With an abundance of sunshine, lush palms and mangroves, and miles of coastline featuring beautiful beaches, Dammam is very much a city best enjoyed outdoors – a corner of the Kingdom that offers everything from hiking, diving and snorkelling to revving quad bikes and elegant, gliding boats.
Dammam is a place for adventurous souls in search of outdoor experiences that shine a light on the extraordinary qualities of the city and its surrounding region. Take yourself on a journey through our unmissable six top things to do outdoors in Dammam.
1. Explore the wonders of Marjan Island
Marjan Island stands out on the map of Dammam like few other outdoor experiences. Unfurling outwards from the Corniche Road and into the Gulf, the island’s contours curl in on themselves to form a circle of land upon which Marjan Island (also known as Coral Island) is mainly situated. Covering 53,000 square metres in the middle of the pearlescent azure sea, Marjan Island is an oasis of greenery, lapping waters and, yes, luminescent coral.
As one of the best outdoor experiences in Dammam, the area is impeccably maintained and equipped with all manner of activities to keep all ages and adventurous natures entertained. In its centre, jutting upward towards the sky with the jaunty spirals of a Disney castle, is the beautiful 30-metre-tall Malwiya Tower. It’s spottable from a distance, on the other side of the Corniche, but its undulating curves and canny design details are far better taken in up close.
2. Walk along the Corniche to Dammam Heritage Village
One could not truly say they’ve taken the time to experience the unique and storied culture of the Eastern Province without a visit to Dammam’s iconic Heritage Village – a magnificently maintained mudblock menagerie, where traditional crafts and practices are on year-round display. It’s located by the Gulf, on Dammam Corniche, and serves as an ideal terminus for a long stroll downward from Takyt Bakar at the inlet’s northeastern tip – not too long or too short a walk for anyone hoping to catch the sea breeze.
You’ll arrive to find the interior of the Heritage Village lovingly restored, yet resolutely traditional and strewn with Eastern antiques. You can even eat some of the city’s finest traditional Saudi food at the restaurant here – perfect if the walk here has worked up an appetite. Pause before you leave and take a full-circle survey of its megalithic size; it’s one of the region’s architectural jewels, inside and out, and really needs to be seen to be believed.
3. Scuba-diving off the Jubail Coast
Amid some of the most pristine waters on the planet, maintained with care and consideration, you can trust that a day spent scuba-diving off the Jubail Coast will be one of the best outdoor experiences you can find near Dammam. Head north from the city, and you’ll find one of the least-touched and verdant corners of the entire Kingdom – the Jubail Marine Area. There are a host of diving companies with access and equipment for some of the best scuba-diving experiences that money can buy.
From the moment you slip beneath the surface equipped with your goggles and tank to go on a mission of discovery, you’ll find yourself in a new world full of shoals of speckled fish and fantastical spirals of algae. Better yet, you can delight in the knowledge that most tourists have only recently learned of Jubail; for now, it’s as pristine as it will ever be, a hidden gem in the country’s east.
4. An evening under the stars at a desert safari out from Dammam
Once you’ve had your fill of the life aquatic by the Dammam coastline, know that you can just as easily book a tour that takes you far, far away from the city, to the ultimate outdoor adventure you can have in the Eastern Province: a desert safari, as facilitated by expert tour guides who know how to deliver night tours that match thrills and tradition, comfort and culture.
You begin by taking a 45-minute drive out from the city, where the road eventually fades into the Rub’ al Khali, the Empty Quarter. Then, you really begin: your 4x4 whizzes through mighty dunes, surfing and weaving and flooding you full of adrenaline as the car tyres skid through sand. Then, rest, as tents are erected, barbecues lit, and a magical evening of Dammam hospitality is laid out to you and your group. As one of the top-rated outdoor experiences in Dammam, you can trust you won’t be disappointed.
5. A day with the flamingos at Al Asfar Lake
The journey to Al Asfar Lake may be one of the more challenging outdoor experiences near Dammam, but stay the course. You’ll have to venture south, toward the ancient settlement of Al Hofuf (home to the iconic Qaisariya Market, one of the best markets near Dammam). Before you reach the city limits, however, you’ll have to turn right off the main roads, and through the golden dunes of Al-Ahsa. You will feel as if there could not possibly be a lake at the end of all this desert; however, upon arrival at Al Asfar, you will be taken aback in astonishment.
Al Asfar Lake is of such international renown that it holds UNESCO status for its beauty. Its waters are pretty enough, calm, flat and heralded for their purity. But its inhabitants steal the show these days: flocks of coral-pink flamingos that you can observe in their pomp, swarming the lake. Though the journey is long, you’ll spend the return leg planning your next visit.
