How to Make Friends as an Expat in Doha
Nobody warns you about the loneliness. You’ve done the research on salaries, sorted out your QID, found an apartment, and figured out which supermarket has the best produce. And then about six weeks in, you realize that you’ve been having the same three conversations with colleagues all week and you haven’t made a single genuine friend.
Making friends as an adult is hard anywhere. Making friends as an expat in a city where most people are also expats, where social circles are already formed, where the population turns over constantly, and where the cultural landscape is genuinely unfamiliar is harder than most people expect. I went through it. Almost every long-term expat I know went through it. The ones who eventually built rich social lives in Doha did specific things that worked. The ones who never cracked it generally didn’t.
This guide is the honest, practical resource I wish had existed when I arrived. It covers why Doha is both easier and harder than other cities for expat social life, where the genuine opportunities to meet people are, how different approaches work for different personality types and life situations, the apps and communities that actually deliver versus the ones that don’t, and the realistic timeline for building a social life that feels like home.
Why Doha Is Both Easier and Harder Than You Expect
Understanding Doha’s specific social dynamics saves you from applying the wrong mental model to your situation.
Why it should be easier: Almost everyone in Doha is an expat. Roughly 88% of Qatar’s population was not born here. The vast majority of people you meet are in the same fundamental position: they moved here from somewhere else, they left their existing social networks behind, and they need to build new ones. This shared condition creates an openness to new connections that doesn’t exist in cities where most people have lifelong friends and don’t need more.
In London or New York, approaching someone you’ve just met at a social event and suggesting you meet for coffee is mildly forward. In Doha, it’s completely normal and usually welcomed. The social contract around new friendship formation is fundamentally more open here than in most established cities.
Why it’s harder: Doha’s expat population has a high turnover rate. The average expat stay in Qatar is somewhere between two and four years, which means a significant proportion of the people you meet are either on their way in (not yet established enough to be good sources of social connection) or quietly planning their departure (already partly mentally elsewhere). Building close friendships with people who might leave in eighteen months is emotionally risky in a way that makes some people unconsciously invest less.
The city’s social geography works against casual encounter. Unlike a walkable city where you bump into the same people repeatedly in cafes, parks, and shops, Doha’s car-dependent, compound-separated, air-conditioned-everything layout means you don’t accidentally encounter people. Social connection in Doha requires deliberate effort in a way that naturally walkable cities don’t.
The multicultural complexity, which is also a richness, means that initial social interactions sometimes don’t have the cultural shorthand that makes casual conversation easy. Humor, reference points, and social norms vary across the communities, and reading these differences takes time.
The First Three Months: What to Focus On
The most common mistake newly arrived expats make is waiting to feel settled before investing in social connections. The paradox is that feeling settled requires social connections, so waiting creates a stalemate.
Start before you feel ready. In the first month, accept every invitation regardless of whether you feel like going. Work events, colleague dinners, community gatherings, anything. The return rate on these initial investments is low but the alternative is isolation. You need volume of exposure in the early months to find the people and communities that will stick.
Be explicit about being new. “I just moved here and I’m still figuring out where everything is” is a conversation-opening statement in Doha in a way it wouldn’t be in many other cities. People remember being new. They generally want to help. Stating explicitly that you’re new and looking to meet people is socially accepted in a way that’s unique to expat communities.
Invest in one or two recurring activities immediately. Random one-off social events are fine for exposure, but the friendships that form in Doha come overwhelmingly from repeated contact over time: the same running group every Tuesday, the same Thursday evening quiz, the same gym class. Choose one or two recurring activities in your first month and commit to them for at least six weeks before evaluating whether they’re working.
Where to Actually Meet People: What Works
Sports and Fitness Communities
Sport is the single most reliable pathway to genuine friendship for expats in Doha, across every nationality and personality type. The combination of shared physical experience, regular meeting schedule, and natural conversation topics creates conditions for friendship formation that few other settings match.
Hash House Harriers (HHH): The Qatar Hash House Harriers is one of the oldest and most active expat social institutions in Doha. The Hash is a non-competitive running and walking group that meets weekly, follows a trail laid by a “hare,” and ends with drinks (non-alcoholic and alcoholic options) and social gathering. It’s notoriously inclusive, genuinely fun, and has introduced more expats to their Doha social circles than probably any other single activity.
