Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Coastline
When the Umayyads arrived in Morocco, they rode their horses onto Atlantic beaches and
dubbed the country
Al-Maghreb
(where the sun sets), knowing that the sea marked the
westernmost limit of their conquests. The coast has played a central role in Moroccan his-
tory, from the Barbary pirates to the Allied landings of WWII, but it's learning to relax:
King Mohammed VI's Plan Azur is currently developing stretches of Moroccan coastline
into shiny new tourist hubs complete with holiday villas, beach resorts and golf courses.
Luckily for nature lovers, there's still pristine coastline in between, with rare shorebirds
and cliff's-edge vistas.
Fishing and international trade have defined the Atlantic coastal economy ever since the
Phoenicians and Romans established their port at Lixus. But the Atlantic also has its wild
side, with raw, rocky beaches around whitewashed Assilah, and wetland habitats, such as
the lagoon of Merja Zerga National Park, attracting flamingos and rare African wildfowl.
South of Casablanca are the ports of Oualidia and Essaouira, former pirate coves where
rare wildlife still flourishes and Morocco's best seafood is served port-side. South of the
commercialised boardwalks of Agadir, resort beaches empty into great sandy expanses
stretching through Western Sahara to Mauritania. Morocco's southern Atlantic coast has re-
cently reprised its notorious pirate ways, smuggling sub-Saharan African immigrants to the
Canary Islands.
By contrast, the craggy Mediterranean coast has remained relatively undeveloped until
recently, despite a spectacular coastline of sheltered coves and plunging cliffs. Tangier and
the port towns of Ceuta and Melilla make the best of their advantageous positions, with
scenic overlooks and splendid coastal villas. The major barrier to the east is the Rif Moun-
tains, rugged terrain inhabited by staunchly independent Riffian Berbers who effectively
resisted colonial control and speak their own language (Tarifit). The Rif has remained polit-
ically marginalised, which has one highly debatable advantage: kif (cannabis) is widely
grown in the region east of Tetouan. But lack of access to essential services has compoun-
ded local poverty, and it's taken huge government investment to improve access to school-
ing and medicine via new infrastructure. Well-graded roads make exploring the Rif coast-
line more possible than ever before.
If you're going for a dip, be aware that the Atlantic rollers can hide some fearsome riptides, and
once you're in the waters there's nothing between you and the Americas (or at best, the Canary
Islands).
