Souss-Massa · Atlantic coast

Agadir

Morocco's sun coast: a long beach, a working port and the Anti-Atlas behind.

Best time to visit: Year round. It is the warmest winter destination in Morocco.
Ideal for: Beach days, surfing, winter sun, families

Introduction

Agadir was destroyed by an earthquake in 1960 and rebuilt as a modern resort city, which makes it unlike anywhere else in Morocco: no medina, no old quarter, wide avenues and a nine-kilometre crescent of beach.

It is the country's main sun-and-sea destination, with the most reliable winter weather in Morocco. It is also a serious working port — the largest sardine port in the world by some measures — and the gateway to the Souss valley, the argan forests and the Anti-Atlas.

Why visit

01
It has roughly 300 days of sunshine a year and stays warm through the winter.
02
Taghazout, twenty minutes north, is one of the best surf breaks in North Africa.
03
It is the gateway to the argan forests, Paradise Valley and the Anti-Atlas.

Things to see

The beach and the seafront promenade
Agadir Oufella, the hilltop kasbah, for the view over the bay
The fishing port and its sardine fleet
Souk El Had, one of the largest markets in Morocco
The Souss-Massa National Park, south of the city

Things to do

Surf or take lessons at Taghazout and Tamraght
Swim, which is easier here than on the windier northern coast
Visit Paradise Valley and its river pools
Watch argan oil being pressed by hand at a women's cooperative
Take a day trip to Taroudant or the Anti-Atlas

Local experiences

The sardine fleet coming in at the port
Argan nuts cracked by hand, one at a time
Sunset from the Oufella hill above the bay
Souk El Had on a Sunday morning

Food

Agadir is sardine country, grilled simply at the port for a fraction of what you would pay elsewhere. The Souss region is the home of argan oil and of amlou, and Amazigh cooking here uses more fish and more oil than the interior.

Culture

This is Souss Amazigh country, and Tachelhit is widely spoken. Argan production, done almost entirely by women's cooperatives, is both an economic mainstay and a cultural marker — the trees grow nowhere else in the world at this scale.