The Qatar Hash typically meets on Friday mornings, the first day of the weekend. Search “Qatar Hash House Harriers” for current meeting times and locations, which change each week. First-timers are explicitly welcomed and the tradition of welcoming newcomers is embedded in Hash culture. If you run at all, or even walk, the Hash should be your first social investment in Doha.
Running clubs: Beyond the Hash, Doha has several running clubs with regular group runs. Doha Road Runners, various company-based running groups, and the running community that congregates around Aspire Zone and the Corniche are all active. The Doha Marathon (typically held in January or February) generates significant community around training groups in the months beforehand.
Crossfit and functional fitness: Doha has numerous Crossfit boxes and functional fitness gyms whose community model naturally creates social bonds. Crossfit in particular has a global community culture where walking into any Crossfit gym as a new member gets you quickly integrated into the existing group.
Team sports: Qatar has active expat leagues for football (soccer), cricket, rugby, netball, tennis, padel, basketball, and more. These leagues are organized through various clubs and online communities. For football specifically, the Qatar Football League and various informal five-a-side leagues have strong expat participation and are straightforward to join. Cricket is huge among South Asian expat communities. Rugby at Qatar Rugby Football Union has a strong social club culture around the sport.
Swimming: Hotel pool memberships often come with swimming communities. Early morning lap swimmers at most hotel pools form informal social groups over time. Masters swimming groups exist in Doha for more structured swimming communities.
Padel tennis: Padel has exploded in popularity across Qatar in the past three years and is now one of the most active expat sports communities in Doha. Courts are everywhere, the format (doubles only, social by nature) forces interaction, and the padel community in Doha has a notably inclusive social culture. If you’ve never played, it’s easy to learn and courts at venues like PSA (Pearl Sports Academy), padel facilities at The Pearl, and numerous clubs across the city book up quickly on weekends.
Expat Community Groups and Organizations
InterNations Doha: InterNations is a global expat networking organization with an active Doha chapter. They organize regular social events, both official InterNations events and community-organized activities, across a range of interests. For newly arrived expats, InterNations is one of the most accessible entry points into Doha’s broader expat community. The platform has both a free tier and a paid membership with more access to events. The quality of InterNations events in Doha varies significantly; the drinks events can feel like networking rather than genuine social connection but the smaller community groups within InterNations (hiking group, book club, etc.) tend to produce better results.
Facebook Groups: Facebook remains the primary social organizing platform for Doha’s expat community and several groups are genuinely active and useful:
Expat Woman Qatar is the most active and comprehensive expat community group in Qatar, with over 100,000 members. Despite the name, it has become a general expat resource group covering everything from recommendations to social events to practical advice. Posting that you’re new and looking to meet people gets responses.
Qatar Expats, Doha Expats, and various nationality-specific groups (British Expats in Qatar, Americans in Qatar, Australians in Qatar, and dozens of others) are all active and useful for finding community within your cultural context.
Neighborhood-specific groups (The Pearl Residents, Lusail Residents, etc.) are useful for local community and often organize neighborhood social events.
Meetup.com: Meetup has a smaller but active presence in Doha with groups organized around interests: board games, hiking, language exchange, photography, book clubs, and more. The platform tends to attract people who are specifically interested in expanding their social connections, which means everyone at a Meetup event is there for the same reason you are.
Professional and Industry Networks
QFC (Qatar Financial Centre) community events: The QFC regularly organizes professional networking events that bring together finance, legal, and business professionals. These are useful for professional networking but also a context where genuine social connections form among professionals in similar industries.
Industry association events: Most major industries in Qatar have active professional associations (Qatar Petroleum Association, British Business Forum Qatar, American Chamber of Commerce Qatar, and many others) that organize events mixing professional content with social occasion. These are particularly good for senior professionals who find pure social events less comfortable than structured professional contexts.
