Morocco’s prestigious coastline stretches from the calm bays and beaches of the Mediterranean around the Strait of Gibraltar and south for over 2,000 kilometres past Tangier, Rabat, Casablanca, Essaouira and Agadir. If you’re in the market for year-round sunshine and wide, empty beaches then this is the place to come.
This huge sweep of coast offers wonderful opportunities for surfing, relaxing and exploring historic sites like El Jadida, a UNESCO World Heritage site with a stunning Portuguese fortress.
Head out onto Oualidia’s lagoon by boat and kayak on a guided bird-watching safari for a chance to spot flamingos, herons, cormorants, storks and other rare species.
The walled port of Essaouira is perched above some of Morocco’s finest beaches; its stalwart stone ramparts and exotic medina are a delight to explore.
One of the largest mosques in Africa, Casablanca’s Hassan II Mosque sits on an outcrop jutting over the ocean with a spectacular interior open to non-Muslims.
Untainted by mas tourism, Tetouan near Tamuda Bay is one of northern Morocco’s most striking towns, with a UNESCO-listed medina and a prized location between the sea and the Rif Mountains.
The holiday potential of this vast stretch of shoreline has only recently begun to be explored, at least at a luxury level. One of the trailblazers is La Fiermontina Ocean, an eco-retreat in north-western Morocco, whose delightful suites and villas and traditional stone houses are set back from the beach among olive groves and orchards.
Another is Royal Mansour Casablanca, which offers panoramic views of the city's incredible Hassan II Mosque. South of Casablanca, Mazagan Beach & Golf Resort is set on a seven-kilometre beach in the former Portuguese colony of El Jadida, where old churches and synagogues rub shoulders with mosques and a UNESCO-listed fortress.
Keep heading south and you'll find La Sultana Oualidia overlooking a lagoon and sandy surf beaches. Colourful fishing boats chug by all day, flamingos and stilts congregate up the estuary, and low tide reveals the oysters for which the region is rightly famous.
Or perhaps you'd prefer the calm of Royal Mansour Tamuda Bay near Tetouan in the north, where palatial suites and a 700-metre beach are cooled by the breeze off the Mediterranean.
With its whitewashed villas, Michelin-calibre dining, and a wellness offering to rival Europe’s best, Royal Mansour Tamuda Bay reframes Morocco’s north coast as a destination for travellers seeking rest, ritual, and refinement.
A 1950s icon re-imagined, Royal Mansour Casablanca revives the city’s first five-star hotel with a clear sense of purpose. Expect standout dining, a world-class spa, and panoramic views of the Hassan II Mosque, all set in one of the city’s most architecturally rich districts.
Located on the north-west coast of Morocco in the province of Larache, just 45 minutes south of Tangier, La Fiermontina Ocean is a remote and stunning eco-retreat whose delightful suites and villas and traditional stone houses are set back from the beach among olive groves and orchards.
Set just above a sleepy sea lagoon on Morocco’s wild west coast, about halfway between Casablanca and Essaouira, La Sultana Oualidia is the perfect antidote to the hubbub or Fez or Marrakech, offering wonderful views, peaceful gardens and 12 beautifully designed rooms and suites.
Swerve the crowds in Marrakech and head instead to Mazagan Beach Resort on Morocco’s Atlantic coast, set on a seven-kilometre stretch of beach an hour south of Casablanca in the former Portuguese colony of El Jadida, where old churches and synagogues rub shoulders with mosques and a UNESCO-listed fortress.