Things to Do in Essaouira — A Local's Guide

The dunes, south of the medina

Cross the Oued Ksob to Diabat and the landscape changes completely — the flat town beach becomes a proper dune belt running south. It's the single most distinctive thing about Essaouira's geography and the reason quad biking and camel rides here are worth doing rather than just available.

Go late afternoon. The sand firms up, the light turns, and the dunes face west so the sun sets straight down them.

The Atlantic, in the morning

The bay is protected by the headland and the Îles Purpuraires, which knocks the power out of the north-west swell before it reaches the beach. That makes Essaouira one of the gentler places in Morocco to learn to surf. Mornings are glassy; the wind builds through the afternoon, which is when the kitesurfers take over.

If the bay goes flat, Sidi Kaouki is twenty-five minutes south and far more exposed.

The medina and the port

The medina is a UNESCO World Heritage site and, unusually for Morocco, laid out on a grid — so it's genuinely hard to get lost. Walk the ramparts at the Skala de la Ville in the late afternoon for the light.

The fish market at the port is the real thing rather than a display. Pick something, hand it to one of the grills, and eat it twenty minutes later. It's the cheapest good meal in town.

The argan forest, inland

Argan trees grow almost nowhere else on earth. The groves start just behind the coast, and riding through them on horseback is the easiest way to see them properly. Yes, the goats really do climb the trees.

Eating, and cooking

Beyond the port grills, the thing worth doing is learning to make a tagine properly — which mostly means learning how little liquid goes in and why the conical lid does the work. A class with a local family costs about the same as dinner for two and lasts an afternoon.