Morocco has two coastlines, three thousand kilometres of them, and wildly different personalities along the way. Here is the honest map of where to swim, surf and simply lie down.
For easy swimming
Agadir is the reliable resort: long urban sand, winter warmth, hotel pools as backup. The lagoon at Oualidia is the coast’s best natural pool — calm, shallow, oyster lunches on the water. On the Mediterranean, Al Hoceima’s coves offer the clearest water in the country and Saïdia the longest sand.
For character over comfort
Essaouira trades swimming (windy!) for ramparts, gulls, sardines and the most atmospheric medina on the ocean. Asilah in the north pairs murals with Atlantic light. Both belong on a route even if your towel never opens.
For surf and wind
Taghazout and Imsouane ride Atlantic swells October to March with schools for every level; Dakhla’s lagoon, far to the south, is world-class kitesurfing over turquoise shallows — a fly-in extension we arrange with pleasure.
Building a coast-and-more trip
The coast works best as a chapter, not the whole book: desert first, sea to finish. See the 16-day two-coasts tour for the full shoreline, or the beaches FAQ for month-by-month honesty about water and wind.
Laila Skalli — Laila writes about the coast from Essaouira down to Agadir and up to Oualidia. Her recurring subjects are fishing harbours at unloading hour, medinas that smell of salt, and the exact stretch of coast road where the argan trees give way to the sea. She keeps our beach and watersports pages honest about currents, seasons and crowds.
