For quite a while Morocco has been known as one of the sweetest surf destinations, offering sun and warmth relatively close to Europe. 

You can select from a number of surf spots on its extended coastline, though tiny villages of Tamraght and Taghazout would be probably the first ones to pop up in your search – and for a reason. 

Do not miss Imsouane, a place that stands out with its mellow and fabulous, longest wave in Africa, but you may want to start from Tamraght and Taghazout to get yourself familiar with the “Morocc-and-roll” ™ 🙂. And if you are seeking tranquility and something totally laid-back, yea, Tamraght is your sanctuary – with its abundance of beach breaks providing ideal conditions for all surf levels.

Transportation (getting around – if you know what i mean) 

From the airport

Agadir airport is the closest one, less than an hour away from Tamraght. Many surf camps in the village have airport pick-up included in some of their surf packages; otherwise, you can rent a car and pick it up at the airport. Prices are rather friendly, but the deposit blocked on your card will be high – from EUR 1,800 and up. So unless you are planning a longer road trip, I’d recommend using a taxi instead. Agadir airport to Tamraght by taxi should cost you 300 dirhams (around 30 euros), so in case someone gives you a higher price, don’t hesitate to bargain it down.

To & from Tamraght

There are also shared taxis that are basically shared cars that follow a fixed route and can collect as many passengers as a car can fit in. Just find out which city that car is going to and grab a ride for 10 dirhams (about 1 euro). Because they follow a specific route, they won’t bring you directly from or to the airport. But they can bring you from Tamraght to Agadir bus station, the starting point for your day-trips or longer trips elsewhere in Morocco – and this will only cost you 10 dirhams per person (1 euro). 

So here’s the tip: in Tamraght, just on the main road, get a yellow and white shared taxi – tell them you need to get to Agadir taxi stand. There will be people getting off and on along the way, it’s normal. Finally you will get to the square with a lot of red taxis. Here, you take a red one for maybe another 10 dirhams to get to the bus station connecting Agadir to all big cities (e.g. 3 hours and 12-15 euros, and you will be in Marrakesh). I recommend opting for more comfy CTM buses, you can book them in advance or get tickets at the bus station. Unless it’s a rush hour, there will always be tickets available on spot, so you can decide on the destination 5 minutes before departure.

Money

But back to arrival in Tamraght. Until recently, it was a good idea to withdraw cash in dirhams before getting to Tamraght, as there were neither ATMs nor exchange offices. Today, there are at least 2 ATMs there – one inside the only gas station in the village and another one nearby, on the way to Crocro and Devil’s Rock breaks. Also, it doesn’t make a big difference whether you get your dirhams at the airport or in the village, as the rates seemed the same to me. 

*ATM hack: when you are pulling money out of an ATM in the currency other than your card’s currency, the machine usually offers you an exchange rate to confirm; you should press “decline” (or “cancel”, whatever the option is). The ATM will then go and offer you a different rate which will be more favorable.

Accommodation and surf stuff

If you book a stay with a surf camp, in most cases you won’t have to think about anything else once you reach Tamraght. My first time there, I stayed with The SurfHotel Morocco, and it was something! The pack included accommodation (private or shared, you choose); three meals a day – yummy breakfast, especially when the chef cooked famous moroccan msemen bread or baked oatmeal with honey; lunch at the beach in between surf sessions; and de-li-ci-o-us dinner at the rooftop with mind blowing sunsets; surf classes that start in the morning, then continue after a lunch break for couple more hours under the supervision of the instructors; you can also book yoga which i did and ended up having a private class just for myself. There is usually also one day when you either go to Imsouane for an unforgettable surf experience and post-surf sand dunes surfing, or to the Paradise Valley with its waterfalls. 

This type of a surf package, with surfing, guided excursions and cultural experiences, is offered by more or less all surf camps there, just pick one of many. 

However, if you prefer the freedom of solo traveling without being glued to a particular group of people, book only accommodation in one of the camps or hostels, and rent your surf equipment or lessons whenever you prefer – you will then be able to plan your day independently and wander around. Alone. Ha-ha. There are a few surf camps and rental shops in the village, but if you don’t have a car, it will be quite a walk to the beach, about 15-20 minutes to the closest one – not your average stroll if you carry a softboard.

There’s a rental shop right at the Crocodile beach: a surfboard and a wetsuit for 2 hours will cost you 150 dirhams, but in fact you can have them for longer: just bring them back to the shop if you want to have a break, and pick them up later. This way, the owner can make sure the equipment is well maintained, and it shows actually. You can leave your bag and belongings there, not in a locker though, but somehow we were not concerned with the safety. Well, I lost my wallet on a plane upon arrival, so I felt pretty invulnerable.

