For Moulay (the most popular wave spot) - generally the wind is best in summer (July and August are windiest). Swell tends to be best in spring and autumn (I know a few guys who were getting mast + in september) but the wind can be a bit more hit and miss. You'll still get decent swell in summer but it won't be epic.

Not sure about the rest of the country.

Essaouira, Sidi Kaouki, Moulay are all best around June/ July/ August... you can get wind on either end but it's less unreliable.

I was in Essaouira around the end of April... they had 20 - 30 knts for a week straight before I got there... nothing for 5 days while I was there... then another 20 - 30 knts as we were driving back to Cassablanca to fly out.

Sidi Kouki (approx. 25 kms south from Essaouira) is a bit windier and would have been good on those days when there was not enough wind in Essaouira.

When I was there (Essaouira) they had a Mistral centre (which was ****) but apparently has improved (a German guy I know took over as manager and sorted things out apparently). There was also a Fanatic place not far from the Club Mistral.

There is supposedly rental in Sidi Kaouki but not much infrastructure. The same goes for Moulay.

The spots further south rohjar is talking about are pretty awesome but when I was there in a couple of years ago it wasn't considered safe to travel alone by car. Then again, we rented a car in Fez and drove inland down to the Western Sahara... then via the three gorges to the Atlas mountains south of Marrakesh. Spent a few days in Marrakesh then another 5 days in Essouira before driving back to Cassablanca for a flight out.

There were plenty of police check points along the way and some areas looked pretty iffy. That's said no different to travelling on some areas of south east asia... we found that 99.9% of the time people were pretty friendly and overall we had a great time.

Just keep your street smarts... btw, you'll be offered a bucket load of hashish and other "herbal plants" at the beach in Essouira... it's generally a good idea to say "no thanks"... quite often the guys selling the stuff are undercover police and the penalties for tourists are generally in the form of hefty fines.

cheers guys,

yeah i'm thinking of going for 2 months and for surfing as much as windsurfing. thinking september, october next year.. i head the swell is pretty good that time of year.

anyone know anything about buying cars there?? or hiring 4x4s i'm pretty keen on the south part. i hear it gets epic and no crowds at all if you have the 4x

If you go to Sidi or Moulay make sure you take some small sails! The whole time I was there I being blown off the water on a 4.2m (weighing in at approx 90kgs at the time). Most used sails were 3.2m's.

Awesome place, well worth going.

curac said...

cheers guys,

yeah i'm thinking of going for 2 months and for surfing as much as windsurfing. thinking september, october next year.. i head the swell is pretty good that time of year.

anyone know anything about buying cars there?? or hiring 4x4s i'm pretty keen on the south part. i hear it gets epic and no crowds at all if you have the 4x

not sure about buying a car... we rented from Avis which wasn't cheap but ok for a 20 day rental. Driving wasn't that bad between Fez, Merzouga/ Erg Chebbi (central Morocco), Quarzazate, Marrakech, Essaouira, Cassablanca... as I said, plenty of police check points and the odd animal on the road... nothing worse than what you would find in rural Australia. Although driving in a sandstorm near Erg Chebbi makes the recent Sydney dust storms look like childs play.

Don't expect to buy a cheap quality car in Morocco... one of my observations was that the country looks like a grave yard for worn out Germany Taxis... except that they still operate them as taxis.

My guess would be you might be better off flying to Spain/ France/ Germany and perhaps buy a car there... then drive down to Morocco. Although getting insurance in any of those places could be tricky. Or fly to the UK but be aware that Morocco drives on the right side of the road.