Why Tamraght, not Taghazout
Devil's Rock, the beach break eight minutes from our Tamraght hostel in the van, is a sand-bottom wave with a channel you can stand in. Children from 10 learn here with a coach in the water beside them, while the adults surf Banana Point a hundred metres north. The Taghazout hostel is a great week for adults; for a family it means driving to the same beach every morning.
The coach picks the spot over breakfast from the tide table. Devil's Rock works best at 0.5 to 1.5 m and around mid tide; when a swell pushes above 2 m the headland takes the size out of it, so the children's lesson still happens while the intermediates drive to the points. Mornings are glassy or lightly offshore almost every day; in summer a sea breeze arrives from about 13:00, so the family session is the morning one.
How the coaching splits
Groups are formed by level, so parents and children usually surf with different coaches. Children have their own coach (six children per coach), with softboards, rash vests and a session capped at ninety minutes. Adults join the beginner or intermediate group. Everyone meets back on the sand for lunch. How our coaching works, day by day describes the groups, the boards and the spot chosen by tide, and learn to surf in Morocco follows the adults' first week from the whitewater to Banana Point.
The rooms
The Tamraght hostel has nine rooms, so a family books side by side: two triple rooms and three double rooms, each with its own bathroom, and a twin. A child's board is available on request; tell us ages when you book the Group & Family package.
The 32 beds are three double rooms, each with one double bed by the window and its own bathroom; two triple rooms with three single beds, a wardrobe and their own bathroom; a twin with a shared bathroom; and three dorms of six. Linen and towels are provided and changed mid-week on a 7-night stay; check-in is from 13:00, check-out by 11:00, and the village is quiet by 22:00.
The family package: what a week costs
There is one price per person for the stay, and it follows the level and the hostel. Children count as beginners, so a family that books the Tamraght hostel as beginners pays the same rate for every one of them, with the bed, the daily surf trips with coaching, board and wetsuit, breakfast, lunch and dinner, daily yoga and the airport transfer both ways all inside it.
| Nights | Per person | What the week holds |
|---|---|---|
| 3 nights | €150 | Two full days on the water between the airport runs |
| 5 nights | €250 | Four full days: three in the water, one on the excursion |
| 7 nights | €350 | Six full days: five in the water, one on the excursion |
A parent who books as an intermediate pays that level's rate instead, €420 for 7 nights in Tamraght, and surfs with the intermediate group. A private room is €20 per room per night, however many of you share it: a triple for three is one room, a double for two is another, so two adults and two children for 7 nights pay four times €350 and then €280 for two private rooms over the seven nights. From five people, 5% comes off the total, taken off automatically when you book, so a family of five or two families together pay a little less per head. There are no seasonal supplements: a half-term week costs the same as any other week of the year. For a family weighing 5 nights against 7, or Taghazout against Tamraght, what a surf camp in Morocco costs prints every total side by side and lists what is paid on top.
Which months for a family surf holiday in Morocco
October, November, March and April are the sweet spot: water between 17 and 22°C depending on the month, waves that are consistent but not heavy, and school half-terms in most of Europe. Summer is warm and small and works well for young children, though afternoons are windy so surfing happens before lunch. December to February brings the biggest swells and the coldest water; Devil's Rock still works for kids, but the adults will want full wetsuits.
Which weeks
The English half terms fall in late October, mid-February and late May, and each lands in a different kind of week here. Late October is the easy one: the sea is still warm from the summer, the swell has started and the mornings are offshore, so the children learn at Devil's Rock and the parents get Banana Point at its best. Mid-February is winter: the water is at its coolest and the adults are in full wetsuits, but Devil's Rock keeps a lesson-sized wave behind its headland on the biggest days, and the hostel hands out the suits. Late May is small and warm, with the sea breeze from about 13:00, so the surf happens before lunch and the afternoons go to the rock pools at Paradise Valley or the beach. The weeks from December to March are the first to fill, so a February half term wants booking as soon as the flights are fixed.
Off the beach
Paradise Valley, a palm-lined gorge in the Atlas foothills fifty minutes inland, has rock pools warm enough to swim in; our guide to the valley says when they are full and what to bring. The Tuesday souk in Tamraght and Souk El Had in Agadir are an afternoon each. Camels appear on the beach at sunset whether you want them or not.
Meal times
Breakfast is on the roof at 09:00: eggs, msemen and amlou, fruit, yoghurt, coffee. Lunch is packed by the kitchen and eaten on the beach between sessions. Dinner is at 20:00 at one long table, mostly Moroccan, with the video review before it. Vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and halal needs are catered for once we know at booking. From 5 nights, one day mid-week goes to the excursions: Paradise Valley, Souk El Had and an argan-oil village.
Practicalities
- Agadir Al Massira Airport (AGA) has direct flights from most of Europe; the transfer to Tamraght and back is included and the driver brings a child seat if you ask.
- Dinner is at one table and children eat with everyone; the cook adapts spice on request.
- Pharmacies in Aourir stock the usual; the nearest hospital is in Agadir, about half an hour away.
- Bring sun cream and hats; boards, wetsuits and rash vests are ours.
Prices for the Group & Family package at the Tamraght hostel are on the packages page; the Tamraght surf camp page describes the rooms.
