Tamraght, Morocco: where it is and what it is like
Tamraght sits beside the N1 coast road in the Souss-Massa region, about 17 km north of Agadir and 8 km south of Taghazout. The village is on a hill above the mouth of the Oued Tamraght, with banana plantations running down from the village to the sea; Aourir, the market town everyone calls Banana Village, is ten minutes south by car or half an hour on foot. It is a farming village first, and it shows: one main street, a handful of cafés, a hammam, a souk on Tuesdays, and no bars. The people who come here come to surf or to do yoga, and most of them are in bed by ten.
Taghazout, the busier village with the famous points, is fifteen minutes north in the van, past the large hotels of Taghazout Bay; Taghazout vs Tamraght compares the two villages.
Getting to Tamraght from Agadir airport
Fly to Agadir Al Massira (AGA), about three and a half hours from the UK. The Tamraght hostel is 43 km from the terminal, 45 to 55 minutes by road, and a driver from the hostel meets every flight: the transfer is in every package, both ways, so do not book a taxi. Marrakech (RAK) has more routes but is three and a half hours by road, and we arrange that transfer for a supplement.
If you are making your own way, our guide from Agadir airport to Tamraght explains how the taxi rank outside arrivals works and what to sort in the terminal before you leave it.
You need no car. The hostel van takes every surf trip to the spots and runs between our two hostels at no charge, and shared taxis go up and down the coast road all day for a few dirhams.
The beach and its waves, by level
The beach is below the village, a twenty-minute walk down the hill or eight minutes in the van, and it holds three waves.
| Spot | From the hostel | Wave | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Devil's Rock | 8 min in the van, 20 on foot | Beach break with a channel, sand bottom, at the south end | First lessons; every level on small days |
| Banana Point | 8 min in the van, 25 on foot | Long soft right off the river mouth | Beginners standing up, intermediates working turns |
| Crocro | 9 min in the van, 30 on foot | Open beach break north of the village | Intermediates when Banana is crowded |
| Anchor Point, Taghazout | 15 min in the van | Long right-hand point | Intermediates and up, on the coach's call |
Devil's Rock works best between 0.5 and 1.5 m around mid tide, and the headland beside it takes the size out of a big swell, so a lesson happens there on the biggest winter days. Banana Point is at its best between 1 and 2 m: the wave peels rather than closes out, so a beginner who can stand rides for five, eight, ten seconds and starts to feel the board turn. What Tamraght lacks is a wave for advanced surfers; for them the van goes north to Anchor Point, fifteen minutes away.
The guide to every surf spot between Agadir and Imsouane lists them south to north with the months for each, and learn to surf in Morocco follows a first week on these two waves day by day.
Cafés, the Tuesday souk and the hammam
A handful of cafés on the main street do breakfast, tagines and juice, and lunch here costs a little less than in Taghazout; there is less to spend money on in general. On Tuesdays the souk comes to the village: fruit and vegetables, spices, household things, an hour's wander. For a bigger market, Aourir is ten minutes down the road, and Souk El Had in Agadir, one of the largest covered markets in the country, is half a day.
The hammam is the village steam bath and the Moroccan answer to a surf day: hot rooms, a scrub, and shoulders that work again the next morning. Men and women go at different times or into different rooms, as in every hammam in the country; ask at the hostel for that week's hours.
Alcohol and what to wear
Alcohol is not sold in Tamraght. You may bring your own to the hostel and drink it on the terrace; Taghazout has a limited supply, and the nearest shops that sell it are in Agadir. Dress is the other question we are asked. On the beach and at the hostel, swimwear and board shorts are what everyone wears. In the village street, shoulders and knees covered is the courtesy, for men and women alike; a T-shirt and shorts to the knee is enough, and nobody expects more.
Is Tamraght safe?
Yes. Tamraght is a small village where everyone knows everyone, there are no bars, and the evening happens on rooftops rather than in the street. The hostel van takes everyone to the beach and back, so nobody walks the hill after dark unless they want to. Solo travellers make up a large share of our guests, the women-only dorm at the hostel sleeps six with a bathroom of its own, and quiet hours arrive by themselves around 22:00 (our women's surf camp article has more).
Rooftops: the Tamraght evening
Every building in Tamraght ends in a roof, and the roof is where the evening goes: the sea in the distance, the plantations below, the call to prayer, the sunset over the water. At the hostel, breakfast and yoga are on the roof terrace, and the video review comes before dinner; the garden with hammocks takes the hours between.
Day trips from Tamraght
- Paradise Valley, a palm-lined gorge of the Tamraght river in the Atlas foothills, about fifty minutes inland, with rock pools at the end of a half-hour walk; our Paradise Valley guide says when they are full enough to swim in.
- Imsouane, about an hour and a half north: a fishing village with The Bay, a very long gentle right that everyone can surf, and Cathedral, more exposed and more powerful. Our day trip runs once a week when it is on, at €40 per person, paid on the day; our Imsouane guide has the rest.
- Taghazout, fifteen minutes north: the slipway, the cafés and surf shops, and the points along the headland. Walk there along the beach at low tide, about an hour and a quarter, and take a shared taxi back; our Taghazout travel guide covers the village.
- Agadir, half an hour south: Souk El Had, and the shops that sell what the village does not.
- An argan-oil village. The argan tree grows only in south-west Morocco, and its oil is pressed mainly by rural women.
From 5 nights, every package includes one excursion day for Paradise Valley, Souk El Had and an argan-oil village, in place of that day's surf trip.
When to go to Tamraght
There is surf all year; what changes is the size, the wetsuit and the afternoon wind. October and November suit most people: building swell, offshore mornings, a sea at 20 to 22 °C. December to February bring the biggest swell and the coolest water, and that is when Tamraght earns its keep for beginners, because Devil's Rock still has a lesson-sized wave while Taghazout's points are too big. May to September is small and warm, surfed before the breeze that arrives around 13:00. Month by month, with the wetsuit for each, is in Taghazout and Tamraght weather by month.
Where to stay in Tamraght
Our Tamraght surf hostel is at Sahel 745, on the hill east of the coast road above the village: nine rooms and 32 beds, a garden with hammocks, a roof terrace facing the sea, and seven of the nine rooms with a bathroom of their own, among them a women-only dorm of six. It is the larger and quieter of our two hostels, and the one we send first weeks and families to: Devil's Rock and Banana Point are eight minutes away in the van. The village has other surf camps, hostels and apartments on the same hill; what you get with us is the package rather than the bed alone: from 3 nights, arriving on any day, with the bed, coaching, board and wetsuit, three meals, daily yoga and the airport transfer in one price, €150 per person for 3 nights and €350 for 7 as a beginner.
If you would rather have the points on foot and a livelier evening, our Taghazout hostel is fifteen minutes north, and a stay can be split between the two, at least 2 nights in each. The two hostels are compared room by room, and when you have your dates you can book the Tamraght hostel.
