Morocco - The Breakdown

 

Where:

Taghazout, Sidi Ifni, Cap sim and Safi just to name a few ;) plenty of other spots you can find for yourself if you have a motor vehicle.

Budget:

Morocco is cheap as chips, you are in Africa after all. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t blow the budget if you aren’t vigilant about where or what you are eating. Western restaurants are everywhere and although still relatively cheap compared to Europe, eating there every day will certainly add up and break your budget. I think it's realistic to live within $30 AUD a day or less if /you are being resourceful. We stayed at Oceana surf camp and Hanukah Matata surf house. Both places were awesome and so were the owners Samir and Simo. Oceana is the closest surf house to Anchor point and was $8 a night for a dorm room, while Hakuna Matata was $11 for dorm room and the sickest breakfast (Omelet, bread, jam, coffee, and tea). Both places were fantastic but the atmosphere at Hakuna Matata was particularly special with one common area forcing you to make new friends. 

 

Where to Eat:

The most traditional and common Moroccan meal you will come across is the Moroccan Tajine. It costs about $2 euros and you can get it in a variety of ways including Chicken, Kefta (meatballs), seafood and vegetable styles. There are a lot of restaurants in Taghazout that cater to western food and still very reasonably priced check out Le Spot and Cafe Mouja. 

Waves: Morocco would have to be the most wave rich country we have ever been to, it has right-hand point breaks for days and other setups we heard about but never got to see. Be warned though it is temperamental and is known to hit some serious flat spells for a month or months at a time.

 

Anchor Point: The most famous wave in Morocco and definitely no secret spot. Anchors is the point closest to the town of Taghazout and by far the most renowned wave in the area. A classic Morocco long right-hand point break that requires a big swell to get going and can hold huge swells up to 5 meters or potentially bigger. Because it is walking distance from Taghazout it is always the most crowded wave in the area and when it is good the locals have it on a pretty strong lockdown and you can expect to see some localism being enforced. When it's on it could be argued that Anchor is the best wave in the area, providing several turns and several barrel sections on its day.

Mystics: The beach break around the corner from Anchor point, provides a fun and more`mellow right-hand bank that breaks off some rocks. This wave is more beginner to intermediate friendly and the crowds generally reflect this with a lot of European surfers out there to have fun and the level of surfing being substantially lower than the points. It still is a very fun wave and on its day holds up some nice wall practicing your rail work.

La Source: An A-frame just next to Mystics and Killer point. A really fun piece of reef that can be a great swell magnet and back up option for when the points aren’t quite doing it. The right is typically faster and more hollow than the left which is a bit fatter. It's named La Source after the hotel it is in front of, which does an epic breaky for your post surf needs.

Killer point: The second point out in out of Taghazout and personally my favorite wave in Morocco when its on. Killers is broken up into two sections, the top part is a mixture of reef and sand that provides more slowly paced walls for cutbacks and wrapping turns. The second piece of Killers is a sand bar that is a complete racetrack and can barrel on its day. A good day at killers though will see these two sections link up and provide some of the funniest waves of your life. The crowds at Killers are often very bad because it is still walking distance from Taghazout, however, the level of ability is typically lower than Anchor point so its always easier to get waves there.

Tamri: If you are staying in Taghazout then, in my opinion, this is your most important wave In the area. The points take a fair bit of swell to get up and firing back if they are flat (often) then Tamri is the main back up spot and a very fun beachie. It picks up a lot of swell and there's a bombie out the backbreaking it up into A-frame peaks and some pretty heavy double up sections in which you can get some fun kegs. It's not a secret spot and everyone (with cars) will make the journey out when the swell is down everywhere else.

