After many days of discussion finally me, Javaid and Ameen got agreed to have a BBQ party with our families on 29th of Nov 2019, however, Ameen could not join us because his family had already gone to India on vacation. Next hurdle was to select the venue for BBQ party because of recent ban on BBQ and Sheesha at public places in Saudi Arabia. We had 3 options for the party, first to have it at Hidden Canyon which we visited last year and already knew that the place is not usually crowded but another issue with it was the unavailability of facilities there. In addition that the place itself is not safe to stay with families after sunset, there’re no public rest rooms and street lights at Hidden Canyon. 2nd option was Wadi e Hanifa which we initially selected for the party but my other friends told me not to have BBQ party at Wadi e Hanifa due to recent ban. Finally, we selected Al Ha’ir Lakes and Parks as our venue. I read all the reviews about the place on google and had perception from the reviews that this place would not be good or well organized. Another reason for that perception was that Al Ha’ir Lakes & Parks are almost unknown for Riyadienz.
Preparing ourselves for any misfortune about the place, me and Javaid got agreed that we’ll reach there around 02:30 pm. It’s only around 30 mins journey from my home to Al Ha’ir Parks and only around 10 mins away from Javaid’s place as he is living in Al Ha’ir.
First pleasant surprise was the huge number of cars we saw on the way to park after taking the last right exit to Agricultural Road. I thought that it would be uncrowded place but a lot of people were going there with their families mainly from Al Ha’ir. After covering around 2 kms distance the place itself made us surprise as it was very big, beautiful, and park’s services roads had street poles. Another good thing which made the place safe and secure was Police vans patrolling different areas of park continuously. The scenery of the lake from road was astonishing. However, police patrolling vans gave us confidence that the place is safe and secure; we were hesitant to do BBQ to avoid any kind of fines. After touring few kms within the parks we found that a lot of people were already enjoying there live BBQ there with their families. Finally, we selected a spot near the lake and started our party and stayed there until 6 pm. A lot of families were still sitting there and enjoying the calmness of lake and beautiful clear sky with Moon and StarsHowever, the park was very beautiful; some of the facilities are still not available or might be available in other side of the park like public toilets. We might find these facilities soon there because a lot of developmental work was going on.
Tips: If you are planning to visit the park specially for the BBQ, keep all the necessary items with you. Also keep some snacks and plenty of water as there were no shops near the park. Keep your kids toys and even bicycle if you have plan to visit with your kids. If you want to stay there after sunset, keep mosquito repellent with you.
Location: Click here for the location
SAUDI DESTINATIONS 