Things to do in Essaouira
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Essaouira
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
The sweet spot, warmest sea of the year, easing wind and thinning crowds after August.
Wildflowers, spring music and building kite wind, with full availability before festival season.
Excellent if coming for Gnaoua, otherwise crowded and priced for the festival in late June.
Strongest and most reliable alize, prime kitesurfing, busiest and most expensive, poor for sunbathing.
Transitional and good value, wetter than expected in some years, wind returning, pack layers.
Mild, peaceful and cheapest, but shortest days, highest rain chance and a cold sea.
What's on
- Gnaoua and World Music Festival Late June each year
Free main stages on Place Moulay Hassan plus intimate ticketed nights, book accommodation months ahead.
- Printemps Musical des Alizés April/May
A small, elegant spring chamber music festival in churches and riad spaces, dates shift each year.
- Moga Festival October
A boutique electronic festival on the Diabat and Mogador circuit, verify the edition before planning around it.
Best things to do in Essaouira
Essaouira Medina
A grid planned, car free medina you can learn in a day, with thuya workshops, souks and galleries throughout.
Skala de la Ville
The long northern sea bastion lined with bronze cannons, with waves below and the medina behind you.
Skala du Port
The harbour tower gives the postcard view of the medina and ramparts framed through its stone arches.
Port of Essaouira
A working fishing port of blue boats, nets and morning landings, busy, pungent and completely unstaged.
L'Atelier Essaouira
A medina cooking workshop combining a cafe, homeware boutique and hands on Moroccan cooking school in one roof.
Cooking with Latifa
Shop the medina markets with Latifa, then cook couscous and tagine properly at her family home and eat it.
Spa Cocooning
A private hammam and Berber massage spa recommended for comfort after wind, sand and salt.
Azur Spa Essaouira
A private spa for hammam and Berber massage, the comfortable mid range alternative to a public hammam.
Where to stay in Essaouira
Inside the Medina, south and Kasbah side near Place Moulay Hassan and Bab Sbaa
first trip, all-round base
Walk to port, ramparts, restaurants and beach gate in under 10 minutes, car free and atmospheric.
Beachfront, Avenue Mohammed V toward Quartier des Dunes
families, pools and kitesurfers
Sea view balconies, pools and surf schools at your feet, with a promenade walk back to the medina.
Diabat and Mogador golf area
golfers and spa resort travellers
Resort scale quiet in dunes and forest by the golf course, with every medina dinner a drive away.
Sidi Kaouki
dedicated surf and kite blocks
Surf lodges on a wild beach, quieter and cheaper, with very little nightlife, which is the point.
Countryside above Essaouira
families, groups and wind escape
Garden pool retreats with shuttle in seclusion, space and quiet instead of walkability.
Think twice about
- Far northern and industrial port fringe beyond Assafi
Charmless and poorly lit in places, with a litter problem on the northern beach and constant taxi rides.
- Modern new town blocks far east of the medina past Bab Doukkala
Anonymous and inland, with no price gain over a medina riad and a holiday spent crossing town in taxis.
- Mellah darkest side alleys at night
Derelict buildings and very low lighting. Visit the Jewish Quarter by day and base on lit main streets.
- Unlicensed medina apartments offered at the bus station or port
No recourse and variable quality. Book a named, reviewed riad or hostel in advance instead.
Best restaurants in Essaouira
La Table by Madada
The special occasion seafood dinner inside the walls, with spider crab, lobster and John Dory.
Triskala Café
A daily changing, farm sourced menu where vegetarian dishes are core and the room fills fast.
Umia
A tiny, stylish room by the Skala doing creative Moroccan Mediterranean fusion from local ingredients.
La Clé de Voûte
Refined French Moroccan cooking in a hidden alley room, with lamb shank and a real wine list.
Chez Sam
The sit down port institution for the same morning landed fish, with chairs, service and a view.
Ocean Vagabond
The original beach club long lunch on the sand, with fresh fish, bowls and a much praised pizza.
Dar Baba
Three dimly lit floors for cocktails and contemporary Moroccan plates, the cool medina night out.
