How safe is Qatar for travelers?

Crime

• Qatar is one of the safest countries in the world and street crime against visitors is close to nonexistent.
• Walking alone at night is normal, including for women, in a way it is not in most capitals.
• Petty theft happens in the souq and at the beach and is the whole of the realistic risk.
• Do not leave valuables in a car. The exception, not the rule.

The laws that actually catch tourists

This is the section that matters. Nothing here is exotic behaviour; it is ordinary conduct that is criminal in Qatar.

• Vaping and e-cigarettes are illegal, to import and to use. Devices are confiscated at the airport, and using one in public can mean arrest and deportation.
• Photographing or filming people without consent carries imprisonment or a fine up to QAR 100,000. This includes a stranger in the background of a video.
• Swearing, rude gestures, loud music and dancing in public are treated as obscene acts, punishable by jail or deportation.
• Being drunk in public is an offence - up to 6 months imprisonment or a QAR 3,000 fine - even though drinking in a licensed hotel bar is not.
• Public affection between any couple risks arrest.
• Drugs are zero tolerance, and airport scanning is thorough, transit passengers included.
• Dress modestly: shoulders and knees covered in public, strictly so in government buildings, hospitals and banks.

During Ramadan

• Do not eat, drink, smoke or chew gum in public during daylight, including in a car.
• No loud music or dancing.
• Driving just before sunset is genuinely dangerous as everyone hurries home to break the fast.
• Iftar is the best eating of the year and visitors are welcome at it.

Heat, which is a safety issue

• Summer runs past 45 degrees with high humidity, and the sea is too warm to cool you down.
• Heat exhaustion is the commonest visitor medical problem. When someone stops sweating, that is the emergency.
• Plan the outdoors for early morning and after dark, and the middle of the day indoors.
• Drink far more water than you think you need, and carry it.

Roads and the sea

• Traffic is the real physical danger here. See the transport section.
• Sandstorms close roads and ground flights with little warning, mostly in spring.
• Swimming off unsupervised beaches carries currents and, in summer, jellyfish.