Qualla: Jeddah https://qualla.com/jeddah en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:29 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/s/g/g/f/jeddah-wk/hero-small.webp Qualla: Jeddah https://qualla.com/jeddah Jeddah: Introduction https://qualla.com/jeddah/ Photo credit Sp-knight, CC BY-SA 3.0. The old houses are built out of coral. Coral blocks, cut from ancient reefs along the Red Sea, stacked into walls several stories high and faced with wooden mashrabiya screens that filter the desert light. Jeddah's Al-Balad quarter has been building with coral for centuries, which is wonderful until you remember that coral is not, in fact, a particularly durable building material. Most of those houses are now in disrepair. Some are being painstakingly restored as part of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 push to reinvent its tourism. Walk through Al-Balad in January 2026 and you see scaffolding everywhere - a city trying to recover the architectural memory it nearly lost.

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Image: Sp-knight | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/g/g/f/jeddah-wk/sggf-jeddah-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Jeddah: Gateway to the Holy Cities https://qualla.com/jeddah/ Photo credit Ammar shaker, Public domain. Jeddah sits on the Red Sea in western Saudi Arabia. Its population is about 3.4 million, making it the kingdom's second-largest city after Riyadh, and its commercial capital. For most non-Muslim visitors, Jeddah is the first point of contact with the kingdom - because Mecca and M...

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Image: Ammar shaker | Public domain

]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/g/g/f/jeddah-wk/sggf-jeddah-gateway-to-the-holy-cities.mp3 0:06 2 full Jeddah: Al-Balad and the Corniche https://qualla.com/jeddah/ Photo credit Ammar shaker 18:24, 9 July 2007 (UTC), Public domain. The old town, Al-Balad, is Jeddah's UNESCO World Heritage jewel - inscribed in 2014. Its city walls are gone, but the gates still mark where they stood, and within the old bounds is a warren of coral-block houses, traditional souqs, and prayer calls echoing off stone. Visitors ge...

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Image: Ammar shaker 18:24, 9 July 2007 (UTC) | Public domain

]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/g/g/f/jeddah-wk/sggf-jeddah-al-balad-and-the-corniche.mp3 0:06 3 full Jeddah: Dive and Drive https://qualla.com/jeddah/ Photo credit Sp-knight, CC BY-SA 3.0. Because no major port south of Suez rivals Jeddah, the Red Sea reefs here receive very few divers. The corals are virtually untouched. Visibility commonly runs 30 to 40 meters; water temperatures range from 22°C in winter to 29°C in summer. Wreck enthusiasts visit the Chicken Wre...

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Image: Sp-knight | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/g/g/f/jeddah-wk/sggf-jeddah-dive-and-drive.mp3 0:06 4 full Jeddah: Heat, Flood, and Change https://qualla.com/jeddah/ Photo credit Naif Abdullah from jeddah, saudi araiba, CC BY 2.0. The greatest natural hazard in Jeddah is heat. Summer temperatures climb into the mid-40s Celsius, and the humidity off the Red Sea turns the air into something you push through. The best time to visit is January and February, when it is merely warm. Flash floods are the other da...

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Image: Naif Abdullah from jeddah, saudi araiba | CC BY 2.0

]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/g/g/f/jeddah-wk/sggf-jeddah-heat-flood-and-change.mp3 0:06 5 full