Imsouane is a fishing village about an hour and a quarter north of Taghazout, and it has a wave people cross continents for. The bay faces the right way to take a big Atlantic swell, bend it round the headland and turn it into long, slow, peeling rights that go on and on. On a good day you can ride for what feels like a minute. It's the best longboard wave in Morocco, and one of the best beginner-to-intermediate waves anywhere.
Getting there
It's around 70 kilometres up the N1, past Cap Ghir and the banana plantations at Tamri, then along a road through the hills above the sea. The drive is part of the trip.
- By car or taxi: about an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half. A private taxi for the day is the easy option if there are a few of you. Agree the price and the waiting time first.
- By shuttle: some surf shops in Taghazout run a daily surfers' shuttle to Imsouane. Ask around the day before.
- The cheap way: there's no direct bus. Take the bus towards Tamri, then a taxi from Tamri to Imsouane, which is about half an hour. It works, but plan your way back before you go.
The waves
The Bay
This is the famous one: a long, mellow right over sand, breaking along the inside of the bay. It suits beginners, improvers and anyone on a longboard. It's at its best from autumn to spring, when a proper north-west swell fills it in. In summer it's smaller and busier. Tide matters a lot here, so check with the shops in the village before you paddle out. On some tides the bay goes nearly flat.
Cathedral
On the other side of the village is Cathedral, which is more exposed, faster and heavier, over a mix of rock and sand. It's for intermediate to advanced surfers, and when the bay is too small, it's often where the waves are.
You can rent boards and wetsuits in the village if you don't want to bring your own.
Eat the fish
This is still a working fishing port. Down by the harbour there's a row of grills cooking the day's catch over charcoal: sardines, sea bream, squid, and more if you're lucky. The trick is to buy fish at the little market by the jetty and have one of the grills cook it for you. It isn't the cheapest meal on the coast, but eating grilled sardines looking at that bay is hard to beat.
What happened in 2024
In January 2024 the authorities demolished a large part of the seafront, including dozens of cafés, surf shops and homes that were built too close to the sea. It was a big blow to the village. Since then businesses have been rebuilding, and the waves, obviously, didn't go anywhere. Just don't be surprised if some places you've read about online aren't there any more.
Stay the night?
If you can, do. There are surf camps, hostels and apartments in the village, and a night means you get the evening and the early morning, when the bay is quiet and the light is beautiful. As a day trip it's a long drive both ways for a single session.
Is the swell too big at home? Imsouane is one of the best answers. See when Anchor Point is too big, and check the live Imsouane forecast before you go.