Move to KSA

[Roamin Emperor]

Hi guys,
I'm looking at a ground opportunity with the national career (I can choose to be based in Riyadh or Jeddah), the offer is USD20,000 per month, plus accomodation, family insurance, flight benefits, some other bits and pieces. Just me and wife, no kids. Seems like a decent offer, and I'm likely to choose Jeddah because it's on the coast. We aren't into 'material' lifestyle, so expecting to save quite a bit. Just wanted to get some feedback about quality of life in Jeddah, been hearing good things about it in comparison to Riyadh.
Appreciate your responses.
RE

[mutt]

$20,000 per month for a ground job? Are you sure that it was SAR's?

For that type of money you will have to be based in Jeddah to provide them with a suitable ROI.

[space-shuttle-driver]

Riyadh sucks. Absolutely positively nothing there that would appeal to a Western eye. And way too hot in the summer and surprisingly cold during winter.
Jeddah is actually pleasant! Not too warm in the summer (saw a max of 38C this summer) and hardly ever less than 20C in the winter. Jeddah, on the coast? Anything related to what we Westerners know as sea-side pleasures are ''Haram'' (NO-GO) for the Saudis.
However, you can buy access to several beach resorts, there are one to two diving enters around which are active over weekends. There is one public beach, and if bourkinis are your fetish, this is the place to go! No sailing, powerboat or jests, though (although I've seen the odd jets on the creek near the airport).
We are lodged on Falastine street near the fountain, thats a modern area with plenty of restaurants. The historic old town of Jeddah is a UnescoWorld Cultural Heritage Site, very impressive for eyes, nose and ears and I discover new details each time I wander around there. It is perfectly OK to walk around in shorts (well, avoid those really short ones, unless it's for jogging) and flip-flops.
I do my jogging on ''the Corniche'', thats the main sea-side walking promenade, and I meet at least one other jogger each time. This is to say that the place is not like Central Park, but still, the locals leave you in peace and don't cause problems. Had some locals in their dish-dashas run with me for a couple of minutes the other day, we were making selfies of each other and all by-standers were amused of the scene. No need for your wife to cover the hair or to mask her face. Only have her wear an Abaya. Found a lively shisha bar serving tasty fresh juices. Uber works well and is dead cheap. The Saudis, in contrary to what you may think, are quite laid-back and even fun-loving. They are helpful, polite and soft, in clear contradiction to their UAE and other Arab brothers. Exception being the immigration officers at the airport, who are more pre-occupied chatting on WhatsApp with their wives (plural) than serving the large queues of incoming travellers. One real good thing in the KSA is that you won't need to worry about pickpockets.
PM me for some tips for Jeddah restaurants, and, once here, I could take you to two places serving alcohol (unless you are Muslim yourself, or you tend to bring-in your own home distillery). First thing to do when you arrive here is to download a prayer App, 'cause the whole nation shuts down 6 times a day for 30 minutes during prayer. But you already knew that, I'm sure.
Red Sea Mall is the main shopping mall in Jeddah, if that's what you like, the supermarket there has good fish and tasty lamb chops.
Traffic can be dense here and both locals and Pakistani/Bengali expat drivers don't exhibit any discipline whatsoever while driving.

[metro301]

Double check the currency of the salary. 20k "sar" sounds normal for ground/office positions.

20k "usd" is way more than senior captains are getting for their basic. VP level manager then possibly.

[777-Up]

KSA in this job market?; are you insane?

[lucille]

Avoid RUH like the plague. Its the epicenter of wahabi madness.

JED could be considered to be a different country - the people are really nice and easy going.

Quality of life in KSA is entirely dependent upon the compound that your employer will be housing you. They vary from third world slums to 5-star safe, healthy fun places to live. This is the single most important factor for you and your wife's happiness. Research carefully before going to KSA. Very,very carefully.

[Roamin Emperor]

Thanks everyone for your messages (particularly SS Driver). I've done my research, used to live in UAE (and travelled all around the Gulf, but never visited Saudi, hence the question). Salary is $20k USD, it is a senior mgmt role. I am pretty comfortable at home, wasn't looking, this came up thru a head-hunter. I haven't made up my mind yet, but thanks again for your inputs.

[mutt]

I'm surprised that such a senior role is offered in Riyadh as it is a regional office rather than the main office.
If you have a job that offers a similar salary with a long term future, then I would suggest that you stay there and from what we can see, the majority of "senior contractors" last about 1-2 years.
On the plus side, the housing offered to senior contractors is amazing.

[Roamin Emperor]

After careful consideration, we've decided to stay put. Too many "cons" for us and too many trade-offs for worse quality of life. Simple advice to those still looking: Money isn't everything, so be very clear about what you are looking for in ME. For us, it was an opportunity to have a temporary base to travel globally more frequently (we live in a remote part of the world now).
Again thanks to everyone who replied to me.
Adios
RE