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Muslim country in northwestern Africa, bordered by the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, and separated from Spain by the eight-mile-wide Strait of Gibraltar. The Moroccan coastline is similar to that of Baja California, Mexico—rugged, dry, and desolate. The main surfing area extends south from Casablanca to Agadir, and is filled with high-quality reefs and points; the area around Taghazoute is particularly rich in surf. 

Roughly 20 good to excellent breaks are located along the 600-mile stretch of coast between Casablanca to Tangiers. The Moroccan south offers vast tracts of surf-filled coastline, but is largely unexplored as it crosses into the Sahara. Winter is the best time to surf in Morocco, as North Atlantic storms produce consistent four- to six-foot surf along the entire west-facing coast, along with the occasional 10- foot-plus swell. Winter air and water temperatures average about 70 and 60 degrees, respectively. 

Anchor Point, Morocco's most popular break, located just northwest of Taghazoute, offers a long and somewhat irregular right-breaking wave. Boats Point, 50 miles south of Agadir, produces hollow rights within a beautiful cliff-lined cove. Spring and fall waves are just as well-shaped, but generally smaller. Summer air and water temperatures are 10 degrees warmer on average than in winter, but the surf often goes flat for days or even weeks at a time. 

The Moroccan surf in general is powerful, and often breaks over barnacle-covered reefs, but the biggest dangers to surfers exist on land: local surf lore is filled with tales of snakes and giant black scorpions, as well as scams, hustles, and thievery. Weak, short-lasting waves can also be found on Morocco's 400-mile Mediterranean coast.

Surfing was introduced to Morocco in the late 1950s by U.S. soldiers stationed at Mehdia Plage, about 75 miles northeast of Casablanca. In the late '60s and early '70s, visiting surfers passed through regularly while on the Euro-African "hippie trail" that more or less had its southern terminus at Agadir. "We lived for a time in the hut of an Arab named Baraque," a 1968 visitor wrote, "drinking mint tea, surfing, talking, and listening to Baraque play his three-string Moroccan guitar." 

Australian surfers Nat Young, Wayne Lynch, and Ted Spencer were filmed riding empty waves in Morocco for the 1969 surf movie 

. The first Moroccan national surfing championships were held in 1992 at a left-breaking point in Dar Bouazza, 15 miles south of Casablanca. 

Two years later, at the same beach, the European Professional Surfing Association staged the first pro contest in Morocco, with native surfers Hamza Benaidi and Christophe Delval both making the quarterfinals. In 1994, King Mohammed VI helped found the Rabat Surf Club and sponsored a Moroccan team to the World Amateur Championship in Rio, Brazil. By 2012, there were surf clubs established in most of the bigger coastal cities. The Moroccan surf is detailed in 

Morocco

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Encyclopedia of Surfing

History of Surfing

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Encyclopedia of Surfing

History of Surfing

Interviews

Features