Michael and I packed up the doggies and headed for Zekreet Beach. This area a popular spot for camping and go-to spot on the weekends.
This was an adventure for sure! This was one of those “off the grid” locations that only locals know about. There is no signage on how to get there.
Yes, you can find it on Google Maps…as Zekreet North Beach. but you need a 4 wheel drive vehicle to get there. Our Nissan X-Trail was not. We could have kept driving, but the terrain was not fit for our city styled crossover.
This was a drive west, along Dukhan Highway to the Zekreet exit. We followed the sign that directed us to the only road to Zekreet. We drove past an inlet popular for kitesurfing and kept going…. and going…to the end of the road. A dead end road surrounded by huts in bad disrepair. Thankfully, two cars were behind us, who lulled ahead of us and suddenly disappeared down a small, difficult to see side road. We followed. This opened up to the shoreline of Zekreet.
And we were off…..driving and driving and driving on a road made from use and difficult to see as it blended in with the desert. We eventually drove past the two cars we followed (that had joined others parked along the shore) to beach for the day at a nice little beach along the way.
If you’ve never been to Qatar – the entire coastline of the small desert peninsula is a beach because the terrain is basically sand! You could drive in any direction, well except south to the border of Saudi Arabia, and will arrive at the sandy shores of the Persian Gulf!
According to Google Maps we were headed in the right direction to Zekreet North Beach. But, because of the desert terrain, with temperatures holding between 37˚ and 39˚ Celcius, I didn’t want to venture into the unknown in case of a flat tire or something happened to the car. I didn’t know what was ahead.
So at 11:30am we found our own spot – not far from the other cars we passed. We pitched our beach chairs, laid out the beach mat, poured water for the dogs and settled in. Marlow and Pooh Bear found respite from the blazing mid-morning sun, in the shade under the car. As well, we took them into the sea and soaked them down to cool off.
And it was hot. Blazing hot. Not yet at the hot where the sand literally burns the soles of your feet, hot. But getting there. Looking along the shoreline, in the direction towards the Google Maps location of the beach, there wasn’t much sign of life. But, as we beached, large Chevy trucks pulling camping trailers drove out from behind one of the rock formations, sitting in the direction of the unknown. This was a good sign that there is life ahead and a road that may lead to Zekreet Beach after all!
We could see Bahrain’s, Hawar Island as we relaxed. Arabic music could be heard from a campsite near us. The water was beautiful, shallow at our spot and the footing a bit rocky in parts. After a few hours, the blazing sun became a bit much for both of us and the dogs, so we packed it up and headed back home to Doha, driving through a mild sandstorm along the way.
S, 🇶🇦
