Essaouira is one of Morocco’s best known port towns, boasting a fabulous beach and plenty of water sports, it is a well-known and popular location for kite and wind surfing enthusiasts. Located just three hours west of Marrakech, Essaouira is a great place to visit and certainly not limited to just water sports’ enthusiasts. The attractive port town is an interesting place to explore, and the beautiful sandy beach makes it a popular location for families.

Essaouira’s geographical location on the Atlantic coast and experiencing the northeast trade wind, create fabulous conditions for kite and windsurfing and the temperate climate means that it is always several degrees cooler than inland making it the perfect year-round destination.

The port town has a small medina in its very heart, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site, there are many beautiful buildings which are architecturally very significant with its stunning mix of Portuguese and Andalusian buildings. Essaouira is a beautiful place to wander around and discover its cats colony, the art galleries, boutiques and cafes ending with a fantastic meal at one of the many excellent seafood restaurants located around the busy harbour, with its Sqala, shooting location of Game of Thrones’ Red City of Astapor.

Beach life Essaouira

Essaouira boasts a 2km sandy beach to the south of the medina with a wide paved promenade across the entire stretch, with plentiful food and ice-cream stalls. The beach is shallow and very wide and sandy, making it perfect for families with young children. There is also a play area with trampolines and at the end of the beach tourists can take a camel or horse ride or jump on a quad bike.

Along the beach there are numerous surf schools, which is one of the main pastimes in Essaouira.

Known as the ‘windy city’ of Africa, Essaouira is one of the best places in the world for kite surfing and has many kite surfing schools. The sport demands quite high fitness levels and will take several lessons for beginners to get the hang of it, but then the feeling of skimming over the waves is one not to be missed. All kite surfers wear a full harness and the more experienced show off their jumps and freestyle moves across the waves. Some of the better-known kite surfing schools provide traditional surfing and stand-up paddle boarding sessions as well. All schools will speak English, French, Spanish and Arabic.

The best time of the year to go kite surfing is in July when the wind speed reaches 35 km per hour, this tends to drop in September.

Sidi Kaouki

For those looking to explore further afield and for a low-key trip, head to Sidi Kaouki, only 30 minutes away. This sleepy village is worth a visit and is popular with surfers. There is a long, wide beach and is rapidly getting the reputation for one of the best surf spots in Morocco, helped by the Atlantic swells experienced in this area.

There is also horse and camel riding beachside and for those that can tear themselves away from the Atlantic swells, there is the chance to spot flamingos in the local river.