اول مرة رحت عالبحر، كان الجو منيح.

One common Levantine pronunciation is:

awwal marra riḥt ʿal-baḥer, kān il-jaww mnīḥ.

A few notes:

• ḥ = a strong h sound, like in بحر and منيح
• ʿ = the ع sound, as in عالبحر
• الجو is often pronounced il-jaww
• Depending on the region, رحت may sound a bit closer to ruḥt or riḥt

أول مرة literally means first time.

In this sentence, it means something like:

• the first time
• when I first...
• the first time I went...

So أول مرة رحت عالبحر means the first time I went to the beach/seaside.

Because أول مرة is a very common idiomatic expression in Arabic. Even without الـ, it can still mean the first time from context.

So Levantine often says:

• أول مرة = the first time / first time

You do not need to force it to look exactly like English structure.

رحت is the past tense of the Levantine verb راح / يروح, which means to go.

So:

• راح = he went
• رحت = I went / you went (masc. singular, depending on context)

ذهب is the more formal / Standard Arabic verb. In everyday Levantine, راح is much more natural.

In Levantine, the past-tense form رحت can mean either:

• I went
• you went (masculine singular)

Usually, context tells you which one is meant.

In this sentence, because it sounds like the speaker is telling a personal memory, the intended meaning is I went.

If you want to make it extra clear, you can add the pronoun:

• أنا رحت = I went

عالبحر is a colloquial contraction of على البحر.

In spoken Levantine:

• على often becomes عَ
• when it comes before الـ, it often gets written as عالـ

So:

• على البحر → عالبحر

This is very common in informal writing and speech.

Literally, البحر means the sea.

But in Levantine, after a verb like رحت (I went), رحت عالبحر usually means:

• I went to the beach
• I went to the seaside

So the exact English translation depends on context, but beach/seaside is very natural here.

Because Arabic can express this idea without it.

أول مرة رحت عالبحر naturally means:

• the first time I went to the beach
• when I first went to the beach

So the time expression is just placed at the beginning, and that is enough.

You could build the sentence differently, but this version is completely natural.

كان puts the sentence in the past.

• الجو منيح = the weather is nice
• كان الجو منيح = the weather was nice

So here, كان is needed because the speaker is describing what the weather was like at that time in the past.

الجو literally means the atmosphere or the air, but very often it means the weather.

So:

• الجو منيح = the weather is nice
• كان الجو منيح = the weather was nice

In other contexts, الجو can also mean the general mood or vibe.

Yes. منيح is a very common Levantine word meaning:

• good
• nice
• fine

So كان الجو منيح means the weather was nice.

It is colloquial, not Standard Arabic. In Standard Arabic, you would more likely use something like جيد or another more formal adjective.

Yes, both are possible.

• كان الجو منيح
• الجو كان منيح

Both mean the weather was nice.

The difference is mostly about emphasis and rhythm:

• كان الجو منيح sounds a bit more neutral or narrative
• الجو كان منيح puts a little more focus on the weather

In more careful spelling, yes, it is أول.

But in informal writing, especially with dialect, people often leave out hamzas and other spelling details. So both of these may appear:

• أول
• اول

The same kind of informality is happening in عالبحر, which is a colloquial written form of على البحر.