What's a good surf-trip itinerary for Morocco?

Morocco's surf scene lives on the Atlantic, and for a dedicated trip I send people straight to the Taghazout–Tamraght stretch north of Agadir — it's the country's surf capital for good reason. My standard plan is a week parked there in a surf camp or a self-catering apartment near the beach, falling into the rhythm the swell dictates rather than a fixed schedule. Mornings you check the forecast and the wind, paddle out, eat an enormous breakfast, nap, then surf the afternoon glass-off. The town itself is tiny and scruffy-charming, all board racks, smoothie cafés and Berber-blanket shops, which is exactly the point.

On the waves themselves: the gift of this coast is its long, mellow right-hand point breaks. Beginners and improvers do brilliantly at the sand-bottomed Banana Beach, Croco and Devil's Rock, where a camp instructor can have you standing in a session or two. As you progress you graduate to the famous points — Anchor Point's long, peeling right when it's working, Killer Point, La Source. I'm honest that the marquee breaks are reef and rock and need respect and the right swell, so I match the spot to the surfer's level day by day rather than promising Anchor Point on demand.

For variety, and for the days when Taghazout goes flat or onshore, I build in two or three nights up in Essaouira. It's reliably, sometimes brutally windy — heaven for kitesurfers and windsurfers, and a fun beach-break option on the right day — plus it gives the trip a proper town: ramparts, fresh grilled fish at the port, a real medina to wander on a no-surf afternoon. Some surfers skip it and stay put in Taghazout the whole time; if you want pure wave count, that's the right call, and I'll just deepen the coastal base instead.

Practical truths I always share. The season matters enormously: October to March brings the consistent North Atlantic groundswell, with the biggest, cleanest points in mid-winter; summer is small and better for total beginners. The water's cool — pack or rent a 3/2 wetsuit. Boards, lessons, surf guiding and airport transfers are all easy to arrange through the camps, so you can travel with hand luggage if you like. And leave a day for the inland desert or Paradise Valley's palm-shaded pools when your arms are done — a surf trip here is half waves, half that loose, salty, sun-bleached coastal life.