Essaouira Beach

The beach is Essaouira has a bit of everything...when you're close to the Medina, it's a relaxing place where you can see Moroccan couples taking a stroll and the odd European sunbather enjoying the weather. As you head around the bay, you'll start to see the large, crescent-shaped kites of kite-surfers dotting the sky and the sand dunes becoming larger. This is the most interesting part of the beach. There are lots of camel and horse jockies ve'll hassle you to go for a ride in the dunes, but if you're not interested, just keep walking and they'll leave you alone once you lay down or start swimming.

Essaouira Beach is great because it's a public beach it's really popular, too. While in cities like Casablanca you have to pay to go to private beaches and for them to leave you alone (by "they" I mean the guides, the guys who want to date Europeans, vendors of all kinds, etc.). There's a very relaxed family atmosphere here. The beach is just outside of the historic city center, and it's several kilometers long. The waves are big and they reach the jetty at the Medina, which means that all the sand is covered by water at high tide. You can rent a lounge chair, or go horseback riding at the end of the day, but my favorite thing to do is absolutely nothing except for sunbathing with a good book.

It's a huge beach. The left area is reserved for the sport of surfing, using the force of the wind that constantly plagues the area. It is very interesting to see group of camels waiting to be ridden by tourists to ride through the dunes. It is difficult to keep hold of the parasol because the gusts of wind seem to be its merciless enemy and does not allow for a peaceful stay. The positive thing is that you do not feel the heat and so can sunbathe at ease.

Full of trash and the water is a little bit dirty. Even so, sunsets are amazing.