Road trip Essaouira → Sidi Kaouki → Imsouane: our favourite route
This is the route we recommend to every single client. 80 km of wild coastline, deserted beaches and the best grilled fish in Morocco. Here's how to make the most of it.
There was a morning, one of those January mornings when the light in Essaouira is still soft and golden, when Hassan told me: "Take the road south. Don't stop until the road stops." So I did. And I understood. Essaouira is beautiful, sure. But the real treasure lies down the coast: 80 km of wild shoreline where cliffs crumble into the Atlantic and nobody asks for anything.
Essaouira → Sidi Kaouki (25 km, 30 min)
Leave early. Around nine, the light slants low across the argan plains, and every now and then a goat stares down at you from the branches of a tree, yes, perched up there, casual as you like.
Along the way, you'll see argan oil cooperatives. Skip the ones with signs in six languages. Ask us, we know a small family cooperative off the main road, the one where Hassan has been buying his oil for years. Better quality, honest prices.
Sidi Kaouki appears suddenly: a vast sweep of sand against the ocean, steady waves, the wind carrying kites. Surfers, kitesurfers, walkers, everyone finds their place. Settle at restaurant Tama for a fresh-squeezed orange juice and the horizon. Nothing to do but watch the sea. That's the whole point.
Sidi Kaouki → Imsouane (55 km, 1h15)
This is where it changes. The road narrows, climbs, dips. Ochre cliffs, tiny beaches you can only reach on foot, villages where time seems to have slowed down. In a Duster, it's comfortable. In a Clio, perfectly fine too, just take your time and enjoy the bends.
This stretch is the one our clients mention most when they come back. Not for a monument or a museum. For the silence. For the moment you cut the engine beside a cove and hear nothing but waves.
Imsouane: where the road ends
Imsouane looks like nothing else. A fishing village clinging to a crescent bay, with a wave that sometimes rolls for 800 metres, one of the longest rights in Africa.
But forget surfing for a moment. Walk down to the port. The fish stalls sit right on the quay. You choose your bream, your bass, your sardines. They grill them over coals, with salt and lemon. 60 to 80 dirhams. A feast.
Then climb to the café above the bay. The view from that terrace, I won't try to describe it. You need to see it when the sun drops and the whole bay turns to copper.
The return
Take the same road back or swing onto the main highway. About 1h30 to Essaouira. If you can, time your arrival for just before dusk: the light on the ramparts at that hour is something you won't forget.
Practical info
- •Total distance: ~160 km round trip
- •Duration: a full day, depart around 9am, back by 6pm
- •Fuel: fill up in Essaouira. There's a station at Sidi Kaouki, nothing after that.
- •Vehicle: any car in our fleet works. The Dacia Duster is ideal for comfort on secondary roads.
