Hello Saudis: What do Saudis do for recreation in the hot summers? Are there lots of indoor activities?

Answer 1

they build huge skyscrapers and shop

Answer 2

Jake, its the Dubian people that build tall towers.. the tallest on earth is soon to be started...

We saudi's find anything that is inside with air conditioning..

There are museums, shopping malls, indoor amusement parks (mainly for children).. sometimes there are festivals inside the malls.

there are science centers that have hands on science stuff for families. There are art and craft shows.. in the evening when its cooler, you can go to the beach (if you live on either coast of Saudi), or spend the time in the desert going dune buggying or have a family BBQ in the desert.

There are places of interest like gold suks, and old markets to visit. There are some old castle ruins you can take a tour through..

In the east coast near Jubail there are some sandy beaches called rose beaches that you can dig and find little crystal deposits that look exactly like roses.. In Khobar there are exibits by Aramco oil company that you can walk though giving the history of oil in the country..

sometimes they have community flea market shopping expositions in huge wearhouses once every so often.. .. In private housing compounds, you might find bowling alleys, theaters, swimming pools, libraries .. people try to do things during the summer.. you just have to look and ask..  

Answer 3

Saudis don't go out during the day unless they have to.  Most stores don't open until 4 pm, even inside the malls.  And, most places are open until around midnight.  Saudis don't use daylight savings time, so it gets dark around 6:30 pm.  

It's very hot during the day, but it doesn't feel so hot after the sun goes down.  And, if there's a nice breeze, it's quite nice outside.  There are a lot of parks and beaches where people go for picnics.

Indoor activities - I don't really know of any except that there are kid's play areas inside a lot of the malls.  The play areas have arcade and rides, even small roller coasters.