Before oil, the Gulf lived on pearls. For centuries the shallow waters off Bahrain and the nearby coasts were dotted with oyster beds, called hayr in Arabic, and every summer fleets of wooden dhows sailed out to dive for them, with men holding their breath, a peg on their nose and a stone to sink them. A good season could make a merchant rich, but a diver's life was hard, with debts, disease and danger from sharks. The pearls from this sea were prized from India to Europe, until the 1930s, when the Japanese learned to culture pearls and the old market collapsed.
Hayr Bū ʿAmāmah is one of these oyster banks, and it is part of the UNESCO listing of 2012, the Pearling Testimony, an Island Economy, which also includes the old merchants' houses in Muharraq and a stretch of waterfront. The oyster beds lie offshore, in water a few metres to a dozen deep, and nothing marks them but the sea and the experience of the captains who know them.
The riding is on land, and it is easy. Bahrain is a small island linked to the mainland of Saudi Arabia by the King Fahd Causeway, and its roads are smooth, wide and well lit, with fast highways, roundabouts and a lot of traffic in the cities. Fuel is cheap and plentiful. Muharraq, the old pearling town, is a pleasure to walk, with narrow lanes, wind towers, courtyard houses and cafes where men play dominoes and drink tea with cardamom.
The best months run from November to March, when the days are warm and the sea breeze is mild. Summers are punishingly hot and humid, above forty degrees. Take a dhow trip if you can, and try the local dish of machboos, spiced rice with fish or lamb, and a glass of fresh juice from a street stall. Mind your documents at the causeway, since the border between the two countries has its own rules, with a visa, vehicle paperwork and insurance for riders.