Morocco Destination Guide
Agadir
The Atlantic SouthA City That
Began Again
Agadir is the one Moroccan city with almost no old medina, and that is its story rather than its shortcoming. On the night of 29 February 1960 an earthquake destroyed the town in about fifteen seconds. What stands today was laid out afresh a little to the south of the ruins, low and wide and open to the sea.
What the city kept is the Souss. The valley behind it grows the argan and the citrus, Tashelhit is the language you hear in the market, and the port still lands one of the largest sardine catches in the world. Most visitors come for the beach. What holds them is everything within an hour of it.
For us Agadir is usually a beginning or an end rather than a middle. It is the airport that opens Tafraout, Taroudant, Taliouine and the Souss-Massa coast without a long drive first, and it is a soft landing at either end of a hard trek.
Agadir at a Glance
Nine Places
Worth Your Time
Agadir rewards the traveller who treats the city as a base rather than a destination. These are the places we send people, in and around it.
Kasbah Agadir Oufella
The hilltop fortress of 1540, reached by cable car or by road. The walls came through the earthquake; the town below did not. The old Arabic inscription above the gate still reads God, Country, King.
Souk El Had
Around six thousand stalls behind pink walls, one of the largest markets in Morocco. Come for argan oil, spices, olives and pottery, and come in the morning.
The Beach and Corniche
Ten kilometres of sand in a bay sheltered enough to swim for most of the year, with a promenade that fills at sunset and stays busy late.
Marina d’Agadir
Low white blocks around a working yacht basin at the north end of the beach. The calmest corner of the city for a coffee and a look at the boats.
The Rebuilt Medina
A medina built from scratch in rammed earth and local stone by the architect Coco Polizzi, using traditional crafts. Not old, not pretending to be, and worth an hour.
The Fishing Port
Morocco’s busiest sardine port. The grilled fish stalls beside it are still the best cheap meal in the city, and the boats come in through the afternoon.
Paradise Valley
A palm lined gorge in the High Atlas foothills about an hour inland, with rock pools cut into the stone. Fullest in spring, quietest early in the day.
Taghazout and Tamraght
Surf villages twenty minutes up the coast. Long right hand point breaks, board hire on every corner and argan oil sold from the doorways.
Souss-Massa National Park
A coastal reserve south of the city and one of the last places on earth to see the northern bald ibis in the wild.
How We Spend
A Day Here
Five things we arrange for travellers who have a day or two either side of a longer journey.
An Argan Morning
A visit to a women’s cooperative in the Souss, where the kernels are still cracked between two stones by hand and the oil is pressed in front of you.
The Kasbah at Golden Hour
Up to Oufella late in the afternoon for the bay, the port lights coming on and the Atlas standing behind the plain.
Souk El Had with a Guide
An hour in the market with someone who knows which stall roasts its own argan and which one is selling it to tourists.
Paradise Valley and the Pools
A half day inland, walking between the rock pools with lunch at a roadside grill under the palms.
Sardines at the Port
Plastic chairs, a numbered stall and whatever came in that morning. Order by pointing, eat with bread, pay very little.
The Mildest
Coast in Morocco
Agadir is the one place in Morocco with no genuinely bad season. The differences are in the sea, the crowds and the light.
The best of it. Paradise Valley runs full, the argan is in flower, the beach is warm and the crowds have not arrived.
Twenty-five degrees while Marrakech is at forty. Busy with Moroccan families in August, and sea fog can hold until midday.
Warm sea, clear mornings and the best surf of the year arriving on the points at Taghazout and Anchor Point.
Twenty degrees and sunny on most days. This is the season Agadir was built for, and the one it fills up in.
They Travelled With Us
A 3rd unforgettable experience in the Moroccan desert! Mohamed is a very professional guide who knows how to adapt to the group and remains attentive to the needs of each with kindness.
Magnificent yoga trek in the Valley of Roses guided by Mohamed, a guide always in a good mood and passionate about his wonderful country. Thank you for your kindness, I will keep a fantastic memory of this trip!
During a week long trek in the Valley of the Roses, Mohamed made this trip very pleasant thanks to his good humor and his contagious joie de vivre. A big thank you to all his team.
Plan Your Time
on the Souss Coast
Tell us when you are arriving and what you want from the days either side. We will build it around the flights you already have.