What are the best beaches in Tangier and the north?

Let me set expectations honestly: Tangier's own beach, the long stretch along the bay below the city, is convenient and lively but it is an urban city beach — fine for a stroll and a café, not a postcard. The good news is that the northern coast on either side of Tangier holds some of Morocco's most varied and underrated beaches, and the contrast between the wild Atlantic to the west and the calm Mediterranean to the east means you can pick your mood.

West of the city toward Cap Spartel, the coast turns Atlantic — bigger surf, cooler water, wide windswept sands, and a string of beaches that locals favour in summer. It is bracing and beautiful but not gentle swimming water; come for the drama and the sunsets rather than lazy floating. South down the Atlantic coast, the lovely walled town of Asilah is my pick for a beach-and-culture combo: whitewashed ramparts, a calm artsy medina covered in murals, and clean sandy beaches just outside the walls.

For genuinely warm, calm swimming you turn east onto the Mediterranean, and this is where the north surprises people. The water is bluer, warmer, and gentler than anything on the Atlantic side. Around Al Hoceima, tucked into the Rif coast, there are beautiful cove beaches and a national park with dramatic cliffs. Further east, Saïdia near the Algerian border is a long ribbon of golden sand — the so-called 'Blue Pearl' — with modern resorts and the calmest, warmest water in the country.

A few candid notes. The truly spectacular spots, like the remote Cala Iris coves on the Mediterranean, take real effort to reach — winding Rif roads and a car — so they reward the determined rather than the casual. The far-north beaches are well off the standard Marrakech-Fes circuit, so they suit travellers extending a Tangier or Chefchaouen leg rather than a quick first trip. My summary: Asilah for charm, Cap Spartel for wild Atlantic, and the Med coast around Al Hoceima and Saïdia for the warm, calm swimming Morocco is not usually known for.