Though far less famous than the imperial cities of Marakech and Fes, the coastal towns of Agadir, Essaouira and Oualidia were where we spent a lot of our time during our Morocco trip. This was to avoid the extreme heat of the interior and also beaches are just more fun for toddlers than big cities. We spent 3 nights in each place and each had it’s own character and highlights. We started in Agadir, the furthest south and worked our way up north along the coast.

Agadir, has much of a European resort feel to it. Indeed, this is where many of the big hotel chains, including Club Med, have their resorts. The town was completely flattened by an earthquake in the 1960s, and subsequently rebuilt in a modern style leaving it lacking in some of the old Moroccan architecture that characterises other towns. What it lacks in Moroccan ambience, it makes up for with its long beach and swimmable waters. Although on the Atlantic, the sea is not too cold for swimming. It’s a family friendly place, with playgrounds and trampolines right on the beach as well as some great seafood restaurants. It’s also the place from which to see the tree-climbing goats (see previous post here for that). Not a bad beach holiday destination.

View of Agadir Bay and Marina

Well kept beach with peaceful promenade

Paddling

Lovely sunset

Seaside meal

Essaouira is also known for its beach, but this one is as a centre for wind sports. The winds here blow strong along the wide, clean beach making for perfect kite surfing conditions, but less than perfect swimming and sunbathing. Try to relax on this beach with a book and you’ll be given a face full of sand. Luckily, Essaouira has more to offer, particularly it’s small, manageable medina (old town) and port. There are lots of traditional restaurants and shops selling all sorts of Moroccan artifacts. It’s an easy and pleasant place to wander. Leaving the medina you can walk through the real market where locals buy their fresh food, giving you a glimpse local Moroccan life in this town.

On the windswept Essaouira Beach

Carpet Stalls in Essaouira Medina

Carpet shop in the medina

Fishing boats in the port of Essaouira

The local market

Narrow streets of the medina

Kite surfers

I would definitely come back to Essaouira, though I would probably stay in a hotel a with an easy walk to the Medina and with a pool, as the beach really isn’t a swimming beach and the days can get hot.

Oualidia

Oulidia is a much smaller town between Essaouira and Casablanca. It’s famous for it’s lagoon which offers a lovely beach (nice sand) and swimming in the pretty cold water. It’s not really on the main tourist circuit, so accommodation is not exactly plentiful. We ended up staying at a hotel that was pleasant, but a taxi ride from the main town and beach and which was rather overpriced compared to other places in Morocco. We had a nice couple of days here and the beach was fun to play on. Sadly due to it being Ramadan, only one restaurant was open in the day time. Luckily the food was very good and they even did some good Moroccan wines.

View of Oualidia Lagoon

View from our room at the Oualidia Dream hotel

Oualidia beach and lagoon

Playing in the sand – always fun!

Fabulous paella. So good I had it two days in a row!

My tip for Oualidia would be to stay in town and probably not during Ramadan.