Bahrain for our new home

Hello there and welcome to the forum.

Bahrain has a lot to offer, with its shopping malls and quality restaurants; one can find many things to do in Bahrain when they are on their own. The only thing I dearly miss in Bahrain is to be able to walk around outside, but unfortunately there aren't many places in Bahrain you can do that.

I am not in a position to share my opinion about medical care for your little ones as I do not have any myself. However, for my personal care, I have to say I am impressed by the efficiency of the service (again, I may have been lucky so far but all in all I took 4 trips to the hospital in the last 16 months and was pleased with the outcome).

My favourite thing to do in Bahrain is to meet with my mates and go to bars and cinemas. Some expat clubs are also nice to visit every now and then. Depending on where you stay, even wandering around the neighbourhood can be nice (excluding certain areas such as most of Saar region is not very nice to walk around due to random protests and the smell of tear gas). I am not a big shopping mall person (I used to be but there are too many shopping malls in Bahrain, I guess I got bored off them).

I guess the least favourite thing about living in Bahrain is the heat and humidity in the summer months. Sometimes it can be unbearable.

Let us know if there is anything else I can help you with.

Thank you! That is an awesome summary and a great one for my husband to read. You have written so many of the helpful blog posts and guides as well, you are really great. Thank you.

Oh cheers for the nice words. Much appreciated. There are many helpful members in this forum. I think a combination of us makes this forum a great place to get help.

Hi and welcome to the forum

I live in Saar and have a dog so I walk around the area a lot.

Brightonguy has got that little bit of information wrong - the "trouble" in Saar is only in one small village which we all avoid and the rest of Saar is absolutely fine. I know as I live here. Brightonguy lives in Seef.

There is 10 pin bowling, ice skating, wildlife park, national museum, science museum, cinema, expat clubs (which have kiddy summer camps etc) Outdoor water park, indoor water park and most malls have a big kiddies play area with rides etc

brightonguy wrote:

...(excluding certain areas such as most of Saar region is not very nice to walk around due to random protests and the smell of tear gas)...

Hello Jo. I didn't say it's not safe. I said it's not nice to walk around. Even though the living area may be nice, but getting in and out of Saar during trouble days can be troublesome you know (remember the jacuzzi, or the burning rubbish bin in the middle of the road which 'conveniently' converted itself to a roundabout for a bit? ) Once you settle here, you know it's not an issue to live in Saar but seeing an area like a war-zone on Budaiya Highway on your way to home from work as the first impression of Bahrain is not something that everyone can appreciate.

A lot of people live in Saar but they are mostly commuters to Saudi Arabia due to its close proximity to the causeway. Majority of Bahrain residents / workers prefer to live in areas such as Manama, Adliya, Juffair, Seef, Amwaj etc. It's all about personal preferences. If you are up for massive villas and compounds, then Saar and surrounding areas are for you. If you want more life nearby where you live (restaurants, bars etc.), then I guess Saar is not the most sought after place in Bahrain in my humble opinion.

I don't go anywhere near Sar crossroads in either property I have lived in which are both on different sides of Sar with the village inbetween.

There are lots of back roads to take and the highways are very close.

Not all villa's here are huge, we have lots of small villa's, apartment blocks etc.

We are very close to St Christophers Junior school and we have Saar cinema, Dilmun Club, Rugby Club, Saar Mall, The Mall opposite St Christophers school. 2 horse riding stables etc

We are 10 mins away from the nightlife but as someone who despises clubs I like living somewhere very peaceful and not being too far from anywhere that I want to go to.

You are really the only person I know who calls Saar "very peaceful"

Considering the major malls in Bahrain such as City Centre Mall and Seef Mall, Saar Mall is very small.

10 minutes away on a good day I'd say. On a Thursday night, I challenge you to go to Adliya for a nice dinner in 10 minutes. Just parking in Adliya takes more than that

Saar is peaceful, don't know how you can comment as you don't live here.

One small area is unpeaceful.

I know lots of families here who say it is peaceful. With being so close to the causeway and the new flyovers that have been built we can get to Adliya in 20 mins. My nightlife is the Dilmun Club :-)

Yes Saar Mall is small but it has enough for us not to have to travel into Seef everytime we want something. Brand new Geant Easy and a really good pharmacy which covers every day basic needs reducing the need to travel like we used to

I comment because I know the area. Don't need to live in Moscow to say it's a cold city I have also travelled to your place and my other friends' places many times so I have a good visibility of the place.

Anyway, personal opinions differ. Let's hope for the best for Lleela.

Ha ha, you two are cracking me up! Brightonguy, Saar (well our part anyway) is very peaceful, come out and stay at my place and experience the outer suburbs, we're classy:D.

lleela, I'm from Melbourne and I think your husband will really like it here, the heat is pretty intense but everything is air conditioned so you can minimise your exposure. Overall, I think Saar is great for families and the inner city area's are great for young good looking trendy people like brightonguy!

Thanks everyone. I love reading people so passionate about where they live. I will consider all your comments carefully (as much as I would love to call ourselves the 'young good looking types' haha) we will consider Saar as well as the areas closer to hubby's work. We think he will be around the airport from information from the employer.

Welcome to the forum

Silver356 - you summed that up pretty well   Saar is fine as long as you stay away from Ashtray Corner.

The point is, I think, that it all depends on where your kids will go to school/nursery and what you want as a family. As we keep saying on here - your husband can travel - you will want to be near other families when you have young children.

We live in Janabiya, a small village (very close to Saar) and love it and as Brightonguy will tell you there are some beautiful compounds with fabulous sea views nearby - just visited one today

I hate to think of myself as old - but compared to Brightonguy I most definitely am - but when we want a bit of nightlife its really not that far away.

