Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Sights & Activities
The Al-Hudayda
fish market
( 6am-noon)
, 2km southeast of the centre of town, is a slip-
pery and smelly must-see that's frenetic, cocky and fun. Come early in the morning to
watch the day's catch being unloaded in front of a hectic, seagull-like mob of buyers and
sellers. The daily trawl nets everything from plump prawns and glistening groupers to
huge hammerhead sharks. In fact, Al-Hudayda is one of the biggest shark fishing ports in
the world and the local shark population is being utterly decimated. The majority of
sharks are caught just for their fins which supply the shark fin soup market in China. The
traditional dhow boats are also very photogenic. The old and, it must be said, decrepit
Turkish quarter is another possible sight, as are the nearby
souqs
.
Maybe the best way to pass an afternoon in Al-Hudayda is to do as the locals do: buy
an ice cream and stroll along the
seafront corniche
(look out for Ottoman and Southeast
Asian-influenced buildings) or laze about with a book in one of the town's parks.
One kilometre south of the fish market is the main
town beach
. It's certainly not a place
for a foreign tourist to go for a swim, but its muddy sands are packed with holidaying Ye-
meni families eating ice creams, taking camels rides and bobbing about in the waves in in-
flatable rings - the women whilst fully veiled.
Sleeping
There's plenty of accommodation in Al-Hudayda, but none of it really represents value for
money. Be warned that in the past Al-Hudayda got very busy during Yemeni holidays and
all hotels tripled their prices. At such times unless you've reserved in advance then you've
almost no chance of finding a bed.
In the past some of the better places to stay were the budget
Hotel Darcum
OFFLINE MAP
Hotel
OFFLINE MAP
GOOGLE MAP
(off the Corniche)
.
Eating
As with all large Yemeni towns there are plenty of places to eat including the central
Al-
which was renowned far and wide for its prawn dishes.
