Essaouira in July

July is when Essaouira fully earns its reputation as Morocco's summer refuge. While Marrakech bakes near 38°C, the coast stays remarkably mild, with daytime highs around 23°C cooled by the strongest trade winds of the year. The blue-and-white medina, the Skala ramparts and the harbour are at their summer-busiest, the wide beach is a kitesurfing arena, and the constant, powerful Atlantic breeze acts as natural air conditioning under bright, dry skies.

That same fierce wind is the month's defining feature, and the reason July rates as good rather than perfect: it is glorious for wind sports and for escaping the heat, but it can make plain beach-lounging a sandblasted struggle — the sand blows everywhere and a windbreaker is genuinely essential, even in midsummer. The smart approach is to embrace it: kitesurf or windsurf in prime conditions, walk the ramparts and harbour, browse the medina's galleries and thuya-wood studios, and eat grilled sardines straight off the port grills.

July's appeal is precisely this contrast: a cool, breezy, lively coast a short drive from the inland furnace, with the easy two-and-a-half-hour transfer from Marrakech making it a deliberate heat-escape leg on a summer itinerary. Expect peak-season crowds and higher prices, so book ahead. For travellers who want genuine relief from the summer heat, world-class wind and a buzzing seaside town — and who embrace rather than fight the alizés — July is rewarding.