Essaouira in December

December returns Essaouira to its mild, quiet winter — and once again the town barely changes. Daytime highs around 18°C and gentle nights near 12°C keep it markedly milder than inland Morocco, even as it becomes one of the wetter months. The trade winds are at their calmest, so the coast feels fresh and breezy rather than blustery, the blue-and-white medina and the Skala ramparts are peaceful, and the working fishing port carries on with its blue boats and grilled sardines, largely free of crowds.

With the wind gentle and the prices low, December suits the slow coastal pleasures: unhurried beach and rampart walks between the showers, mornings at the harbour watching the boats, art-gallery and thuya-wood browsing in the easy medina, and fresh seafood on a sheltered terrace. It is too cool and unsettled for the serious water-sports season, but for a mild, atmospheric seaside escape — a contrast to the cold, dry winter inland — it is a quietly rewarding time to be on the Atlantic.

December rewards travellers who want a gentle, low-key winter coast with the smallest crowds and lowest prices, away from the festive crush that fills Marrakech. A windbreaker still earns its place — the Atlantic is never truly still — and a rain layer covers the wetter days. As an easy two-and-a-half-hour escape from a cold inland night, December Essaouira trades the Red City's chill for mild, breezy sea air and an unhurried, off-season calm.