Al Khobar here we come !

Welcome on the forum Tania,

Your discussion has been moved to Khobar forum for effective networking.

Regards

welcome to the forum and we hope you will have an easy transition to the saudi expat way of life. Its different, that is all i can say.

There are no refineries in Al-Khobar that i know of. The nearest one is in Ras-Tanura (40-50kms).

What info on khobar are you looking for ? You can read through the various topics being discussed on the Saudi/Khobar forums nad if you don;t find the info, you can always ask.

cheers
Vicks

Hi Vicks ! Thanks for the response !The refinery that my hubby will be working at is MS al Suwaidi ?? Have any of you heard of it ?

Thanks for the advice !

Take Care

Tania

Nope. haven't heard of it. MS Al-Suwaidi seems to be the name of a company into refinery business, but not a refinery owner themselves. Is your hubby's employer MS al-suwaidi OR is it ARAMCO ?

Welcome to the forum and to Khobar.

Not sure of the company that you have mentioned. but I think its a contractor for Aramco..
Ask anything that you would want to know bout Khobar.. there are guys here who can give you loads of pointers.. 

Cheers!

Right here goes !

A question I have seen asked but not answered as acurately as I would like ... COMPOUNDS !!! Some names please !!
Secondly we have been told that we can stay in Bahrain if we want to but because we have kids they advise staying in Khobar .. Any-one know anything about that ? In Khobar are the restaurants segregated ??

We will start with those questions ..

P.S Thanks to all soooo much for the advise . I am sitting in Africa trying to arm myself with as much info as possible !

Regards

Tania

Generally a useful website : http://www.the-saudi.net/http://www.the-saudi.net/directory/index.html

Compounds & everything else you wanted to know about saudi/khobar (the info might be a bit dated, but it will give you something to read thru untill you comeup with your next question to us) : http://www.hasher.net/Khobar/Khobar.htm

Yes the restaurants (in fact, not just restaurants but, everything) in Saudi are segregated.

Living in Bahrain & working in Khobar is done by few expats. Only downside being the daily grind on the causeway (bridge connecting Saudi-Bahrain) where you go thru immigration, customs etc twice each journey. Sometimes it takes 3hrs to cross the causeway, though the facilities are being improved )more lanes, more counters etc).

cheers
Vicks

I posted this info quite some time ago. So take it with all applicable disclaimers :-)

/forum.virtualtourist.com/discussion-390906-1-1-Travel-0-0-Al_Khubar-discussion.html

Thanks Vicks ! That was incredibly helpful !! Need more advice !! My husbands package that he has been offered is as follows :- SR 27000 . They will pay towards a compound about
SR 158000 per anum Schooling in a Brittish ot american school for both our children . Once a year they will fly us to SA and back . We are not finished negotiating as we are not sure if this is good or not . The job is for a project manager ( Grd 11 )

Please Vicks let me know what you think of this package . Appreciate all the info !

Look forward to hearing from you !

Regards
Tania

hey tania, i personally live in khobar and its a wonderfull place. . TALKING ABOUT RESTRAUNTS AND F.O.O.D, this place suits well for those four lettered words. you may find all the fast food chains lined up in the corniche (beach) road. compounds are many. but i personally know some of those well known compounds -
KANOO compound
SAFCO compound
GREENVALLEY compound
GULF PEARL compound etc etc.
well, if ur thinking to settle in bahrain and ur kids are saying the other way around. then i say - if u need bit more freedom, then bahrain is a nice place to settle in. if u can manage to adjust the KSA laws, then khobar is no problem.
khobar has things way near than the neighbouring city - dammam (I PERSONALLY SUGGEST YOU THAT dammam aint good) :PPPPP
if ur thinking for some picnic spot, then there is azizya park/beach. we got the halfmoon bay and the sunset beach. and anytime you can get inside bahrain which is 25kms away (45 mins max). the KING FAHD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (KFIA)- largest airport in the world in size is around 50 km away from the main city.
there are more than 15 malls scattered around the city.
Khobar has transformed and extended its water front along the Persian Gulf into a scenic Beirut-like corniche with parks, eateries, and family beaches, thus making it one of the most iconic features of the city. - wikipedia.com
I can guarantee you the city is C.L.E.A.N.
hope i made u clear with my lengthy words.

@tania: I think Vicks has covered most of what needs to be covered in this regard.
Advice, the daily Bahran khobar up down is not popular right now, because of the situation there. But there is nothing wrong with khobar, you can live here, and then jump to bahrain for the weekend to catch a movie, a drink, etc.

the schools here are pretty good too. so the kids wont have much of a problem either. Compounds, there are a couple of posts int he khobar forum regarding them, why dont you check em out too..

Cheers!

I believe that friends above covered it all, so you are equipped with a clear vision about the area now.
My two daughters study in "New World International School" in Khobar, and I see it as a good school.
I visited few compounds in Khobar like Alrushaid and I noticed that they live with high standards. Excellent villas, gym, swimming pools, sports club, shop, kids play grounds, restaurant and all. So, you won't need to go to Bahrain except for vacations

Hi Tania, just seen your posts. Well, I am from Gauteng in SA and I have been here for 3 months. Moved over from Qatar where we lived for 4 years. I find Al Khobar just fine. Please let me know where you eventually settle in KSA or Bahrain and we'll keep in touch.

Well born n live in ksa love alkhober cox spend much time here the best way to live a life here in ksa is party hard shopping malls etc etc etc well i will jus say i love living here

@ princess: Not everyone agrees to that.. But I have to agree one thing.. this place is soo much more better than Riyadh!! any time!!