Life in Bahrain

Hi Victoria,
Nice to meet you life in Bahrain is completely different than life in any Arab country.i am from egypt living and working as a cfo in Saudia but living both in Bahrain and Ksa coz life in Bahrain is very comfortable and free than Saudi Arabia. Anyway you welcome any time .
Hossam

In Bahrain life is amazing.
The country is beautiful and so are the people.

Women life happily, you got freedom, if your job pays you well, move to Bahrain.

You'll love the adventure.

The dress code, well foreigners wear anything they wish as long as it's suitable to be worn in public 

Do let us know if you have more queries.

Hello Victoria,

To answer your question life in Bahrain is good for all but with some drawbacks. Women are free to do as they please and can do anything they want (within reason) just like in Europe or most places in the world.

There is no difference in dress code for expat women in Bahrain compared to Europe. You can wear whatever you want in public but just be aware that if it is revealing then you are more likely to draw peoples attention.

Hope this helps and if you want more information just ask!

O

Hi Victoria
The cost of living here is high so make sure the job offer is sufficient to cover your expenses. I don't know what line of work you are in but there are a few scams so ensure the company is legit.
Bahrain is a small mainly friendly island with a good expat community, especially if you join one of the clubs.
Life is pretty free and easy here but there are social guidelines which if you follow you will have no problems. I don't go to the mall in shorts and bare tops because I respect the culture here. Some expat women do. Happy to answer any specific questions if you pm me.

Dear Victoria, I was in Bahrain last week for the very first time and I've just loved it. The locals are very kind and warm. I felt very welcome the moment I landed in Manama.
I believe Bahrain is fairly liberal compared to some of the other Gulf countries. You can use this as a general guide:

Mosques:  Hair, arms and legs must be covered.  Loose clothing required.  No shoes allowed inside the mosque.

Traditional Areas - Souq, villages, central market, etc.:  Skirts should be below the knee but long skirts and pants are preferable.  Short sleeve to long sleeve tops preferable.  No spaghetti strap tops and no cleavage.

Malls - Seef mall, A'ali mall, dana mall, bahrain mall etc.:  Skirts below the knee.  Short sleeves.  No spaghetti strap tops and no cleavage.  Malls are usually crowded and people from all walks of life are there. 

Restaurants:  Depending on the restaurant, spaghetti strap tops and some cleavage is okay.  Generally if the restaurant in in Adliya or in a 5 star hotel then less conservative clothing is required.  However, it it best to wear skirts below the knee.  People are usually dressed up at restaurants.  Make up is a must.

Beaches:  In private beaches anything goes except for nudity of course.  For public beaches, wear what you'd wear for a mall but of course there's no need to dress up.

Private homes:  Depends on how conservative the family is.  But generally bahrainis are tolerant of other forms of dress.  Note:  Bahraini women care a lot about facial and body hair.  Its best to get your eyebrows threaded and everything else either bleached or waxed.

In general, Bahrainis are very tolerant people.  However, the less bahraini you look, the more tolerant they will be of your clothing.  However, if you are in a crowded place like a mall then expect a lot of stares and comments from men if you dress less conservatively than the other females surrounding you.

I hope I've helped you somehow.
Wishing you a pleasant weekend!

Bahrain is a nice place and to live in. The temperatures have around 6 months of hot and humid weather  and the other 6 months of cool pleasant weather   

The quality of life here is good and the people are nice too.

The driving is somewhat crazy especially for the boy racers who like to speed but i heard Bahrain is much better than the other GCC countries when it comes to driving on the road. 

The malls are nice and clean and especially the rest rooms are very clean. They have a person cleaning at all times. So i will definitely credit the cleaners here for their superb work. This is one thing ive seen in Bahrain that i'll will rate quite high as ive not seen in other countries.   

There is an article that two very helpful members of this forum wrote to give others a good source of information about Bahrain - BrightonGuy and Josnuggles deserve credit for their initiative 

Please click on this link and read the sections that will give you more of an idea about living in Bahrain.

Hope this helps and you enjoy Bahrain 

No spaghetti strap tops and no cleavage.

Absolutely not otherwise you will get people watching you and even make comments towards you. If you walk the streets dressed like this (not that you would want to in this heat) then its almost certain some low life would pull up and make comments at you..
So avoid this and i totally agree with sofiacsousa comments.

Bahrain is a very nice place so lets keep it that way 

Hello everybody,
I may need to move to bahrain for work. I am a bit worried though, People around me get scared when i say i will be living in Bahrain because of the riots and the instability.
I have two questions:

1) Is bahrain safe for a woman living alone?
2) Is bahrain facing a lack of instability?

Thank you so much for your time and answers.

Ism

Ismjd wrote:

1) Is bahrain safe for a woman living alone?
2) Is bahrain facing a lack of instability?

1) Bahrain is perfectly safe for a single woman to live.
2) I think you mean is Bahrain facing a lack of stability, rather than instability? For sure there are ongoing issues in Bahrain, however these do not normally bother expats. We have lived for 3 1/2 years in an area that some expats, particularly those who don't really know or understand the situation, consider unsafe yet apart from some minor inconvenience with traffic disruption, when there is a demonstration, we have never had a problem.

