What To Do At The Pearl Qatar

Any tourist to Qatar must make their way to The Pearl. The Pearl Qatar is a man made island located right off the coast of the capital city of Doha and it is quite amazing. It spans 4 square kilometers and has a ton of cool looking towers and residential complexes. We decided to go here for an afternoon and got an Uber from our hotel in West Bay Doha. This is the most convenient way to get to The Pearl and it costs less than $4. While there are 12 districts that are part of the island I’m just going to focus on 3 popular ones. Here is a short guide of some stuff to do at The Pearl Qatar.

Go to the beach

Yes, there is quite a nice beach in The Pearl and while it is a public beach, there are no clothing restrictions like the other public beach in Doha. So feel free to tan yourself in your bikini to your heart’s desire. There is also a restaurant on the east side of the beach where you can get food and drinks, as well as sunbeds for rent.

There are no lifeguards on duty, but the water is quite shallow and it is bordered with some breakers so the sea is quite calm. Perfect way to spend an afternoon.

The beach is located in the Qanat Qartier district of The Pearl Qatar which you’ll see a few more times in this article.

Walk around Qanat Qartier

This is my favorite district in The Pearl Qatar and you’ll be able to see why from just looking at a picture. The entire district is modeled after Venice, Italy complete with the canals. Normally I would think something like this is kitschy but for some reason I liked how they did it here. There are a ton of great cafes and restaurants and it really does feel quite a bit like Venice.

Near the back of Qanat Qartier is the public beach, and also a bunch of private villas. It amazes me how European this area looked as I was just walking down the canals and over the bridges.

Stroll La Croisette

La Croisette is a walking street that borders the main marina of The Pearl Qatar in the Porto Arabia district. There are tons of restaurants and cafes along this promenade, as well as high fashion houses. The entire marina is bordered by residential towers. If you are meeting friends in this area and don’t want to get lost, not to worry; all the towers numerically named starting with Tower 1 and going to Tower 31 in order.

Go Shopping In Medina Centrale

Medina Centrale is a mostly retail area with a few residential towers. There is over 600,000 sqm of retail space, and as the name suggests, it’s pretty much in the middle of The Pearl Qatar.

While this place has stuff for everyone, they really excel at the high fashion brands. If you like shopping for luxury French and Italian fashion then this is the place to go. The buildings are in a mainly Mediterranean theme, which reminded Cody quite a bit of his university dorm building back in Southern California. I guess that means their definition of “Mediterranean” has something to be considered.

However, the area can be quite lively with both Qatari and International visitors, and you can definitely do some power shopping here. That being said, if you want high fashion, many of the same shops can also be found in Porto Arabia so you have your pick of where to go.

Get Authentic Mexican Food

Ok this may not be high on most travelers lists, but it was important to me. After spending a month in Spain and being disappointed in their churros (yes, Mexicans do it better) it was so nice to find an authentic place here in Qatar.

Viva Mexico is located in the Qanat Qartier (the Venetian themed place) and was started by a Mexican chef and his wife. The food is delicious, but even more important, they have perfect churros! If you follow me at all you’ll know how much of a churro-nut I am, to the point where I want Cody to get a machine and make them for me (he can put it on his food website, so maybe I can convince him it is for content creation). This place has churros that rival the freshly fried churros I had when I was in Playa del Carmen.

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What To Do At The Pearl Qatar