What was concerning was a shepherd throwing rocks at my friend when he tried to take a video of sheeps and goats. Gotta be some famous sheeps. Or maybe people were taking photos of him earlier and the photos came out not good – sometimes, when my friends take photos of me I also feel like throwing something at them after seeing the result. 

Important things. Food. 

Compared to more lively and surf crowd busy Taghazout, Tamraght has fewer options to enjoy splendid Moroccan cuisine and cuisine in general. At the end of the day, it’s a teeny tiny village. Don’t get me wrong, you will find there cafes and restaurants to almost every taste, but I can’t say that my taste buds will remember this as the feast of flavors that I’d have in mind when thinking about Morocco. One of the places, reviewed highly, was mediocre at best, serving stale lebanese bread and insipid meals in kids’ portions, while charging unproportionally a lot. Honestly, an old lady  selling simple freshly made msemen bread on rue de la Mosquee (she can also prepare an omelet for you, you just have to ask) would get an incomparably better review from me if her makeshift booth was ever on Google. 

Nevertheless, we did find a few places which we liked a lot. Do try Kisslaz eatery for breakfast or light dinner; the whole menu is simple and delicious, but personally I highly recommend their soup, omelet and fresh beet juice (that juice!).

Also, there’s a bakery La Paniere d’Imourane that apart from fresh bread, crepes, and coffee,  serves super rich breakfast with all traditional Moroccan things – msemen (can’t name it enough), harcha (semolina flatbread) with cream cheese, something that I’d call peanut sauce, honey, omelet. You can easily share one full breakfast between two people and still be full. 

Finally, Le Petit Kawa – go there for tagine or couscous, various smoothies, but more importantly – for an avocado lassi, you just cannot miss this one. We probably tried it in all cafes in Tamraght, so I do not hesitate to benchmark them against the one from Le Petit Kawa – silky, rich, filling, naturally sweet thanks to dates, with a topping of crushed almonds. Nothing can beat it! I now start my every other morning with a lassi and just can’t shut up telling about it to everyone I know. You can check the recipe in my post here – it’s the simplest drink (feels more like food) you can make to have an energy boost.

It’s a bit upsetting that in a fishing village, they only have one place, near Devil’s Rock, serving seafood and fish, though given the size of the village, it probably makes sense.

Other important things. 

What you do need to know is that you will get to see some unforgettable sunsets in Tamraght and around. I don’t know how it really works there, but each one was unique and crazy, with so many colors; I understand now why winter in Europe is so grey – colors go south for wintering. There are also days when the entire coastline from Aurir to Taghazout dissolves in a white mist, and the closer to the ocean, the more incredible this view is.

It’s definitely worth noting that the sun in Morocco is strong, and I mean it. You may not feel it due to chill winds, so you are simultaneously sweaty and cold, but in no time you’ll find all you body parts exposed to the sun and not covered with sunscreen turning fashionably scarlet. Well, it will only be in fashion if named as such by Pantone, so I encourage you to apply surfing zinc on your face at least, and nobody will judge you if you do the same for your hands and ears. I have a few brands that I tried and like, such as this skin colored from Aloha Care Store, or fun to wear colored ones from EQ.

A Towel Poncho is another must-have for apre-surf, and after trying several, I’d say the best is to go for a microfiber one for its water absorbing qualities, warmth, and space saving for your backpack. 

Now, I’ve been going on surf trips regularly, and everytime I was somewhat struggling at the beach as my eyesight is not perfect, so I have to squint to see things from afar – like where the peak is, or the wave, or sharks… No clue why I didn’t think of it earlier, don’t ask me. The point is that before my trip to Portugal last year, I finally did some research on whether it’s ok to surf with daily contact lenses, and concluded that if I take them out right after a surf session, I should not worry about getting any bacteria in my eyes. I have to say, this changed my life. Now there are much more waves to which I say “no way, I’m outta here”. Total 1 dailies that I was using for 2 weeks totally worked for me, no redness or irritation whatsoever; just check the right ones for you at the optician’s shop. 

One more thing that will be very useful is having an eSIM if your phone supports it. It might not be news for globe trotters, but if you mainly traveled in Europe where roaming is free, this is something you should take care of when going outside of the EU. You can stay connected easily with options like Airalo offering affordable eSIM data plans for travelers. For Morocco, 1Gb of data will cost you 8 euros and you can top-up at any time. Installation instructions are quite clear, just make sure you do it before getting on a plane for it to be ready for activation when you land.

The rest you will discover yourself, and if you ever get bored in Tamraght due to absence of any night life (unless you go clubbing to Agadir), make sure you have playing cards with you to smash your hostel friends in a game of Rummy or Pusoy – check [this] post for my favorite ones.