Draculas: Another long right-hand point that is about 15-20 minutes past Taghazout. It's an epic and very long right-hander that would have to contend for the best wave in the area when it's on. It won’t start breaking until it gets to 4-6ft and then holds very big. It can be a leg burner with rides up to 400-500 meters on a seriously good day. Only hazards are getting in and out, with no real easy entry points and getting out, even more, more of a mission, having to beach yourself on some gnarly rocks to get out. If you miss said rocks then you’re paddling a long long way down the point trying to find an exit (speaking from personal experience)

Boilers: The next point around from Draculas and another world class wave, if you don’t believe us look up Boiler boys to watch Dane Reynolds and Co tear apart flawless boilers. Another world-class right-hand point that is different from its fellow esteemed companions. Boilers has a different pace to it with some very fat sections that require drawn-out cutbacks before hitting certain ledges of reef and walling up for big turn sections and the occasional barrel section. Also, another spot that is not blessed with easy entry and exit points, definitely not for the inexperienced surfer.

Sidi Ifni: a few hours South of Taghazout you’ll find a sleepy little town called Sidi Ifni. It has a piece of reef that provides A-frames that are more suited to beginner/intermediate and log friendly waves.

Cap Sim: The little town of Cap Sim has a few great setups. Including a beach break that is known to get very fun and then two right-hand points slightly out of town (you can find out names yourself). The two right point breaks are particularly epic. One of them very similar to snapper breaking behind a rock providing epic double up barrel sections and then going to a more slow-paced wall before walling up again down the line for more barrel sections. Another joint that is pretty heavily localized and you may get asked to surf down the line or alternatively have a local jump on your back pretending to drown you in front of his friends (true story).

Safi: Located in the gnarly city of Safi you will find Rass Lafaa or more commonly known “Head of Snake” unquestionably Moroccos best wave on its day. If you don’t believe us just google Alex Grays GoPro session here. The wave is located just outside of the industrial city of Safi, you certainly won’t find many tourists here except for surfers. Its one of the rawest parts of Morocco we went to on our trip, as you drive into town you drive through a divide of Industrial areas where they produce phosphates and other chemicals giving the town a creepy feel. The wave itself resembles Kirra on its heyday and essentially is just one gigantic barrel fest. Unfortunately its no secret and the locals here at the heaviest we encountered all trip. One of our crew after waiting patiently for 30 minutes for a set wave, got dropped in on, that guy kicked out and then another guy dropped in on him, after politely asking for him to kick off the drop in a guy turned around and slapped our man! The funny thing was they bell stacked it after the slap and then our man's fin went through the agro local's rail, karma (Another true story).

Nightlife: Hang on a minute nightlife? whats that….. Morocco has pretty much zero to nil nightlife and after a long time spent in Europe partying all the time you don’t really crave it so much. The lack of nightlife and alcohol is due to Morocco being a primarily Muslim country, meaning hardly anyone drinks. Of course, you can find booze if you’re a proper booze hound some large supermarket chains sell alcohol like Carrefour or numerous other underground bars where some local will take you through a maze of streets to knock on a mysterious door. However, once you do get to them they usually are expensive and there's not much to do besides sit around and drink at hostels.

 

2 cents:

1) I highly recommend getting away from the Coast and exploring inland Morocco, you’ll get a couple of flat spells in Morocco and wisest to use your time to explore this magnificent and diverse country. Marrakech is one place that mimics a human Zoo, there's an intensity about Marrakech that I haven’t experienced anywhere else, definitely worth crossing off the list for a couple of days. There is also Chefcouhen a beautiful little blue town located at the foot of the Rif mountains. Not only is it scenically beautiful it offers great hiking, music and we overheard they make all of Moroccos Hashish in the surrounding fields.

2) Cars, having a car in Morocco is so essential, you need to be able to explore and find spots that are far apart and hard to access. Morocco's roads are treacherous, to say the least, the problem is they go from pretty good to non-existent very quickly. There are a number of death potholes around so be careful when driving and absolutely vital to know how to change a tire. Once you do pop a tire don’t fret, they can fix it for around $2 euro at the local mechanic.