Durrat Al-Arus
Durrat Al-Arus is an integrated tourist city on an artificial island built in 1996, situated some 40 kilometers north of Jeddah center (Saudi Arabia) in the old village "Dahaban", which is now a part of the Jeddah city. It includes schools, mosques, commercial centers, coffee shops, shisha cafés, hotels, resorts, a golf club, an equestrian club, an aqua park, theme parks, recreation parks and a yacht marina. The tourist village overlooks to the sea, with American construction styles for villas, apartments and the resorts, plus the high privacy of each residential unit. It is equipped with independent electric power and water plants, telephone and mobile networks, satellite TV channels, private security guard, and a small hospital. Durrat Al-Arus is considered a very liberal and open-minded village that is far away from Saudi Arabian traditions.
Although Durrat Al-Arus is still operated by the same company as during the start in 1996, a lot of the facilities are closed down, abandoned or sold to private investors. The Equestrian Club is closed, the golf course is abandoned including surrounding houses which are devastated nowadays. The Aqua Park has closed down as well, there is only one hotel left, no schools open, most houses and villas are sold to private investors who rent them out during holidays and weekends to Saudi families or Saudi groups. The Marina is open and in the weekends and very busy with night parties, music and restaurants. Commercial centres are limited to one supermarket and all sport clubs are closed down. Durrat Al-Arus is in 2014 awaiting revitalisation on a large scale, huge investments and a renewed future plan.
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Coordinates: 21°56′25″N 38°57′28″E / 21.94028°N 38.95778°E