Paradise Valley: what it is and where
Paradise Valley is a stretch of the Tamraght river valley in the Atlas foothills north of Agadir, in the Imouzzer region, where the river has cut a gorge through the rock and the floor of it is palms, banana, olive and fig trees, with small waterfalls and rock pools strung along the stream. From our Tamraght hostel the road inland is about 28 km and fifty minutes; from our Taghazout hostel add the fifteen minutes to Tamraght, so about an hour.
Tamraght, the village at the river's mouth, is where the same water meets the sea, below the banana plantations and beside Banana Point; our Tamraght travel guide covers the village itself, and the valley is the inland half of the same river.
The excursion day: Paradise Valley in the morning, Souk El Had and the argan-oil village after
From 5 nights, every package at both hostels includes one full excursion day, in place of that day's surf trip. The van goes to Paradise Valley in the morning, the driver parks where the road ends, and the walk to the pools takes around half an hour; you swim, and the van turns back towards the coast. On the way back it stops at Souk El Had in Agadir, one of the largest covered markets in the country, and at an argan-oil village, where the oil the region is known for is pressed. It is a full day, all of it off the board.
On a 3- or 4-night stay the excursion day is not part of the package; ask at the hostel when you arrive. The packages page sets out what each stay includes, day by day, and which day the excursion replaces.
How to get to Paradise Valley from Tamraght, Taghazout or Agadir on your own
With a hire car it is simple. From Tamraght or Taghazout take the N1 south to the roundabout at Aourir, the market town everyone calls Banana Village, ten minutes by car from the Tamraght hostel, and turn inland through the village onto the P1001, the road signed for the valley. From Agadir it is the N1 north to the same roundabout and the same turn. The road is paved and signed, and the valley is where the cars and the food stands collect. If you pick the car up at Agadir Al Massira, Agadir airport to Tamraght lists the hire counters in the terminal and the road from there to the N1.
Without a car, the usual way is a shared taxi from Aourir, which leaves when it is full; from Tamraght or Taghazout a shared taxi along the coast road gets you to Aourir first. The fare is paid at the rank; ask the hostel for the going rate the week you are there. Many of the surf camps in Taghazout take their guests up there on days without waves, and from 5 nights you need none of this with us, because the day is in the package.
The walk to the pools, and the rules of the gorge
From where the road ends it is around half an hour on foot to the rock pools on the route our driver takes; how far you walk depends on where the car stops, and the path runs along the stream over rock that is smooth and, near the water, slippery. Shoes with grip, then, not flip-flops. Bring plenty of water, swimwear under your clothes, sun cream and a hat. At the water there are plastic chairs and hammocks, and drink stands along the way; the pools are warm enough to swim in, and the swimming is the point of the walk.
Two rules. No jumping from the rocks in the dry months, a rule that has come out of past accidents. And nobody goes into the gorge in rain or just after it, because it is a river gorge. Take your rubbish back out with you, and leave the pools as you found them.
When to go: after the rains, never in them
The pools are at their fullest from late winter into spring, as the winter rains end and the river runs full. By late summer they are often low or dry; further up the valley, the Tizgui area keeps water all year. Recent years have been short of rain and the water lower for it, so whatever the month, the question to ask at the hostel is whether it has rained recently and whether the pools are full, because that decides the day. And the rule above holds in every month: in rain, or just after it, the gorge is not a place to be.
October comes at the end of the dry summer, so the question above matters more than the month; no month comes with a promise. Taghazout weather by month shows how few rainy days the coast gets, and in which months they fall.
What it costs, and what is there
No entry fee is published for the valley. At the entrance, food stands sell vegetable tagines and Berber omelettes, and further along the stream there are drink stands, plastic chairs and hammocks by the water. From 5 nights the day is inside your package, with the van and the driver.
With a car and a full day, the road carries on beyond the valley, up into the mountains to Imouzzer, whose waterfalls run only after rain, with the best chance of water from February to August; ask locally before driving up, because in a dry year they are dry. The Thursday souk at Imouzzer sells the local honey.
Paradise Valley or Imsouane: the two day trips from the hostel
Two day trips can take you away from the home beaches, and they are different kinds of day. Paradise Valley is the day off the board, with the market and the argan village on the way home, in the package from 5 nights. Imsouane is the surf day, about an hour and a half north, with The Bay, the longest wave in Morocco, at the end of it: optional, €40 per person, paid on the day, and run once a week only when the wave is on, so whether your week has one depends on the swell. Our Imsouane guide describes the wave and the village.
Where to stay for Paradise Valley
Our Tamraght surf hostel is the nearer of our two hostels to the valley, and the one whose river it is: nine rooms and 32 beds on the hill above the village, a garden with hammocks, and the two softest waves on this coast, Devil's Rock and Banana Point, eight minutes away in the van. From our Taghazout hostel the valley is about an hour, and the excursion day runs from both. The per-person figures, €250 for 5 nights in Tamraght as a beginner and €300 in Taghazout, cover the bed, the daily surf trips with coaching, board and wetsuit, three meals, yoga, the airport transfer and the excursion day; when you have your dates, book the stay and ask us what the valley is doing that week.