Salut Maroc
A two tier rooftop over the ramparts for sunset, seafood paella and genuinely excellent Gnawa musicians.
Outdoor things to do in Essaouira
Ocean Vagabond
The original kitesurf centre since 1995, a beach club and school where beginner conditions are safest.
Cheval Essaouira
Beach and dune horse rides from Diabat stables praised for horse welfare, with sunset the sweet spot.
Diana Dromedaries
The local guide recommended operator for defined camel rides, from a one hour taster to three hour sunset rides.
Diana Quad
Quad tours from Diabat through dunes and forest to Cap Sim, with two hours right for most riders.
Sidi Kaouki
A wild single beach surf village 25km south, with rockpools, cafes and space away from town.
Sidi Kaouki Surf Station
The established beachfront base in Kaouki for surf, kite and SUP lessons, rentals and lunch.
Golf de Mogador
Gary Player links in dunes and forest south of town, a beautiful, quiet and often near empty test.
Lou's Rides
Vintage style electric bike rides to villages, argan hills and tea with locals on small group routes.
Best hotels in Essaouira
Heure Bleue Palais
The default luxury riad hotel, with a heated rooftop pool, hammam and panoramic medina and sea views.
Sofitel Essaouira Mogador Golf & Spa
Resort scale luxury by the golf course, with pools, thalasso spa and a shuttle into the medina.
Le Jardin des Douars
A ksar style garden estate with villas, pools and a strong restaurant, best luxury pick with children.
Villa Maroc
One of the original riad hotels by the ramparts, with sea views, a spa and candlelit regional dinners.
Madada Mogador
A seven room loft style boutique hotel at the perfect junction of port, souks and beach.
Riad Dar Maya
A five room design forward riad with a rooftop breakfast terrace, courtyard and small hammam.
Salut Maroc!
A riot of colour boutique hotel on the ramparts, stayed in for fun, views and rooftop music.
Riad Baladin
A boho chic, all white, family run house in a 250 year old building, a solo and couple favourite.
Is Essaouira expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | MAD 350 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | MAD 800 a person |
| Splurge | MAD 2,000 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- L'Atelier Essaouira: a few days ahead
- Cooking with Latifa: a few days ahead
- Ocean Vagabond: a few days ahead
- Cheval Essaouira: a few days ahead
- Diana Dromedaries: a few days ahead
- Diana Quad: a few days ahead
- Golf de Mogador: a few days ahead
- Lou's Rides: a few days ahead
- Gnaoua Festival weekend and August accommodation sells out weeks ahead, book stays first.
- Reserve La Table by Madada, Umia, La Cle de Voute and peak season Triskala one to three days ahead.
- Book kite courses, cooking classes, sunset horse rides and Val d'Argan tastings two to three days ahead.
- Buy Supratours buses a day or two ahead on festival and holiday mornings.
Is Essaouira safe?
- Main medina streets, Place Moulay Hassan and Avenue Mohammed V are lit and busy at night.
- Route by main streets after 11pm, side alleys in the Mellah and far north are dark and deserted.
- Do not swim by the port outflow, swim at the main southern beach and respect river mouth currents.
- Wear closed shoes in the working port, where surfaces are wet and slippery.
Essaouira travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Agree fish and cooking price in total before anything hits a port grill.
- Book camel and horse rides through a stable or riad, not a vague beach negotiation.
- Decline unofficial guides selling directions and navigate by offline maps instead.
- Compare thuya and argan across two shops and avoid cheap unlabelled argan in plastic bottles.
- Use Taros for a sunset drink and the view, not for dinner.
Getting around Essaouira: public transport and more
- Walk in town, everything inside the walls is within 15 minutes.
- Petit taxis run short flat fares to beach clubs and the bus station, confirm the fare first.
- Porters at Bab Sbaa and Bab Marrakech move riad luggage by handcart, agree 20 to 30 MAD first.
- From Marrakech allow about three hours by Supratours or CTM bus, private transfer or grand taxi.
Who Essaouira suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Good |
| Families | Great |
| Bachelorette parties | Good |
Make Essaouira your trip
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