What is Oualidia (the lagoon)?

Oualidia is my secret weapon for travellers who want Atlantic-coast charm but actual calm, swimmable water. It sits roughly halfway between El Jadida and Safi, and its whole character comes from geography: a long natural sandbar shelters a tidal lagoon from the pounding open ocean, so inside the lagoon the water is flat, warm-ish and gentle — almost unheard of on this otherwise wild coast. That's why Moroccan families have holidayed here for generations, and why I send people with small children or nervous swimmers here over almost anywhere else on the Atlantic.

The other reason to come is oysters. Oualidia is Morocco's oyster capital — the clean, nutrient-rich lagoon is dotted with oyster farms (you'll see the 'parcs' at low tide), and you eat them shucked-to-order, brilliantly fresh, at simple lagoon-side shacks and a few smart restaurants for a fraction of European prices. As a culinary designer this is one of my genuine highlights of the coast; a plate of Oualidia oysters with a squeeze of lemon, looking out over the lagoon, is hard to beat.

It's a small, low-key place — a fishing village with a scattering of guesthouses and a couple of lovely boutique hotels rather than a resort strip, which is exactly its appeal. Beyond swimming and oysters, the lagoon is a birdwatcher's spot (flamingos and migratory birds use the wetlands), and you can kayak or paddle the calm water. The open-ocean side beyond the sandbar has surf and currents, so swimming stays inside the lagoon.

Oualidia works best as a slow one- or two-night pause, often combined with Casablanca, El Jadida's Portuguese cistern, or as a relaxed stop on the way down to Essaouira and Marrakech. If you've read about Morocco's coast being too cold and rough to swim, Oualidia is the honest exception I point people to.