What is Essaouira beach like?

Essaouira's beach is one of my favourites to walk, but I always set expectations: it is a windy beach, not a sunbathing beach. A huge crescent of firm golden sand sweeps south from the ramparts of the old Portuguese-built medina, and the famous Alizés trade winds blow across it almost daily in spring and summer. That wind is exactly why Essaouira became a world-class windsurfing and kitesurfing destination — the bay is one of the most reliable on the planet for it — but it also means you rarely lie out in a bikini for hours the way you would in Greece.

What you do here instead is wonderful in its own way. Long beach walks from the medina down toward the dunes and the ruined Borj el Bermal fort in the surf (the one that inspired Hendrix legends, mostly apocryphal — I tell the truth on that). Camel and horse rides along the sand. Beach football with locals, who are out every evening. And kitesurf and windsurf schools clustered at the southern end where you can take a lesson in the flattish water of the bay.

The water is cool Atlantic and the wind makes it feel cooler, so swimming is bracing and most people just paddle. The town itself, though, is the real reason to come: the walled medina is a UNESCO site, the fishing port lands sardines you eat grilled right on the quay, and the whole place has a laid-back, artsy, salt-air mood that's the antidote to Marrakech's intensity — it's only about three hours away by road.

I usually pair Essaouira as a two-night coastal break inside a longer Marrakech-based trip. The full breakdown is in the Essaouira two-day itinerary. Come for the medina, the seafood, the wind sports and the light; come for a tan and you'll be slightly puzzled by all the kites overhead.