Some people are yearning for something a bit different from Ibiza, The Canary Islands or the Costa Blanca. Morocco is there waiting for you. Its just as beautiful, is even more welcoming, is better value for money, is more exotic, has great food, great beaches and great weather, and more and more tourists are discovering it. If you like beaches, like we do, here´s our take on Morocco´s best. Two words of warning. First, wherever you go and wherever you stay, do not leave valuables. Most of the hotels we recommend have safes in the rooms, but where this is not the case, discuss how to keep your valuables safe with management or lock them up in your suitcase. Second, remember that you are in North Africa. The culture is different. You are not visiting a European resort. Be sensitive and understanding to their culture aand then you will not have problems. Respect authority, and especially the Royal Family and the military. We were in a five star hotel in Marrakech enjoying the pool and the beautiful gardens. I took a photo of Lean, showing her relaxing on a comfy chair next to the pool and some flowers. Next minute an irate woman approached us demanding we delete the photo or she would call the police. She was upset because her children were swimming with bathing costumes in the pool and could be seen in the background of my photo. We duly deleted the photo, apologized, and she calmed down. If we had resisted the outcome could have been very nasty. So no matter how European your resort or hotel looks on the surface, just remember where you are.
On the Mediterranean side we have Saidia and Tanger. Saidia is well along the coast, almost in Algeria, and has a long sandy beach with quiet waves, and warm shallow water. This is an ideal place to go for a family holiday with children. Its a little bit off the beaten track so getting to it requires a bit of thought and planning. Basically, you have two choices. First, you can fly into Casablanca and from there take a local flight to Nador and from there a taxi to take you to your accommodation in Saidia. The second option is to take a ferry from Malaga in Spain to the Spanish enclave Melilla. Melilla has a modern parador with wonderful views of the city and is close to the historic old town. We recommend you spend one or two nights there. Here´s a link to look and book if you want to: https://tripadvisor.tpk.mx/nz9zHWkH When you are ready, you can cross the border into Morocco and take a taxi for the two hour drive to Saidia. As far as accommodation is concerned in Saidia. the Be Live hotel, is an all inclusive resort right by the beach with a nice pool, good food, and comfortable rooms with a balcony. Here´s the link: https://tripadvisor.tpk.mx/yGtHeDKE
The next beach is Tanger, right in the town next to the old port. Tanger for many years was considered to be quite a fashionable resort town, even housing quite a substantial expatriat community, and having certain fiscal advantages into the bargain. It is nice to be able to walk a small way to the promenade and beach. Its a sheltered beach with warm water, shallow, and very sandy, so ideal for swimming in summer. There are lots of hotels along the seafront, but by far the nicest places to stay in our opinion are The Minzah hotel and the Palais Zahia. The Minzah has been around for as long as I can remember, and is an absolute classic in a very good location. Here´s the link: https://tripadvisor.tpk.mx/htVNJaVN The Palais Zahia has a really Moroccan feel to it and is walking distance to the beach and also to the souk. Its in a noisier location and the muezzin´s call to prayer at the local mosque will likely wake you up in the morning. Its a great place however and they can arrange for you an English speaking driver with car and tour guide to take you to local places of interest such as the charming town of Chefchouen in the mountains. Here´s the link: https://tripadvisor.tpk.mx/auLKoUzy If you want a quieter place to stay and don´t mind being further away from the beach, then we would recommend the Grand Hotel Villa de France. This place is very elegant, has beautiful relaxing gardens and pool area, comfortable rooms and great food. Here´s the link: https://tripadvisor.tpk.mx/Vd1WkdGp
View of the promenade and Tanger beach and bay, taken from a restaurant roof terrace.
This is a view of Tanger beach, taken in the summer.