Your company’s social events: Many large employers in Qatar organize social events: team dinners, company sports leagues, family day events. These are the path of least resistance for early social connection because the shared context of work gives you immediate conversation material. The friends you make through work in Qatar often turn out to be more lasting than those from pure social settings because the daily contact builds real familiarity.
Religious and Faith Communities
Qatar has a surprisingly rich faith community infrastructure for non-Muslims. The Qatar International Christian Community (QICC) and various church congregations operate in Doha and provide community alongside worship for Christian expats. Similar community structures exist for Hindu, Sikh, and other faith communities.
For many expats, particularly those for whom faith is central to identity, faith community provides the most immediate and meaningful social integration in Doha. The shared values foundation creates friendship conditions that are distinct from sport or professional networking.
Qatar International Christian Community (QICC): QICC is one of the largest and most active non-Muslim religious communities in Qatar, meeting at venues approved by the Qatar government. They have English, Arabic, Filipino, and other language congregations and a wide range of community activities beyond worship. For Christian expats specifically, QICC is one of the most reliable pathways to a genuine social network in Doha.
Hobby and Interest Groups
Book clubs: Multiple active book clubs operate in Doha, organized through Facebook groups, Meetup, and compound communities. The Doha Literary Festival (when running) also generates book-oriented community. Book clubs are particularly good for expats who prefer intellectual conversation as a social context.
Art and creative communities: Katara Cultural Village hosts various art, photography, and creative workshops and events. The creative expat community in Doha is smaller than in cities like Dubai but is genuinely active and disproportionately welcoming to newcomers.
Hiking and outdoor activities: Qatar’s landscape doesn’t offer dramatic hiking but the desert environment has its enthusiasts. Weekend desert drives, sand dune excursions, beach camping at Sealine, and boat trips to the northern islands all generate community among outdoor-oriented expats. Qatar Hikers and similar Facebook groups organize regular outings.
Cooking and food groups: Various cooking classes, food tours, and culinary community events operate in Doha. These attract a reliably interesting mix of nationalities and tend toward inclusive, conversational social dynamics.
Language exchange: Language exchange meetups (practice Arabic for your partner’s English, or any combination) operate through Meetup and Facebook groups and are an excellent way to meet both expat and sometimes Qatari locals who are themselves interested in cultural exchange.
Residential Community
Where you live in Doha significantly affects your social access. Residential compounds in Qatar were historically the primary expat social infrastructure: gated communities with shared pools, gyms, social clubs, and community events that created proximity-based friendships.
Compounds still exist and still serve this function. If you’re in a compound, engage with its social infrastructure: pool gatherings, compound sports, community BBQs. The neighbours-becoming-friends dynamic that compounds enable is one of the most reliable social mechanisms in Qatar.
Apartment buildings in The Pearl, Lusail, and some other areas also have community infrastructure. Building WhatsApp groups, building management events, and the shared amenities of larger residential buildings create proximity that can become genuine community.
Social Apps and Digital Platforms
Meetup: As mentioned above, genuinely useful for interest-based communities.
Bumble BFF: Bumble’s friend-finding mode (separate from its dating function) has become an increasingly used tool for expat women in particular to find friends in new cities. It’s more actively used in Doha than many people expect and has produced genuine friendships.
Facebook Groups: The primary digital infrastructure for Doha’s expat social life. Multiple groups across nationalities, interests, and neighborhoods.
WhatsApp: Once you’re in any community in Qatar, WhatsApp groups become the primary communication tool. Building a collection of active WhatsApp groups across the communities you’re part of is a practical measure of social integration.
Instagram: Following local community accounts, event venues, and the broader Doha expat community on Instagram provides passive social awareness and occasional connection opportunities.
Nextdoor: Has some presence in Qatar’s residential communities but is less established than in Western markets.
Making Friends as Different Types of Expats
Single Expats
Single expats face the most acute social challenge in Doha because the city’s social geography is heavily couple and family-oriented. There are no neighbourhoods with a young single professional scene comparable to what exists in London, New York, or even Dubai. Creating a social life as a single expat in Doha requires more active effort than in those cities.
