Safe travelling in Saudi with a male friend?

Honestly, there will be some risk involved. If you get pulled over by the Mutawa which is the religious police, and with he is with the regular police, they can take you in. The rule that I have been briefed when I got into the country, is that you can never be accompanied by a male unless you are his wife, mother, sister or if the member of the opposite sex is your immediate family. The laws here are strict it applies to everybody including foreigners.

If you travel with a Saudi you need to understand how much influence he has if stopped. If none then you should really consider other options!

It's safe . i'm saudi and i do many things just we know how ,when and where . speciality who trust himself . nobody will ask u if u respect the rules . and also he can say u work for a company and he respons and arrange every thing for meeting or something like that if if anybody ask.. It's safe if he know what he can do .

If you run into a problem, if someone stops you and asks you to explain the relation between the two of you, "friend" is not gonna fly here. Its risky , while you have other options to travel to bahrain.

HR Guru is right, you get pull over the term" friend" will not fly here.  There has been an incident where I work where a foreigner was caught with another foreigner  of the opposite sex and they weren't even related. Sure enough he was gone in 24 hours and out of the country.

Take the Saptco VIP Bus.

Rules are strict. The best is to always consider the worst case scenario and see if you can afford it.

Juat saying someone is a driver isn't enough. He should be under yours or your sponsor's sponsorship.

never trust

The new rules in Saudi Arabia, the Mutawa can not stop you anymore!

But I prefer to use this companies for transportation, https://www.careem.com/ or https://www.uber.com

they have useful phone apps

come from Riyadh to Dammam by railway then take taxi to Bahrain its more safer for you

Hi
For a women in Saudi is very safe and I dont think you should worry

We also go to Bahrain for our VISA runs but we normally go on Thursday night and sleep over to have a few pints.

Keep in touch

ummm

Do you really need to go to Bahrein ?

you can go to THAMAMMAH   it's better   

Have fun guys

Base on personal experience when I used to live in Jeddah we used to travel to Taif from time to time and it  was fine with some of my US female friends but they usually ride in the back seat tho.

Do not worry, and those who want to go there it communicate with me, to spend quality time

Tell he's your office driver 

I think it all comes down to who the person your travelling with is I've never had a problem (been here 20 years in total) and the girl always has to sit in the front seat I'm not a chauffeur.

I'd avoid it if the guy doesn't look affluent enough to be able to dismiss any issues that arise.

As for the Muttawa they can't "bug you" anymore, not unless they have a policeman with them. So now it won't be a "cover your hair" issue, it'll be go to jail the old system at least had a bit of grace in it.

please inbox me, I will suggest you the best option to go to Bahrain. I know one group travels frequently for visa runs. thank you

Personally I wouldn't take the risk

Lady_in_riyadh wrote:

Hi Everyone,

I need to go to Bahrain regularly for boarder runs and I have a friend (Male, Saudi) who drives there and back regularly. I’m Irish (female) and wondering if it is safe to travel together? 

Friends have said that it should be fine if I’m in the back seat and if he says that he is just dropping me to the airport if stopped.

I’d like to get a few more opinions?

Thanks!

We been to Bahrain several times with western ladies, no one has bothered to check and last visit was couple of weeks ago. As long as long u don't mess with them they don't say anything.

i wouldnt take the risk... i believe its imprisonment and deportation if caught

I traveled to Bahrain with European male friends and luckily we did not have problem. I have never ride in a car with a Saudi male so I'm not really sure if it's really safe. Maybe you should go to Khobar or Dammam first by train or by VIP Saptco and from there I think it's okay.

Probably in public bus. but let me clear to you !!!

not on the same seats

yes i agree