Between Umluj and Al Wajh, Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast breaks into a lagoon of more than ninety islands, a stretch of water that saw almost no visitors until a few years ago. Since Red Sea International Airport opened in 2023, resorts have arrived one by one: Six Senses Southern Dunes among the dunes inland, Shebara on Sheybarah Island, Nujuma, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve, among the islands of the lagoon. A coast this new has not yet settled into habits of dress, which is exactly why linen for the Red Sea deserves some thought before the suitcase closes.

From November to March the region is at its most temperate. Days typically sit in the mid to high twenties Celsius, the sea stays warm enough to swim through the winter, and the air is dry. The difference between noon and night is narrow on the islands and wider inland, where the desert gives up its heat quickly once the sun has gone.

Saudi Arabia asks visitors for modest dress in public places: shoulders and knees covered, for men and for women, with loose cuts preferred to close ones. On the resort islands the rules relax and swimwear belongs at the pool and the beach. The transfer by road, a coffee stop in Umluj or a walk through Al Wajh still call for long sleeves or long trousers. The wardrobe for this coast therefore has two registers, and the garments that move easily between them are the ones worth packing.

For men, the Laos Long Sleeve Linen Shirt in Beige Cream or Oyster carries the public part of the day: sleeves down at the airport and in town, turned back once the boat leaves the jetty. PP Casual Linen Trousers in Sapphire Blue keep the knee covered without adding heat. On the islands, the Cuba Linen Shirt in Lemon Yellow over PP linen shorts in White belongs to the hours on land. At the water, PP natural swim shorts take over, cut in 100% Belgian linen and quick to return to the lounger.

For women, the PP linen blouse in Sky Blue, worn with long, loose trousers, covers the drive and the town without feeling heavy. The Amelia linen dress shirt belongs to the resort side of the trip: thigh length, worn as a dress, for lunch beside the lagoon or a late table on a deck over the water. In Violet or Hibiscus, both certified Belgian linen, it holds its own against a sea of this colour. The women's pieces sit together in the women's linen collection.

Inland, at Six Senses Southern Dunes, the light turns from turquoise to ochre and the evening becomes the coolest hour of the day. Here a Bliss Linen Shirt in Dark Blue, long sleeved and buttoned to the collar, answers the drop in temperature after sunset without the stiffness of a jacket. The broader case for natural cloth in dry heat is made in linen for desert stays; the same logic applies among these sandstone outcrops.

The nearest boutiques carrying the PP collection are in Dubai: Park Hyatt Dubai and The Lagoon Beach Club on Dubai Creek, Surf Club Dubai and Sofitel The Palm Beach Resort on the Palm Jumeirah. Others are in Greece, Italy and Puerto Rico. For anyone routing through the Emirates on the way to the coast, Dubai is where the cloth can be held before it is worn.

The wider Kingdom has its own pages in the Journal: linen across Saudi Arabia for the cities, and what to wear on the Red Sea for a day-by-day wardrobe of the coast. Further north, the shoreline of Neom follows the same water toward the Gulf of Aqaba.

Read more: Linen in Jeddah  ·  Linen in Dubai