Waypoint Journeys Presents
Totality on the Red Sea · Al-Balad, the Corniche & Taif
3 Days · August 1 – August 3, 2027
About Six Minutes of Darkness Over the Hejaz Coast
We reply within 24 hours
On August 2, 2027, the Moon’s shadow crosses the Red Sea from Egypt and comes ashore over Jeddah. The coast just south of the city gets about six minutes of totality, close to the longest on land anywhere on the path, and Saudi Arabia’s first total eclipse in decades falls under the dependable clear skies of a Hejaz summer.
The trip is three days from one hotel. The first afternoon is Al-Balad, the old merchant town of coral-stone houses and carved wooden balconies, then the Corniche at dusk. Eclipse day is built around an early-afternoon totality at a site scouted close to the centre line. The last day climbs the escarpment to Taif, the cool mountain city Jeddah escapes to every summer.
It runs as a fixed departure, August 1 to 3, with a maximum of five guests, a licensed guide and private vehicle throughout, and two hotel nights with breakfast. Jeddah is well connected by air, so it slots in easily on its own or alongside other travel in the region.
"Pilgrims came through Jeddah’s gates for a thousand years. In 2027 the sun goes out above them."
The shadow crosses the Red Sea coast with some of the longest totality on land anywhere on the 2027 path: about six minutes near Jeddah. We set up at a scouted site close to the centre line, well before first contact, and stay to last.
Totality falls in the early afternoon, so the morning is free and the drive is short. Time on site for tripods, rigs and solar filters, vehicle power in the field, and the evening after kept free.
Jeddah’s UNESCO-listed old town: coral-stone tower houses with carved wooden roshan balconies, Nasseef House, and the souks around Bab Makkah that pilgrims have passed through for centuries.
The Red Sea front at sunset: King Fahd’s Fountain throwing water some 300 metres into the air, and the Al-Rahma Mosque standing on piles over the sea.
A day up the Hejaz escarpment to Taif, the mountain city at about 1,800 metres where Jeddah has always gone to escape the summer: the Al Hada viewpoint, cooler air and the old souk.
Three days, two nights, one base. Jeddah has direct flights from Europe, the Gulf and Asia, so the trip fits around a long weekend, or after another eclipse-week trip in the region.
Three days from one Jeddah base: the old town, totality on day two, and the mountains at Taif.
Jeddah and Taif
Two nights in Jeddah for Al-Balad, the Corniche and the eclipse on the coast to the south, then a day up the escarpment to Taif before the flight home.
Meet on arrival at King Abdulaziz International Airport and transfer to the hotel. In the late afternoon, as the heat eases, Al-Balad, the UNESCO-listed old town: coral-stone houses with carved wooden roshan balconies, Nasseef House, and the souks around Bab Makkah. Then the Corniche at dusk, with King Fahd’s Fountain and the Al-Rahma Mosque over the water. Night in Jeddah.
Monday, August 2. A slow morning and an early lunch, then the drive to a site scouted on the coastal plain south of Jeddah, close to the centre line and chosen for an open horizon. Hours on location to set up; then the whole event, first contact to last, with about six minutes of totality in the early afternoon. Back to Jeddah with the evening free.
An early start up the escarpment on the highway that loops around Mecca, to Taif at about 1,800 metres and ten degrees cooler than the coast. The Al Hada viewpoint over the mountains, the old souk and a late lunch in town, then back down to Jeddah for the transfer to the airport and your evening flight home.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Expedition Investment
per person, twin share, including hotels
Included
Excludes international flights, the Saudi tourist eVisa, travel insurance, lunches and dinners, and tips. Fixed departure, maximum five guests: one departure, five seats, a date that cannot move.
Reserve Your SpotJeddah is a large, modern and orderly city, and this trip stays on its main roads, the old town and the highway to Taif. We run licensed guides and drivers, keep August hours (late-afternoon sightseeing, air-conditioned transport, water in hand) and brief you on local norms for dress and photography before you arrive. Eclipse day runs on a scouted site with an easy road back. Our team monitors conditions continuously, and you travel with 24/7 support from booking to boarding.
