Saudi Arabia’s north west coast has a story that goes far beyond its glossy new resorts.
This is a shoreline where the Hijaz Mountains meet the Red Sea, where coral reefs begin just metres from the sand, and where the night sky is so clear it feels close enough to touch. Across The Red Sea destination, which began welcoming guests in 2023, and the newly opened AMAALA, which received its first guests this year, the landscape itself is the attraction. For anyone with business in the Gulf, this is a place to build an extra few days into the trip, and five experiences stand out.
1. Dive among the coral reefs
The Red Sea holds some of the healthiest coral reefs on the planet, and the Galaxea team leads guided dives and snorkelling excursions through waters alive with colourful fish and intricate coral formations. The showstopper lies off Shura Island, where a dramatic reef drop of 30 to 40 metres begins close to shore, so the marine landscape becomes part of the island’s very identity. You can be at your desk one morning and hanging weightless over a coral wall the next, which is not a sentence many destinations can offer.
2. Stargaze from the desert mountains
Inland, at Desert Rock, villas are carved into ancient rock formations beneath skies of exceptional clarity. The resort has its own Observatory, set above the villas for viewing after dark, while Akun’s Arabian Astronomy experience pairs the telescopes with the stories the region’s people have told about these stars for centuries. Far from any city glow, the silence is as memorable as the view. It is the sort of evening that resets a mind worn down by airports and back to back meetings.
3. Surf at ADRENA
Not everything here is about stillness. ADRENA brings a jolt of adrenaline to the coast, built around a 215 metre saltwater surf pool, the largest in Saudi Arabia, generating waves tuned to every level of ability, from first timers to those chasing a proper barrel. The wider adventure district adds wakeboarding, snorkel trails and a deep diving pool. For incentive trips and team travel, it is the kind of place where colleagues stop being colleagues for an afternoon.
4. See the underwater world by submarine at AMAALA
AMAALA’s planned Corallium Marine Life Institute promises something rather more ambitious than a conventional aquarium. Proposed visitor experiences include laboratory tours, underwater encounters and a submarine journey into the Red Sea itself, linking the spectacle beneath the surface with the serious science of studying and restoring it. Descending into the blue in a submarine is thrilling enough on its own. Doing so while learning how these reefs are being protected gives the experience real weight.
5. Kayak through the mangroves
For a gentler perspective, take a kayak into the waterways that wind between the mangroves. These forests are among the region’s most important coastal habitats, sheltering young fish and birdlife, and locking away carbon at a remarkable rate. Gliding through them, with only the dip of a paddle for company, the pace is set by the water rather than by an itinerary. It is the quietest hour you will spend on this coast, and quite possibly the most restorative.
Why now, and why it matters for business travellers
What connects these five experiences is a philosophy. Red Sea Global describes its approach as regenerative tourism, which means the destinations are designed to leave the environment in better shape than they found it. That principle shows up everywhere, from the way reefs are monitored to the electric vehicles that ferry guests between resorts.
Access has improved dramatically too. Red Sea International Airport now receives direct flights from Doha, Dubai, Jeddah and Riyadh, with guests transferred onward by a fleet of luxury electric vehicles. Al Wajh International Airport reopened in May 2026 following a full refurbishment, adding further connectivity, and Fly Red Sea, the Kingdom’s first seaplane company, carries guests out to the island resorts. Sheybarah Island, home to the striking stainless steel orbs of Shebara, is reached by a 30 minute boat ride or 20 minutes by seaplane.
The hospitality is already in place, from the St Regis Red Sea Resort and Nujuma, a Ritz Carlton Reserve, in the Ummahat Islands, to Desert Rock in the mountains and AMAALA’s Triple Bay, where wellness is taken seriously enough to include a magnesium vitality pool, a subterranean spa grotto and an Equinox fitness club. And this is only the beginning. On full completion in 2030, The Red Sea alone will comprise 50 resorts across 22 islands and six inland sites.
The resorts will keep coming, and the itineraries will grow longer. Yet what stays with you from this coast is likely to be something simpler: the drop of a reef wall into deep blue, the silence of a mangrove channel, the density of stars above the mountains. It is a part of the world that rewards the traveller who builds in the extra days.
