Plan a road trip from Dubai to Saudi Arabia

11 Most useful road trip checklist or tips to travel from Dubai to Saudi Arabia by road.

Visa

Saudi Tourist Visa https://visa.visitsaudi.com/Login

Mandatory Car insurance

Add GCC Coverage for own car damage
- AXA GCC Coverage
  1. Own vehicle only
  1. Offroad coverage – Not covered
  1. Emergency roadside assistance Axa Saudi 8001160020
- RSA GCC Coverage
  1. Own vehicle only
  1. Offroad coverage – Not covered
  1. Emergency roadside assistance – Not covered

2. Purchase 3rd party car insurance at the Saudi border

Carnet

Carnet – go to Emirates Motorsports Org to register 920aed which includes 500aed as deposit
1. 107 Al Wuheida St – Deira – Dubai
1. 04 296 1122
1. https://goo.gl/maps/Lm5UwhYmC72ak3Qk9

Tourism Certificate

Go to AG Cars (RTA) near Emirates Motorsports Org and get the Tourism Certificate – 170aed

Bank NOC

Get a NOC from the bank if your car is financed.

Medical Insurance

Confirm medical coverage in Saudi and the process to make a claim or emergencies.

Cash in Hand

Get 3000 SAR in cash. *During the Trip.

Vaccination

Within 72 hours of your arrival in Saudi – Vaccinated Traveler registration https://muqeem.sa/#/vaccine-registration/register-visitor?type=VaccinatedVisitor

Original vaccine certificate attested – *The Al Hosn PDF with the UAE digital seal is accepted*

PCR Test

Get a PCR test – Must be within 72 hours of arrival in Saudi Check for updates https://www.visitsaudi.com/en/covid-19-information-page

Tawakkalna (PCR – Saudi App)

Download and register the Tawakkalna application before arriving at the point of departure. https://ta.sdaia.gov.sa/en/index To use Tawakkalna in Saudi you will need phone and data services on your cellphone. *This is like the Al Hosn app, you need to show this everywhere you go. **The app may only be accessible in Saudi and may give you an error while trying to update the information outside of KSA.

Mobile Internet

Mobile data – local SIMs are about 100 SAR for 10GB of data for 1 month. *Keep in mind you will need data to get the Tawakkalna app updated with your vaccine and PCR info after crossing the border so you may need to buy a roaming data pack to start with. So plan accordingly.

Document Checklist

Print – Vaccination certificate
Print – Saudi Visas
Print – PCR results
Print – Medical insurance cards
Print – Car insurance
Print – Car insurance – GCC Coverage
PACK and Print – Passport
Print – UAE residency visa
PACK – Carnet and Tourism Certificate
Find and print – Canadian embassy in Saudi info

During the Trip

Cash – Bring enough cash as most gas stations don’t accept Visa or MC.
Fuel – Use 95 gas when available as 91 in Saudi is not high quality and can cause engine issues.
- Bring a bottle of Liqui Moly injector cleaner as this helped clean the fuel system.
Driving – be careful as there are a lot of aggressive drivers on the highway and in the cities.
- Highways don’t have street lights at night so be prepared and aware.
- Cars will overtake on the hard shoulder to be careful.
- Speed limit buffers:
  - 10% of the speed limit is the buffer speed on the road with a speed limit of 120km/h or less
  - 4km/h is the speed limit buffer on roads with a speed limit of 140km/h or higher.
Mobile Data – Mobily coverage was not that great in the desert. Someone suggested to go with STC for better coverage. *SIM cards were purchased at a store in Al Hofuf.
Dress code – You can wear shorts and tshirts in most of Saudi, but some malls may require pants and and long-sleeved shirts for ladies. Be prepared and pack convertible pants/shorts and ladies can bring an abaya to put over top.
Language – It is highly advisable to have an Arabic speaker in your group if you are planning to go into smaller towns and villages as not a lot of people speak English. Hindi/Urdu can be helpful if you need services as there are a lot of Indian/Pakistani expats working in Saudi.
Supplies and Equipment:
- Lots of hypermarkets in the large cities, smaller towns will just have small grocery stores.
- Al Rimaya has a lot of camping gear and even carries ARB suspension
- Al Sanidi is the Ikea of camping gear in Saudi.

Return Back to the UAE

PCR Test – a negative PCR test within the past 48hrs is required to re-enter the UAE. We used Smartlab in Riyadh.
1. If you get the PCR test at night, the results should be there by morning if you select the 12 hour option.
1. If you have a Saudi SIM and mobile number then you can receive the SMS with download link.
1. PRINT your test results as UAE immigration will want to see this.