The Hash, Crossfit communities, team sports leagues, and young professional events organized through groups like Young Professionals Qatar are the most reliable pathways. Dating app use (Tinder, Bumble, Hinge all operate in Qatar) is more common among younger expats than is openly discussed, and romantic connections that develop into genuine social circles are not uncommon.
Being explicit with work colleagues that you’re new and looking for social connections works particularly well for single expats because the work context provides built-in repeated contact.
Couples Without Children
Couples without children occupy a comfortable middle ground: you have built-in social partnership (your partner) and fewer time constraints than families. Couples in this situation typically find Doha’s social life the most manageable.
Sports, professional networks, and social events work well. The challenge is that many social groups in Doha are implicitly organized around children and families, which can make childless couples feel like a slightly awkward fit. Seek out the social contexts that aren’t family-organized: sports leagues, professional networks, evening social events.
Families with Children
Families discover that children are the most effective social introduction service in Qatar. School gates, school WhatsApp parent groups, children’s activity centers, and family events at compounds and leisure facilities generate parent-to-parent contact that naturally produces adult friendships.
The international school community is Doha’s most robust social infrastructure for families. Getting involved in school events, volunteering for school activities, and engaging with the parent community beyond drop-off and pickup creates the repeated contact that builds genuine friendships.
Playgrounds at Aspire Zone and the Corniche, children’s activity classes, and family beach club days are all social opportunities dressed as parenting responsibilities.
Senior and Executive Expats
Senior professionals in Qatar often find social connection harder because the seniority that has served them professionally creates distance in social contexts. The most effective route for senior expats is organized professional community (industry associations, QFC events, senior leadership programs) combined with one genuine leisure activity.
Golf is disproportionately important as a social tool for senior expats in Qatar. The Doha Golf Club has one of the strongest social communities of any leisure organization in Qatar and crosses professional, national, and sectoral boundaries in a way few other environments do.
Trailing Spouses
Partners who have followed their spouse to Qatar without their own employment face the starkest social challenge because they lack the built-in work community that most expats start from. This is recognized widely enough that there are specific communities for trailing spouses.
Expat Woman Qatar specifically acknowledges and supports trailing spouses. Various women’s groups, volunteer organizations, and community activities are designed for people with more daytime flexibility. Volunteering is one of the most reliable social investments for trailing spouses: Qatar’s charity and community organizations actively need volunteers and the shared purpose creates genuine bonds faster than most social contexts.
The Timeline: What to Realistically Expect
Month one: Mostly surface-level interactions. Work colleagues, neighbours, a few people from activities you’ve tried. Nothing feels deep yet. This is normal.
Months two and three: Patterns start emerging. A few people you’ve met repeatedly are becoming familiar. You have a couple of recurring activities. You’re starting to tell which acquaintances might become real friends.
Months four to six: The first genuine friendships tend to crystallize in this period for people who’ve been actively investing. You have a small group of people you’d call if something happened, who you genuinely enjoy spending time with.
Six months to one year: A social life that feels reasonably full. You have multiple social contexts, a core group of close friends, and the city has started to feel like home rather than a posting.
Beyond one year: Depth and complexity increase. You’re navigating friends leaving (this happens and is painful and normal) and integrating new people who arrive.
This timeline assumes active effort. It doesn’t happen passively.
Common Problems and Solutions
Problem 1: “I’ve been here three months and haven’t made a single real friend.” Audit your activity level honestly. Are you going to recurring activities consistently rather than one-off events? Are you being explicit about wanting to meet people rather than waiting for others to initiate? Are you following up after initial meetings? Try a different type of activity to your current approach: if you’ve been doing professional networking, try a sport. If you’ve been doing sports, try a hobby group. Sometimes the mismatch is between your personality and the type of social context you’ve been trying.
Problem 2: “I make initial connections but they never develop into real friendships.” The transition from acquaintance to friend in Doha requires follow-up that many people don’t do because they’re waiting for the other person to initiate. After meeting someone you click with, message them within 48 hours, suggest something specific (coffee next Tuesday, joining you at the Hash this Friday), and create the next contact point. Most people are waiting for someone to take initiative. Be that person.
