Ronnie Biggs

I've previously worked in Abu Dhabi but today I've been offered an attractive position working in Saudi and living in Bahrain (with use of a special highway lane to get across quickly...whatever that means.) I'm being told the journey time is about 35 minutes to get across - is this accurate?

I'd like to hear from anyone living in Bahrain, what's life like there compared to the UAE and what is the cost of living like? I'm in my 30's with two very small children and would be paid in USD....

Cheers for any help or advice, I appreciate it! My head is all over the place at the prospect of moving back to the Middle East but I need to come back with an answer and my financial expectations within 24 hours........

Bahtatboy

My colleague has just made that move--office in Al Khobar, lives in Bahrain. Accommodation much easier than in AD--he had many places to look at, and opted for somewhere fairly near the bridge so as to cut down on travel. Decent flat, fully furnished, half the price of AD. Numerous clubs to join, all cheap.

I travel frequently from Bahrain to Al Khobar (instead of flying into Dammam, which is god-awful)--Wednesday afternoon / evening isn't much fun to be travelling, but the worst I ever experienced was an hour and a half. Usually it takes 45 mins, and that's without your VIP pass which should cut it down quite a bit.

Don't know about the family angle.

There is some civil unrest in Bahrain which is kept quiet--it doesn't seem to impinge on Westerners' lives at present, but the potential is there.

Ronnie Biggs

That's brilliant - thank you. In terms of religion, just how relaxed is Bahrain?

Dilmun

It's been awhile that we lived in Bahrain, but we would move back anytime. We still have a lot of friends there and visit it frequently. I would say that Bahrain is the best place to live in the ME. Especially for children it's a safe haven and there are plenty of things to do.
Housing is cheaper than Qatar (I don't know about prices in UAE). And if you look for a place to live, you should certainly go for the areas Saar, Budayia. That's where all the western expat compounds are. And it is true, if you just work on the other side of the causeway, than it doesn't take more than 35-40min. But weekends there are sometimes queues and waiting times at the border, also I heard they have a special lane now for those daily traffickers.
Bahrain is not very posh, but we liked the place. Very laid back and relaxed.
So if I were you, I would go tomorrow
And the 'civil unrest' has been in Bahrain for the last decades. There are periods where they get all riled up and smash the McDonald windows just to regret it the next day, cause they can't eat there anymore.

Bahtatboy

Yeah, agree with previous post. Pretty relaxed--just normal ME do's and don'ts.

Bonny Boy

I've spent two spells of 2 years each in Bahrain, and the thing there is the split - two-thirds Shia, one-third sunni, with the sunnis being the wealthy ruling elite (in general) so there is an in-built tension resulting in the civil unrest noted by others. It is not particularly directed at expats, just don't be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The only thing Bahrain lacked for me was the 'great outdoors'. It is a small island, without the vast expanses of desert dunes and the mountain ranges you get in UAE, Saudi, Oman.

It is arguably more liberal then Dubai - no liquor license required for example when I was last there. Apartments in town (Manama) if you want a lively time, expat compounds in the north-west of the island for family life - but close to expat clubs and the causeway to Saudi.

norsk

I live in Manama and travel to Khobar every day. It takes me on average 35 minutes in the morning (except Saturdays which take slightly longer as all the Bahrainis are going across to Saudi for cheap shopping). Back home in the evening it takes on average 1 hour. Wednesday evening is busy, but still only takes on about 1.5 hours so perfectly doable.

From what I've heard the VIP pass costs SR20,000 per year so if it was offered to me I may have actually considered taking the money instead, but then again I did use to commute into London every day so I'm used to spending time in the car. Someone also said recently that the VIP lane was somewhat over-subscribed so that on occasions it was quicker to go through normal channel. This may have been just temporary though...

Bahrain has no proper open desert to speak of as someone mentioned which is a bummer, but if you're working in Saudi then you can go for trips on that side of the border. Half Moon Bay is nice and you can watch the local lunatics do a bit of dune-bashing on Friday afternoons.

Forgot to mention that Bahrain has religious freedom. They even have a church somewhere on the island apparently..

Jeeper

Don't forget to visit the tree of life.....it's fuc.king awesome!!!!!!

Tockalosh

Dont under estimate the political turmoil here but keep it in perspective when looking for a place to live.
Saar and Bud are where the majority of the expat compounds are located. However live on the "wrong" side of town and you can find it difficult to get home should the locals decide to burn their tyres on the road.
Its not aimed at expats but merely a means to vent frustration very visually however one day I am sure someone will be caught in the wrong place at the wrong time as its mainly hyped up teenagers involved.


I love being here but have noticed the difference since I lived here last and tensions are generally raised. I have friends who live in Hamala and who also couldnt get home the other night due to the roads being blocked with burning tyres.

The easiest way to decide where to live is to check out the presence or lack of black lines across the road. The offenders tend to be creatures of habit

We did use that as a good indicator of where to live and its worked a treat. We have no problems here at all and only 2 mins drive to the Dilmun club.
Accomodation is very cheap in comparison to AD as are the club membership.

Tockalosh

Oh and with regards to being paid in US$. It can be a pain in the arse as the local banks (standard charter and HSBC) have thrown up all sorts of problems with giving me an account in dollars. Still not been given a reason why.
As the dinar is fixed to the dollar, my company gave in, in the end and are now paying me in Dinar which is no hassle at all.

norsk

This must be a Bahrain issue as if you get an account with Samba in Saudi it is in both Riyal and USD. There is no difference in price to which currency you manage it in, and in Samba (and probably other banks as well) every ATM asks you whether you want USD or Riyal when you're withdrawing cash..

norsk

Apparently it costs "only" SR10,000 per year and from what some of the other expats at the office were saying it will be worth considering unless the doubling of passport booths since last summer has had an impact.

Due to holiday traffic it apparently gets a bit worse in the summer (or did last year anyway)..

typical

Bahrain has a "cathedral" and a fair number of churches, four gurdwaras, some Hindu temples, and a (disused) synagogue

The Dean

All interesting and informative posts, although the VIP-fast-lane-jobby is news to me, so I must find out about that (I bet they open it to everyone at peak times).

Location? Don't ignore the north-east (Muharraq, near the airport, or Amwaj, a new development). Good range of prices and quality, although it's further from the causeway of course.

The religious unrest is all-inclusive (a Bahraini got fire-bombed in his car recently - presumably a Sunni driving through a Shia area, of which there are plenty of course).

And the alcohol-will-soon-be-banned-completely rumours circulate from time to time, but two of the off-licence firms are "family"-owned, so that's unlikely.

By the way - is your job literally on the border? Causeway security guard?

Ronnie Biggs

Yes, thank you all for the advice here, it's been very helpful.

The Dean - you're not far off with the nature of the job by the way! I'd be responsible for ensuring nobody was smiling in their car as they drove into Saudi and that Phil Collins was on their stereo.