Saudi Arabia

It is a fascinating experience to see an entire ecosystem in action, and no where this is easily possible than in a coral reef.

There are so many intriguing things in the Red Sea, such as symbiotic or commensal relations between two unrelated species.

One such relation that I was able to capture on film, is the sea anemones and the clown fish.

The anemones are animals from the same broad family as the corals, except that they have no calcified skeletons. All their body is formed of soft tissue. There is a base that fastens them to the substrate (dead coral or rocks), and then tentacles surrounding the mouth. The tentacles have sting cells in them, similar to those of the many other marine invertebrates, such as coral and jellyfish. If a small fish approaches, it is stung, and can become dinner for the anemone.

The Red Sea is an underwater paradise mainly because of one thing: the Coral Reefs.

I consider myself very fortunate to have had the opportunity to enjoy exploring the underwater marvels of the Red Sea regularly in the 1990s when I lived in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.The Red Sea is best described as an underwater tropical forest. This is in stark contrast with the sterile desert bordering its shores.The following pages describe what marvels one can be seen in the Red Sea. The underwater pictures were taken with a cheap single use camera, and therefore the quality is not really great. There is no real alternative though, because underwater cameras are very expensive.

Cranes in migration is a sight to behold.I recall seeing cranes in Istanbul Turkey in the early 1990s, circling and calling over the city. Also, in Jeddah, I saw cranesseveral times, where it is a stop on their route from Eurasia to Africa. Jeddah must be a conspicuous marker on the Red Sea coast, and among the Hijaz mountain range, and the deserts around it. They are seen over the al-Andalus district (Palestine Road), and the Old Airportarea. I have a video tape of them somewhere.

In Jeddah, you can live in apartments, or you can live in residential compounds(also called complexes, or sometimes: "camps"). Compounds offer a better life style, since there are often recreational facilities (swimming pool, tennis court, playground, shopping bus, school bus, ...etc.)Here is a list of some compounds in Jeddah, some are upmarket executivestyle, and some geared to professionals.

• Arabian Homes
• Mura Bustan
• Sharbatly Village
• Red Sea Housing

Do you like this site? Tell me why? Do you hate this site? Also why? What do you think about the layout? How about the content? How can this site be improved? All additions, corrections, and comments are welcome. Whether you are an ISP, an end user, a manager, or whatever, you can submit any new information or correction to existing information. E-mail to Khalid M. Baheyeldin, the author of this page at feedback page. Many readers of this site have expressed their thanks for the information included. Let me know what you think as well.

The information presented on this site is developed as a public service in the hope that it may be useful to those trying to get access to the internet in Saudi Arabia. This information is not intended to promote one ISP over the others, nor de-fame any of them.

This is my page on Saudi Arabia.

• Residential Compounds in Jeddah. Having lived in Jeddah for 11 years, this is a list of some residential compounds in Jeddah that most ex-patriates like to live in.
• Red Sea Treasures, Snorkeling, Spearfishing, and Coral Reefs.

The Red Sea is considered as a separate eco-system, being only connected at its southern end to the Indian ocean (that is until recently, a little over a century, when the Mediterranean Sea was connected to it by the Suez Canal.

This isolation, has caused the Red Sea to be unspoilt over the eons. Its corals are still in good shape compared to other regions of the world where human activities take their toll on the environment.