Sand dunes, Souks, and Surfboards

Ian Sharp
Oct 9, 2025
6 min read

Our travels to Morocco began with an introduction to “Morocco time”: This unique time zone seeps all the way to Orly airport in Paris where our flight was delayed by almost an hour with no real explanation. Our rush through Paris traffic to meet the pre-departure recommendation from Royal Air Maroc met a glacial pace through security and departure customs. MCT (Moroccan Chill Time) is similar to island time or tropical time; things just happen at a different pace. In many ways, we found this to be a nice change to the busy metropolitan centres of Europe.

We have felt safe, fascinated and excited by our time in Morocco. The five daily calls to prayer from the many surrounding mosques reminded us of the new culture we were learning about. We transitioned to ‘surf camp’ (most of you would know it as a hostel) life in Tamraght, outside of Agadir, with a cycle of travellers departing and arriving daily, with fast friends available from all reaches of the globe. Communal eating and chill areas meant lots of social time. Our host Mohammed, a wonderfully kind man, stuffed Finlay & Jasper every morning with chocolate spread and fresh bread (think Nutella without the hazelnuts). He made us feel welcome and comfortable despite some cramped quarters. He tells us that at the peak in December there are up to 40 people staying at the property. We felt lucky there was a more reasonable 10-15 during our stay. The boys practiced their French with locals and fellow travellers alike.

The camp neighbourhood was busy and loud, full of stray cats, dogs and a large chicken coupe across the street. There was even a resident family of peacocks. We witnessed a young male peacock trying to pick up a very dis-interested female, prancing around with his slightly undersized plume while she totally ignored him. Also, a first flight lesson of the peachicks off the roof to a patio below. Much of the local ‘wildlife’ have new families of puppies, kittens and peachicks, making for some interesting wildlife spotting. Some nights, the dogs fight in the alleyway - this inevitably wakes the posse of chickens who all start screaming with their bullhorns. This had us getting good use of our earplugs to drown out the nightly ruckus. A vibrant Moroccan experience for all!

On night one we drove north of neighbouring Tagazhout to find some sand surfing in the “little Sahara”; we hiked through a hidden canyon to the edge of the continent where camels and sand dunes meet the ocean. This experience had Ian reminiscing of his travels to Morocco 25 years ago with his Dad when they got stuck in a sandstorm during a similar adventure into the big Sahara.

The next day we went on to ‘real’ surfing - in the Atlantic. This was the first surf for the kids, while Erin and Ian both have surfed before (albeit 20 years ago). Our surf instructors: Hamza, Kareem, and Willie had infinite patience with language barriers and tourists learning to surf and got us in the water after learning the basics. Jasper was given the nickname of “Jetski” by the thickly accented Kareem (not sure if this was intentional or just a misunderstanding of how to pronounce Jasper) who took to him quickly, often helping Jasper beyond the break by launching him up and over incoming waves. Erin and Ian’s paddling muscles were jealous of the assistance. The surf tourism industry is growing fast in this part of Morocco, with many surf shops and surf hostels scattered up and down the coast. The weather and surf make it an ideal area to learn for beginners and advanced surfers alike. In the high season (December), we are told the waves reach 3 meters high (luckily the waves for us were a modest ~ 0.8-1.2 meters). All of us were able to get up on the board on day one - sometimes with a gentle nudge from the hidden hand of a surf instructor yelling 1-2-3 UP! with a thick Moroccan accent.

Throughout our time, taxis took us around town, to the beach with the surf camp and on other excursions. The drivers often stop, seeming to know everyone. They use their horns ubiquitously, treating it like a turn signal, brake & lights all rolled into one loud, exciting communication device. The taxi drivers here have much local knowledge and seem to know exactly where every bump and pothole is in the road (there are lots by the way!). This leads them to use the whole road, weaving back and forth across lanes vaguely painted on the road to avoid hazards; leaving us white-knuckling in the back wondering what would happen if a car was coming in the opposite direction around that next corner? Each taxi has differing levels of seatbelts, interior furnishings and operating standards. The kids found it so interesting and fun given how vigilant we are back home! All in all an exciting experience pushing 1980s and 90s automobile engineering to its limits.

In addition to 3 days of surfing, we visited Paradise Valley. As this part of Morocco has not seen any rain since March (!!!), our hike up the gorge found a small creek running down it rather than the large pools for cliff jumping we had hoped for. Instead we found only a small pool of water overrun with frogs and turtles. We decided against jumping into the stagnant water and opted instead for mint tea and fresh squeezed OJ next to a spring fed oasis. We also visited an apothecary to see first hand the production of local oils and honey that make up rural harvests in Morocco. Ian found a hair thickening oil he is convinced will help! The Sharps spent their other down days at the beach near a few resorts, playing in the waves with some borrowed boogie boards and reading under an umbrella for shade while drinking sweet mint tea from the wandering vendors on the sand.

We spent evenings enjoying the sights, sounds and smells of Morocco on sunset hikes in the surrounding hills or exploring a souk (outdoor market). Finlay was excited to find a Liverpool soccer jersey and was introduced to bargaining for the price. Erin and Ian bought a few souvenirs too although we have yet to figure out how to get them home - refer to previous blog about lack of space in bags. We are meeting up with Grandpa Hugh and Dagmar - who might have space on their way home???!! One evening we went into neighbouring Tagazhout and found shops and cold beer on the sea side. All alcohol is hard to come by which tends to make it taste so much better when you do find it! We watched the hustle and bustle of the beach before doing a short hike up the hill to watch some skateboarding at a park overlooking the ocean.

Morocco will be co-hosting the 2030 FIFA World Cup (with Spain and Portugal). Many infrastructure projects are underway. This has led to some protests across Morocco including in nearby Agadir, sometimes turning violent, including during our stay. This unrest is led by youth who are frustrated by how resources are being spent, with Moroccan people hoping for more spending on healthcare facilities and schools instead of stadiums and resorts. This leads us to think that these desires are often shared across cultures - with our own teachers in Alberta fighting for more!

Daily meals at the camp were amazingly fragrant tagines, soups, couscous, and BBQ all with flavours of Moroccan spice. Our morning meals were often shakshuka which makes Erin very happy, along with an assortment of fresh baked French bread with freshly pressed almond butter, honey and jams. We even found a local “cafe” run out of the back of a car (thereby known as Carpuccino) on the way to the beach that became a daily ritual.

We finished up our travels in Morocco with newly found surf-muscles that are sore. We are feeling (slightly) more confident in our skills and looking forward to finding more surf opportunities as we travel to more distant locations.

Jasper

My favourite part was surfing because it felt like gliding across the water.

I enjoyed the staff at the camp because they were fun!!!

I liked the mint tea on the beach.

I did not like seeing all the stray dogs because it was sad.

Finlay

My favourite part of the past week has been for sure learning how to surf. I also really enjoyed the food, especially the barbecue night where we had amazing merguez sausage and chicken. We even found the Blue Jays game that we watched from a projector on the wall. For breakfast everyday we got chocolate sauce with spectacular bread. While we were surfing, me and the surf instructor/friend named Hamza were making fun of the other surf instructor, Kareem, about calling Jasper Jetski.