We love the sunshine, the swimming, the people (Bahraini and expat) and the new experiences we encounter everyday - even the bad ones!  The crazy driving is the worst thing but nowhere is paradise!  What do I miss about the UK - honestly, seriously - nothing whatsoever.

Medical care is good.  I have 3 kids and can say that we rarely go to the doctors but if you do need to they are generally good.  My eldest needed an operation for a broken bone and it was fantastic care.

I am going to add to the confusion -

Don't listen to either of them. Live in Riffa, the safest, coolest place in Bahrain. No troubles, rubble, temporary roundabouts . It is suitable for families and the young good looking trendy types.

You will have plenty of things to do here. The real issue is will you have enough time to do everything.

I too have a good experience with the medical professionals and facilities here. My GP is a fine gentleman. And the specialists I have seen for various problems have been very good. I even got a knee fixed here in Bahrain. Bahrain also has lots of alternative medicine options, such as Ayurveda treatment, acupuncture ... even homeopathy!

brightonguy made an effort to get people to say what they liked most about Bahrain. There were not too many responses. Here's the link anyway: https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=284502

I still think the short driving times are one of the best things in Bahrain. Least favourite thing - the 10 minute delay when there is a traffic jam. Adds an extra 33% to my usual driving time.

Welcome to Bahrain Forum and to Bahrain soon.

Riffa may be too far from the airport although I must agree it is beautiful.

Forgot to mention healthcare. In Saar we have the American Mission Hospital - they operated on my son's shoulder and saved my husbands eyesight when he got acid in his eyes.

When you get here, have a really good drive around and look at all the options and you will then make the right choice.

Bad Points in Bahrain - The driving

Miss about UK - Nothing

Just adding another point of view, so that you have a long list of places to check out when you move We live in Amwaj which really is quite close to the airport (around 5 mins by car) and a 20-25 mins driving from Juffair, Adlyia and Seef. We were not very concerned about having to drive to get to these places, since we were used to daily commuting in London!
It's a beautiful place, close to the see (it's a complex of man-made islands), with a restaurant area, 2 supermarkets (Alosra and Waitrose) and another one not too far away (Luu), an Hotel and a school..
There is a security check at the entrance of Amwaj and if you live in Tala, as we do, there is another security check, so it is perfectly safe. Tala itself has a very nice community feeling: there is a shared pool area, great for both adults and kids, kids' park, a 24 hours supermarket, laundry service, a very good restaurant, take away, etc. The must for me is that each building has beach access, so it's great if you like water sports. I just had to take a look at the beautiful swimming pool and beach to decide I wanted to live in Tala, so it may happen the same to you.

Also Meena 7 and Zawia towers are quite popular in Amwaj.

Hope this helps!

Agree with ilamazzy, I think you would love Amwaj and if you don't need senior school for your kids yet it would be perfect.

Just to clarify, I am not passionate about any place in Bahrain. The main reason I live in Seef because it's next to my office - the same reason many people choose Saar because it is very close to the causeway to Saudi Arabia. I was gonna recommend Amwaj right after I saw your post about your hubby working near the airport but someone else has done it already.

Amwaj has some lovely flats and villas. Although the room sizes are a bit smaller compared to the ones you get elsewhere, it's still amazing compared to the room sizes in the UK. My current living room is bigger than some 2 bed flats in the UK.

Living close to where your hubby works is probably a wise decision to make. Although the island is small, you still get rush hour traffic every now and then, which is the last thing you want to see after working all day.

Come over here and see as many properties as possible. Check Bahrain Property World online and see some photos of properties. This will help you making a decision.

Amwaj sounds great and I will add it to the list. We aren't too worried about house size, we live in a small house in Brisbane, so I am sure a rental will be the same or bigger (bonus!). I have looked through a lot of rentals on websites and love that most have such great facilities for entertaining kids. We live 5 minutes from the beach here, so beach access would be awesome.

This is me being completely nosey... what is that area off to the top left? A road to a big non-descriptive area on Google Maps always gets my curiosity going https://maps.google.com.au/maps?q=amwaj … 8&t=m&z=14

lleela wrote:

This is me being completely nosey... what is that area off to the top left? A road to a big non-descriptive area on Google Maps always gets my curiosity going https://maps.google.com.au/maps?q=amwaj … 8&t=m&z=14

That's Diyar Al Muharraq, a proposed development. Here is the link to their website: http://www.diyar.bh/

Thanks! That will be amazing.

brightonguy wrote:

I comment because I know the area. Don't need to live in Moscow to say it's a cold city I have also travelled to your place and my other friends' places many times so I have a good visibility of the place.

Anyway, personal opinions differ. Let's hope for the best for Lleela.

Ha! Moscow is cold? Really? I would know - I live there! There were actually a few snow flakes yesterday morning. Before yesterday there were only 3 months of the year that I had never seen snow. They were July, August, and September. Now it is down to just two months that I've not seen it.

As we look at a move to Bahrain also, I take great interest in threads like this. I agree with brightonguy. It is all a matter of personal preference. When I visited recently I didn't really like the feel of Saar. Being a big city person, I much more liked places like Juffair and Amwaj. They felt much more comfortable to me. It is all about what feels right to you I guess.

Farhaz might be biased, but he is also right. Riffa Views is very nice. And not just because you could have him as a neighbor! But again, it would not appeal to everyone.

I know this is old, but I just wanted to post another thank you for all your help! My husband actually ended up with a contract in Kuwait instead of the Bahrain as thought and we are moving there in a months time.

Hope you are all well!
L

Congrats Ileela! I have heard that Kuwait is a little cooler and less humid than Bahrain. I'm sure you will enjoy your time there and Bahrain is so close you could pop over for the weekend.

Thanks for writing and letting us know of your progress.
Congratulations to you both on the Kuwait assignment.