Saudi Arabia has been a travel destination for years, people visit the Arab country not only for religious pilgrimage but also of its beautiful sceneries. Aside from its historical wonders, Saudi Arabia offers a variety of recreational activities that tourist and locals can choose from.
Among the hundred parks in the Kingdom Saudi Arabia, the most famous can be found in the Asir Province. The Asir National park is famous not only to those who love to picnic, zoologist and botanist swarm the place for their study of the wildlife and plants. People can choose from different indoor activities like climbing the hills, pitching your tent for camping and many more outdoor activities that are suitable to families. The Asir National park is about 1.1 million hectares, while on the other hand the City of Riyadh boast 50 parks that tourist can choose from.
For families who want to spend time together, parks and picnic grounds can be found in the major cities of Saudi Arabia. Stretched in the coastal area of the Red Sea is the Corniche where visitors and locals can enjoy the beautiful coral reefs. Aside from its spectacular living reef, underwater explorations for those who love water sports are very popular in this area. Water skiing, surfing, snorkeling, diving and other water sports are among those famous recreational activities in the area.
Golf, introduced by the expatriates here are well loved sport. It can be recounted that the golf courses introduced by the American expatriates are sand mixed with oils. Although this is still being practiced today, they now have numerous golf courses that are comparable with those in the tropics with its cool green grass.
Other recreations include sports such as horse and camel racing which are centuries old. The Arabian horse has been known as the best horse breed and is still the most sought horse in the world. While the camel racings have improved through the years, it is still as famous as it has been when nomads races hundreds of horses in the desert. The camel racings now are done according to schedule in modern racetracks governed by rules. These recreations are very similar with those in its western counterpart but without the bets. The country governed by the Shari’a law does not permit any kind of gambling.
Falconry is also a very popular recreational activity in the area and this is also a century old game. Regulations have been put in place though unlike in the past to ensure that the game fowls are protected.
Another recreation that Arabs have taken into liking is the soccer sports. The modern sports have been enjoyed by the Saudis that a soccer league was formed. It was called the King’s Cup, championship tournament attended by all Saudi soccer fans.
Sports facilities are available in the cities of Saudi Arabia. Tourist and locals can enjoy sports like swimming, volleyball and basketball in the facilities called Sport Cities. These are established to encourage people to exercise regularly and get involved in sports.