Finally, outside of Tanger on the Atlantic coast by the airport, we recommend an outstanding bed and breakfast for horse lovers and riders - the Royal Club Equestre Detroit Bed and Breakfast - here´s the link: https://tripadvisor.tpk.mx/SHHrc9v6
Our next beach is Asilah on the Atlantic coast just south of Tanger airport. You could do this as a day trip from Tanger. Being the Atlantic, there is likely to be a breeze, and the waves can be quite strong, as are the currents. You can wade out into the sea, but not very far and we do not recommend this for young children. Rather than swimming here, we love walking along the beach which stretches along for kilometres. We found shacks where they were grilling freshly caught sardines, and you could buy a plate full with a few tomatoes and onions... quite delicious. The atmosphere in the village is in full swing during the holiday season in July and August, and the rest of the year tends to be very quiet and authentic. There is one place we can recommend here - its charming, right in the medina, has a little pool and serves excellent food, and is called the Riad Oasis d´Asilah, - here´s the link: https://tripadvisor.tpk.mx/XdoNjeIy
For a real country experience, about 6 kilometres south of Asilah down a dirt track off the main road, you might like the Berbari where you´ll get excellent food and may come face to face with a donkey. If you go in spring or summer, you may see storks nesting there. If you don´t want to stay in such an isolated place, you could arrange with them that you go for a day trip to enjoy their cooking and surroundings. Here´s the link: https://tripadvisor.tpk.mx/5qC79ZfL
Our next beach is in one of our favourite towns in Morocco, Essaouira. Its possible to fly there direct as they now have an airport, but there are many more flights to Marrakech which is about two hours away inland. This is a charming fishing town with a port where first thing in the morning you can buy fresh fish direct from the fishermen. You can then take your fish to certain eateries in town where they will cook what you have bought to order. We spent hours jusLa wandering around the old town, lapping up its atmosphere. This town is home to the famous argan tree, so you can visit cooperatives and see all the products they make with the healthy argan oil. You may see some of the trees with goats on their branches eating the leaves. One product you must try, typically served for breakfast, is amlou, an almond, honey, and argan oil paste - make sure that what you get is the home made almond variety which is the original - factories produce cheap alternatives made with peanuts. The beach here is a big bay. There is usually quite a strong breeze so this is a paradise for kite surfers. The windy season is from march to november, with the strongest winds being between june and august. There is a promenade all along the beach, lined with nice restaurants, though we prefer the abundant fresh home made cooking to be found in little eateries throughout the old town.
The menu from a typical eatery called Al Jazira near the beach.
The restaurants however are nice for dinner when there are a lot of people walking along the promenade. It is nice to go to the nearby port just before sunset and watch the sun go down over the ocean. The beach itself is sandy, as is the ocean, somewhat sheltered because it´s a bay, making it good for swimming. It´s generally safe for children, but I wouldn´t let them go too far out into the sea as there are some strong currents and it gets deep quite quickly. There´s a lovely hotel, perfectly located by the beach, a two minute walk to the old town and a five minute walk to the port, called the Hotel Le Medina Essaouira Thalassa Sea and Spa. They do a fabulous buffet breakfast, have comfortable rooms (we like the suites overlooking the sea and beach) and have a nice swimming pool too aswell as a private beach area. Here´s the link: https://tripadvisor.tpk.mx/mZX5CIuH
The beach at Essaouira taken in April.
Selling fish at the port in Essaouira.
Finally our next beach is Agadir, a few hours south of Essaouira. It has its own airport and can also be reached easily from Marrakech. The town is very modern because most of it was destroyed in a major earthquake in 1960. While you are in Agadir, its worth doing a day trip to Sidi Ifni, about 2 and a half hours south, where there are beautiful beaches with spectacular rock formations on them. The little town is also attractive and worth wandering around. The beach at Agadir is long and sandy. The Atlantic waves tend to roll in strong, but you can wade out a bit and swim or play with the waves. Its nice to walk along the beach for hours. Another nice trip is to Taroudant, about an hour inland - it´s a fascinating old walled city, well worth a visit. A nice all inclusive hotel right on the beach in a perfect location is the Riu Palace Tikida Agadir, - if you like all inclusive rates you may need to insist on this when you book, as sometimes the system will just quote bed and breakfast. Here´s the link where you can see lots of pictures and book if you like: https://tripadvisor.tpk.mx/iSeLQa33
We hope you have enjoyed this blog. The links in it recommending places can benefit us financially - we humbly ask you to make your bookings through these links as that helps us to keep this site up and running - and it won´t cost you any more than if you were to book directly on the provider`s own website. Also, in the event of a problem, it makes it easier for us to resolve it. Happy Travels! And we would very much appreciate it if you could forward this to those of your friends who love beaches and travelling. Thank you, and may God bless you. Lean and Anthony, the travelling donkeys.
