Chilling in Taghazout

After a few busy visits to Marrakech over the years, we decided on a relaxing week in Taghazout, a village half an hour drive North of Agadir. Taghazout is known to be a surfer’s paradise. We chose all inclusive at the RIU Palace Tikida, which was lovely and to the high standards of RIU Palaces we have stayed at in the past. It’s on the beach and within walking distance to the village, which was ideal for us because we’re a family who does not stay confined to their hotel. We quickly found out that Taghazout is popular in the summer with city dwellers from Casablanca and Marrakech who are looking to escape the busy souks and heat. It’s a sleepy fishing village with a very chilled atmosphere and we had lunch each day there, just enjoying the sights and chatting to the locals. Everyone is so friendly, and delicious sardines were everywhere! The beach is busy near the village, with locals and fishermen, and gets quieter the further south you walk, back towards our hotel. This is where there are locals offering camel or horse rides and of course water sports. We couldn’t not try surfing of course and had a morning’s lesson which was great fun, and then we hired some jet skis. Well, I “we” but I left that one to my husband and son whilst I chilled on the beach drinking Moroccan mint tea which is constantly being offered, it was delicious. We also spent an afternoon at the skatepark in Taghazout, as my son is an avid skateboarder. We often seek out skateparks on holiday for him and always meet some great people. This was no exception. It was not easy to find, but carrying a skateboard gave us away and before we knew it we had a group of young children leading us the way. My son spent the next couple of hours skating and sharing his board and skills with the boys we met, it was lovely to watch. Another experience we just had to try was sand boarding, and being so close to some amazing sand dunes we hired a guide for the day and off we went. Yousef was the perfect host, taking us for a delicious Berber breakfast before driving us along the coast and up to the sand dunes. His stories of life in Morocco were fascinating. Sand boarding is similar to snow boarding, but with less protection! It was such good activity to try, with smaller dunes for those who weren’t so confident and larger dunes and fun challenges for those who were (my son!). We had a lovely balance of all-inclusive hotel and local experiences on this holiday, and to be honest many others in the hotel didn’t venture out at all as there was so much going on. However, as I said before, this is not us at all. Next time I would stay at a boutique hotel, and there were some great surf schools nearby too. Taghazout is definitely a great place to visit if you want to avoid mass tourism and mix with the locals, and it can be combined with a multi-centre visit to many other places in Morocco… a great way to end a Moroccan adventure tour maybe.