Jeddah which is also spelled Jiddah is one of Saudi Arabia’s Primary Resort Cities in the Region of Hijaz Tihamah located in the middle of the eastern coast of the Red Sea known as the “Bride of the Red Sea” and is the largest city in the Makkah Province (also known as Mecca the english translation) the largest sea port on the Red Sea and the second largest in Saudi Arabia after the capital, Riyadh.
Jeddah’s Red Sea coastal posting has formed a cosmopolitan character largely defined by its role as a port city and given the city’s close proximity to the Red Sea ; fishing and sea food dominates the food culture. Jeddah, the commercial and entertainment capital of Saudi Arabia, offers many forms of aquatic entertainment and sights as well as a plethora of shopping for tourists from traditional Arabic markets to ultra modern shopping malls. Jeddah hosts the oldest sport clubs in Saudi Arabia and football is the most popular sport, it is also the home of Saudi Arabia’s leading rugby club, which was founded in 1979, mainly run by expats
As the principal gateway to Mecca, Islam’s holiest city, Jeddah has welcomed able-bodied Muslims and eager pilgrims from an impressive variety of ethnicities from around the world to visit at least once in their life time. It is also a gateway to Medina the second holiest place in Islam. Many of these religious devotees remained in the city long after their Hajj was completed, and have been joined by hundreds of thousands of immigrants and foreign workers who migrated from non-Muslim countries during the oil boom of the last 50 years, as a result, Jeddah has adopted more of an eclectic nature than many other locations across the greater Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
With a strict adherence to Sharia law crime is low in the city and Doctors should feel safe in Jeddah and security is tight in and around Western compounds.
Doctors are bound to experience some clear cultural differences when relocating to Jeddah. The city is one of the most conservative in Saudi Arabia, and the daily rhythms of life in the city are dictated by Muslim prayer times, which occur five times a day.
Doctors moving to Jeddah can expect an active commercial centre marked by an expat community that enjoys a healthy mix of traditional culture and modern enterprise. The city is Saudi Arabia’s most fertile incubator for artistic endeavour has been the recipient of a number of open-air artistic installations that have given much of the public space the atmosphere of an oversized gallery making the city one of the largest open-air art galleries in the world.
All jobs for Doctors come with very generous tax free salaries and excellent spacious accommodation in the form of Villa’s within compounds with other Expats, where there is a rich and varied social life and leisure facilities and women are not expected to cover themselves.
Jeddah features an arid climate, unlike other Saudi Arabian cities, Jeddah retains its warm temperature in winter, which can range from 15 °C at dawn to 28 °C in the afternoon. Summer temperatures are extremely hot, often breaking the 43 °C mark in the afternoon and dropping to 30 °C in the evening. Rainfall in Jeddah is generally sparse, and usually occurs in small amounts in November and December. Heavy thunderstorms are common in winter, but Doctors living and working in Jeddah have the advantage of access to convenient and well-kept beaches as well as an 80km- Jeddah Corniche long waterfront promenade prime for ambling away empty hours and wayward weekends.