Problem 3: “My close friends are leaving Qatar and I feel like I’m starting over.” This is one of the most painful recurring experiences of long-term expat life in Qatar. It gets easier with practice and with having enough social infrastructure that no single departure devastates your social life. When friends announce they’re leaving, treat it as a prompt to simultaneously deepen existing connections and open new ones. The expat who has been here ten years has been through this cycle many times and typically handles it with equanimity rather than grief because they’ve accepted it as a feature of the life rather than a failure.
Problem 4: “I find Doha’s expat social scene superficial and struggle to connect meaningfully.” This is a real observation, not just a complaint. Large group social events in Doha can feel like a rotation of small talk with people you’ll never see again. The solution is smaller, more purpose-oriented social contexts: a book club where you discuss ideas, a sports team where you share genuine challenge, a volunteer commitment where you work on something that matters. Meaningful friendships in Doha form in purposeful small groups rather than at large cocktail parties.
Problem 5: “I want to make Qatari friends but don’t know how.” This is genuinely harder and requires patience and cultural investment. Qatari nationals and expats largely move in separate social spheres in daily life. The most reliable bridges are: shared professional settings where genuine work relationships develop over time, educational institutions (Qatar University, Education City), sports with Qatari participation (specific clubs, horse racing, falconry events), and cultural events at Katara and the National Museum that attract Qatari attendees. Learning basic Arabic, showing genuine interest in Qatari history and culture, and investing in professional relationships over time are the foundations. It takes longer but the rewards are unique.
FAQ
Is Doha a lonely city for expats? It can be, particularly in the first six months and for those who don’t invest actively in social connection. It doesn’t need to be. The expat community is large, open to connection, and full of interesting people from every part of the world. The difference between lonely and connected in Doha is almost entirely a function of the deliberate effort you put in rather than the inherent social quality of the city.
What is the best app for meeting people in Doha? Facebook groups (particularly Expat Woman Qatar) are the most active digital platform for expat community in Doha. Meetup is useful for interest-based connection. Bumble BFF is increasingly used by women specifically. InterNations has an active Doha presence.
Is it hard to make friends in Qatar as a woman? No more so than for men, and in some ways easier. The women’s expat community in Qatar is particularly well-organized around groups like Expat Woman Qatar, and social networks among expat women in Doha tend to be strong. The trailing spouse community, which skews female, has particularly active social organization.
How long does it take to make real friends in Doha? Typically three to six months of active social investment produces the first genuine friendships. A full and satisfying social life usually takes six to twelve months to build. Passive social effort takes significantly longer.
Are there social opportunities for people who don’t drink? Yes. Qatar’s social life has more non-alcohol-centered options than many cities simply because alcohol is restricted to hotel venues and not central to everyday social culture. Sports, cultural events, community activities, and most social gatherings in Doha are entirely comfortable for non-drinkers.
How do I meet people outside the expat bubble? Professional relationships with Arab expat colleagues, cultural events at Katara and the National Museum, language exchange programs, and Qatari-organized events are the main bridges outside the Western expat bubble. It requires intentional effort and cultural curiosity but produces the most interesting social experiences in Qatar.
Is the expat community in Doha friendly to new arrivals? Generally yes. The shared condition of being expats creates baseline openness to new connections. Most people remember being new and are willing to help orient newcomers. The social norms around reaching out to new people are more relaxed than in established cities.
Next Steps
- Join one recurring activity in your first two weeks before you feel fully settled, not after. The Hash House Harriers, a sports league, or a regular fitness class are the highest-return first investments
- Join Expat Woman Qatar on Facebook regardless of your gender – it is the most comprehensive expat community resource in Doha and the best place to find out what’s happening socially
- Follow up with everyone you meet and click with within 48 hours – suggest something specific rather than a vague “we should meet sometime”
- Accept the timeline – three to six months of genuine investment before real friendships form is normal and doesn’t mean anything is wrong with you or the city
- Explore Doha actively in your first months rather than staying in your apartment or compound – the more contexts you put yourself in, the more connection opportunities arise
Last updated: February 2026.
Community groups, apps, and social organizations change regularly. Verify current meeting times and group activity directly before attending.
Alzeenah – Your trusted guide to life in Qatar.