Taghazout Morocco - surfmaroc

jonathan11

Hi,

Myself and a few friends thinking of going to Taghazout in Morocco in November with surfmaroc.co.uk

Just wondering if anyone has any experience with this place? I've seen mixed reports on this forum, some good some bad. Waves seem to be guaranteed but whats the area / social scene like?

Cheers...

Launcher

I stayed with them a couple of years ago in the Villa part of there accommodation. The Villa is effectively a hostel type set up.

The surf as you said is pretty much guaranteed, but is pretty much all rights. There is one left called 'crocs', which isn't up to much to be honest. So if yourself or your friends are goofy they might get a bit pissed off after a while. Anchors and Panoramas are a 5-10 min walk from the accommodation and there is also a little wedge that can be a fun surf out the front if you want to continue surfing later on into the evening.

The Moroccan guides are all sound and know their ****. I wouldn't have been overly impressed with the two English guys who run the whole operation, I and the rest of the people staying there found them to be very stand offish.

The town itself is not a party town,no booze but plenty of spliff and a bit of a rodfest. I was hitting the hay around 10 most nights.

I was there on my own and that's why I choose to go with the surfcamp route, but if I was heading in a group I would definitely look into just doing it independently i.e just renting a car and going for it. Gives you far more flexibility and would be a dam sight cheaper. The main road runs right beside the coast and it is very easy to get all the spots wired after a couple of days.

loctite

Agree with above........... practically zero social scene, which can be a good thing.

There is about 5-6 six breaks which I surfed when I was there within walking distance of the village. Banana Beach, Panarama's (right point), Hash point (right point/beach), Anchors (right point), which if its working forget about it, cause it will be jammers, Mysteries (another Beach break) and then Killers which is about a 20 minute walk. There is prob one or two more in between alright but they would be the ones that I surfed mostly when I was in Taghazout.

If this is your first trip I recommend going with the surf camp. I've heard some good reports. I've gone twice in a large group but we organised everything ourselves. We travelled up the coast a lot, and there are loads of breaks, but I wish we had some local knowledge when we were there as we would have spent less time driving and more time in the water. If I was to go again I think I'd give the surf camp a try. No dout you will have heard of all the really good breaks. Anchors, Killers, Boilers etc, but if they are working they get really really busy. You are better off having someone to take you to the lesser known spots IMO.

If the swell starts to pump (and it does) alot of the breaks in taghazout can be very unforgiving (maybe with the exception of mysteries and banana). So it is definitely good to have the option to be able to head further up to coast to find some more sheltered spots.

My 2c. Fingers crossed you get Anchors, 6 am. super glassy with no one out.... Heaven.

Oh... Taghazout itself is a bit of a kip. We had torrential rain for 3 days the last time we were there and the water was filthy, and I mean filthy. Turd, nappies & sanitary towels floating by, water littered with floating plastic and rubbish. They don't seem to have any rubbish collection. There are a couple of massive trenches in the village (probably from rain water running down the side of the hills) and they just pile it high with all the rubbish and when the rain comes it all gets washed into the sea. It was pretty bad. I'm not trying to put you off the place, cause when the surf is working it is epic but its not a clean place and I can't imagine that the water is either, you are much better off getting out of Taghazout if the weather goes all "Irish" on ya.

Sport101

+1 on Taghazout being a complete kip.
Morocco is a lovely country though, and the food doesn't need to make you i'll. I'd recommend going south or north from Agadir for a few hours, great waves, good people and less hassle.

jonathan11

Cheers for the advise lads. Booked flights to Morocco for November. Will probably rent a car and travel around independently..

Launcher

No Worries -Enjoy.

I probably should have mentioned in my post that despite the many problems that Morocco has with it's infrastructure - based purely on the quality of the waves it was without question the best surf trip I have been on.

My only other advice would be that from now until you go, at the end of every session just go for a paddle for about 20 mins, and when your arms begin turn to noodles paddle for another 5 mins. If you get a decent sized swell (13 secs and above), there is little or no shelter anywhere and a very strong current moves from north to south. On one of my last surfs I went in at anchors, missed the two exits and ended up getting out down by Hash point, and I saw this happen to a good few others. In the line up there is very little time spent sitting on you're board waiting for sets and you have to keep paddling to stay on the peak. There higher your level of paddle fitness the greater your wave count will be, particularly at the more competitive breaks.

loctite

Launcher wrote: »

If you get a decent sized swell (13 secs and above), there is little or no shelter anywhere and a very strong current moves from north to south. On one of my last surfs I went in at anchors, missed the two exits and ended up getting out down by Hash point, and I saw this happen to a good few others.

Ha ha ... surfed Hash on a bit of size......
Got in at Hash, out at "Southern" Banana beach.......... It fairly moves alright!!

eiresurfer

I've been to Taghazoute 4 times since 2003. It's a great town, but it is getting more crowded every year. 2010 was VERY crowded in a lot of the spots with the locals not afraid to dominate when they have to.

But it was a great 2 weeks nevertheless. If you want a social aspect, you're definitely better off staying in one of the Surf Camps like SurfMaroc.

Ozakisurf

no worries

yeah surfing morocco is awesome just have a look at www.taghazoute.com lovely surf going on!

I booked through www.surf-taghazout.com overall rating 7

warm weather during the winter thats what i like the most! In combination with mellow surf!

sligogringo

Morocco is great, was there in 2008 with a mate at morocsurf.com (surf camp) which was a great idea cause they know all the breaks and what works on different swells.

If you take a car, beware the roads are pretty **** and can be dangerous (local drivers can be mental)....there are also speed cops along the coast road who are looking for bribes - everyone is afraid of them (at least, our moroccan surf guide/drivers were!)

Moroccan food is nice - the people are poor but generally very warm and friendly (although if you get chatting they will try and sell you something)

I would def go back to Morocco and recommend as a surf trip!

Enjoy!

jonathan11

Trip went well. Got some very decent surf....

Spent 2 days in Taghazout, even though the surf wasn't working great at teh time there was plenty of breaks to choose from. Then travelled North to Imsouane for 3 days. The point break in the bay was amazing with at least 1 minute rides, only draw back was the paddle back out. :-) The bay is protected by cliffs so water was really calm. Stayed in Tifnit for one night then, a really remote fishing village with no water and electricity. Interesting experience.

The fishing villages we stayed in had a nice laid back atmosphere and the people were friendly. Wasn't too keen on the tourist spots like Agadir, got a good deal of hassle. People selling everything and anything...

Would definitely recommend Morocco for a surf trip!