Thank you for your answer,
Effectively what I meant was a lack of stability, I didn't express myself well, sorry about that .
Could you tell me which areas are safe to live, Close to the diplomatic area ?
Thank you 😊

Could you tell me which areas are safe to live, Close to the diplomatic area ?
Thank you 😊

There are lots of places to choose from. It all depends on you and what surroundings you prefer.

For example, lots of expats live in Amwaj Islands, Juffair, Adhilya, & Seef,
These are just a few places. There are plenty others to choose from.

Good luck

Hello everyone,
How did you feel about the recent riots? Is it the media making a big fuss about it? Or do you feel insecure?
I am so worried about living in bahrain.. i have a bad feeling about it..

Well , you aren't wrong in feeling afraid .
But again , Bahrain is way safer then most countries .

Just stay out of the areas that are riot prone .

There is no instability in Bahrain .
It's a perfect place for an expat .

Just get into areas that are peaceful .
Riffa , Seef , Amwaj , Reef Island
Costly yet a perfect place to be in .
These riots take place in small villages in some corner of Bahrain .

Nothing to worry about

Your best bet might to be to make a fact finding visit to Bahrain to assess the situation for yourself.

As I said in my earlier post, we live in an area that some consider dangerous and it is not that far from where the most recent problems have been taking place, but we have never found ourselves involved in anything and at no time in 3 1/2 years have we felt threatened in any way.

Unfortunately there is a lot of misreporting and misunderstanding of the situation in Bahrain, which causes people to believe the absolute worst, however if you do feel that nervous just at the thought of moving to Bahrain, then maybe the best thing for you is to just give it a miss.

Thank you very much @gunner757 and @Mithril for your answers. I have lived in Istanbul for one year while there were demonstrations and In Qatar for 5 months and yet I am worried about living in Bahrain. I still have few days to go before giving my decision for the job (embassy). I hope I will make the right decision.  Thank you so much for taking time to answer me.

Thank you for your answer @jazzy,
I will need to stay close to the diplomatic area where I will be working. Also is it necessary to rent a car? Or are the taxis and public transport ok?
Thank you

Ismjd wrote:

Thank you very much @gunner757 and @Mithril for your answers. I have lived in Istanbul for one year while there were demonstrations and In Qatar for 5 months and yet I am worried about living in Bahrain. I still have few days to go before giving my decision for the job (embassy). I hope I will make the right decision.  Thank you so much for taking time to answer me.

I would have far more concerns about living in Istanbul than Bahrain......trust me on that one 

Bahrain is much nicer than Qatar and we lived there for 2 years, so I do know.

Ismjd wrote:

Thank you for your answer @jazzy,
I will need to stay close to the diplomatic area where I will be working. Also is it necessary to rent a car? Or are the taxis and public transport ok?
Thank you

I would recommend that you either buy or rent a car. Taxis are not as available as other places in the ME, e.g. Dubai or Abu Dhabi and tend to be a bit more expensive. There is public transport, however it is intermittent and not very convenient. 

Mythril wrote:

Ismjd wrote:

Thank you very much @gunner757 and @Mithril for your answers. I have lived in Istanbul for one year while there were demonstrations and In Qatar for 5 months and yet I am worried about living in Bahrain. I still have few days to go before giving my decision for the job (embassy). I hope I will make the right decision.  Thank you so much for taking time to answer me.

I would have far more concerns about living in Istanbul than Bahrain......trust me on that one 

Bahrain is much nicer than Qatar and we lived there for 2 years, so I do know.

I think I will just go for it otherwise I will regret it so bad. Thank you for reassuring me. This is very nice of you!

Thank you for your answer @jazzy,
I will need to stay close to the diplomatic area where I will be working. Also is it necessary to rent a car? Or are the taxis and public transport ok?
Thank you

If you choose to stay close to the diplomatic area, this place is secure and guarded as i see there's a police vehicle most of the time. It may well be the accomadation in this place could be higher possibly.. Im not entirely sure. Hope others who know more about the diplomatic area can answer this?

That said, Bahrain is a small island and so getting from one place to another isnt a long distance. Traffic may be an issue at times but overall its ok.

As mentioned by Mythril, its best to rent or buy a car. It depends on how long you feel you may be here. If you plan on being here for some years, buying a car becomes cost effective opposed to renting, this is especially true if buying one of the popular Japanese cars here.

Good luck 

I think I will just go for it otherwise I will regret it so bad. Thank you for reassuring me. This is very nice of you!

I feel you will like Bahrain. Ive heard it from quite a number of people who have lived and worked in the GCC, that Bahrain by far is the best.
Bahrain is a nice relaxed place .

jazzy851 wrote:

I think I will just go for it otherwise I will regret it so bad. Thank you for reassuring me. This is very nice of you!

I feel you will like Bahrain. Ive heard it from quite a number of people who have lived and worked in the GCC, that Bahrain by far is the best.
Bahrain is a nice relaxed place .

I think that's a good move to go for it, I don't think you will regret it, just keep an open mind and don't worry unnecessarily, you will find most people here very open and welcoming.

I have lived & worked in most GCC countries and Bahrain is definitely up there as one of the best