islam. Millions of pilgrims come to Saudi Arabia every year to visit these revered places. Masjid an-Nabi and Quba Mosque in Medina and Grand Mosque in Mecca, besides their religious meaning are also stunning architectural monuments.

Nature lovers will find lots of interesting in this country: in the Asir National Park you can go trekking and camping; in Wahba Crater you will see lava fields and salt pans; in the mountainous Taif you can go climbing and enjoy amazing roses; Shada Mountain gives a lot of opportunities for climbing and hiking too; in the Northern Borders you can see wolves, gazelles, jackals, hyenas, scorpions, rabbits, as well as falcons and bustards. Do not forget about deserts – for example, Al-Nufud Al-Kabir Desert, whose dunes leave imperishable impression.

Airports

King Fahd International Airport (KFIA) (DMM), situated 20 kilometers from Dammam

King Abdulaziz International Airport (KAIA) (JED), located near Jeddah

King Khalid International Airport (RUH) is located 35 kilometers from Riyadh

Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport (MED), Medina

Al-Ahsa International Airport (HOF) serves Hofuf

Yanbu Airport (YNB), Yanbu

Diving in Saudi Arabia

Due to visa restrictions Saudi Arabia’s coasts are not overcrowded, and its dive sites are almost pristine.

The most popular diving areas are situated around Jeddah and Yanbu, where you can find good reefs, teeming with marine critters and interesting wrecks including the Miss Marie, a coaster covered now with corals inhabited by turtles, moray eels and rays; the Ann-Ann wreck on the Abu Faramish reef, located just 10 meters deep, which makes it a good wreck for beginners; and Cable Wreck on the Abu Tair Reef, covered with hydroids and beloved by blue-lined snappers, giant morays and crocodile fish.

At the Abu Madafi reef there are some old wrecks, which have nearly grown into the reef. One of them is the Boiler Wreck, turned into a picturesque man-made reef. Moreover the reef is very interesting in itself with lots of caverns, arches and caves.

Off the Farasan archipelago you have an opportunity to dive among numerous semi-submerged reefs, small islands and volcanic cones and see lots of fish, including tiger sharks.

In the waters of Yanbu you can go wall diving, see huge gorgonian corals and walls of black corals and meet anthias, moray eels, clownfish, butterfly fish and snappers, as well as tunas, barracudas and mantas.