Stab Magazine | A Surfer's Guide To Morocco

Live Now: Chapter 11 Mini-Documentary With Dane Reynolds

3880 Views

A Surfer’s Guide To Morocco

With Luke Davis.

travel // Mar 22, 2018
Words by Morgan Williamson
Reading Time: 4 minutes

Travel outwits our impulse to stay in the same place, and by desire or necessity, moves us. After the recent swells from Morocco, it’s apparent, if you’re going to travel smart during the months of February and March, and have a penchant for hollow righthand points it’s a trek worth taking. Before the recent bacon-sizzling clips of the right that never ended, we caught up with Luke Davis and lensman Quinn Mathews about their recent strike to the North African locale. Luke filled us in on the mostly do’s for the visiting surfer. 

LukeDavis Morocco QuinnM 11

Morocco is generally coined as a regular foot’s dream, but any screw foot knows, if the waves are good there are no qualms in going backside.

Stab: Where’d you stay?
Luke: Stay at the Amouage. It’s this new hotel that opened up four months ago or so at the bottom of Anchor Point. It’s right on the water with an infinity pool that spills out into the ocean. Everything’s brand new, the food’s good, really everything about it was mental. It costs about $100 USD to stay, which isn’t bad for how nice it is. 

Best spots to surf? 
Anchor Point is the main wave and is also right where the hotel we were staying at was. Then there’s this wave Dracula’s gets good, but there has to be a lot of swell. Those are the main waves you surf, but there are so many mysto little points everywhere. There’s also fun beach break in town, it’s not amazing but it’s still fun, mostly a right that has a little left every once in a while. 

LukeDavis Morocco QuinnM 5

After the recent clips of Alex Gray navigating a rather heavy, rather critical right-hand cylinder, the average travelling surfer is looking for something more along the lines of this calibre.

How to get there? 
Flying in from Europe is minor. I ended up extending my trip in France to go over there. Flying in from LAX is a proper mission. But in Europe it’s cool, everything is so close and almost everywhere you want to go is about a four-hour flight away. Once you’re over there you have so many options. And the hotel is a 30-minute ride from the airport. You want to fly into Agadir.

How do you get around? 
We set up a driver through the hotel. One of our friends works there, so we had him guiding us around and showing us all the waves. The best call is to get a guide that can show you all the waves you wouldn’t know about. The whole coast that you’re surfing is off a two-lane highway. Any car would work just fine, there are little dirt roads you have to go down, but you don’t necessarily need a 4×4. A truck is probably preferred, though.  

 

LukeDavis Morocco QuinnM 7

Four-legged transportation.

Crowds? 
Anchor Point is the most crowded spot and it’s the easiest to get to. But you can go off the beaten path, find waves and surf alone too. There’s just about everything.

How are the locals?  
There are a lot of tourist and travelling surfers there. I didn’t experience any hectic localism at all. Like anywhere there are the guys that you let catch most the waves, but everyone’s pretty cool as long you’re not being a dick.

Sharks?
I think it’s pretty mellow. It doesn’t seem sharky at least and no one said anything about them. 

 

 

LukeDavis Morocco QuinnM 1 2

Here Luke shoots the stars of a North African destination.

What do the waves remind you most of? 
The points have a bit of a Santa Barbara or Santa Cruz feel. They’re rippable and for the most part user-friendly. 

Boards to pack? 
You want you basic shortboard for the point breaks. I brought some smaller boards, Mayhem’s Quiver Killers, which are good for all types of waves, like barreling waves, or whatever really. Then you’ll want a good step up. On a couple of the big days, I wished I had one. I know there’s some outer reefs that you need bigger boards for but they’re pretty rare to get. 

 

LukeDavis MoroccoFilm QuinnM0006

Anyone else sick of paying the metre at the car park and a short walk to a crowded beach break?

Anywhere to go out and party? 
There’s a little party scene in the city, but every time I’ve been there the waves have been so good that we just stayed at the hotel and surf-dogged. 

What’s the food like? 
We ate mostly at the hotel, they have all the standard breakfast stuff in the morning. Then we’d make a sandwich and bring it with us for lunch. Then every night they’d have a communal big dinner. It’s all local food, but a normal variety of stuff, chicken, rice, beef, veggies kind of thing. 

LukeDavis Morocco QuinnM 42

Have speed – will travel.

Anywhere to avoid? 
It’s pretty touristy, for the most part it seemed safe. It wasn’t something I was worried about while I was there. I’m pretty amped on Morocco; the place is pretty sick. It’s a rad trip to go on, especially if you stay where we did. It’s right on the beach and everything is streamlined and easy. 

 

Comments

Comments are a Stab Premium feature. Gotta join to talk shop.

Already a member? Sign In

Want to join? Sign Up

Advertisement

Most Recent

Full Frame: Scandinavia Is Surfing’s Next Frontier

A 30-hour drive, bathymetric maps, and 10 years of searching yield surfing's newest discovery.

Mar 29, 2024

Watch: João Chianca Had A Remarkable Hawaii Season Before His Injury

Plus an update on his condition.

Mar 28, 2024

Pittar’d And Feathered

Do the WSL judges deserve the internet's wrath? We asked the man of the hour.

Mar 28, 2024

Robbo, Pickles, And Tyler Wright Become The Underdogs Breakfast At Uninspiring Winkipop

The foreboding blade sharpens and inconsistent judging prevails on Day Two in Torquay.

Mar 27, 2024

“I Don’t Always Win Heats, But When I Do, I Try To Beat John John”

Slater shines and the axe begins its descent on Day 01 at Bells.

Mar 26, 2024

Back Against The Wall: The Ramzi Boukhiam Redemption

Morocco's first CT surfer on speaking six languages, having no coach, and snatching Fil Toledo's…

Mar 25, 2024

Will Kirra, Babies or JJF Stop a GOAT Winning at Bells?

Bluesky BOAG advice from a Superman specialist and former Trials winner.

Mar 25, 2024

Bells Preview: The WSL’s Victorian Sword Dancing Equinox Ritual

Will a Brazilian crack the Top 10 at Bells?

Mar 25, 2024

69 Shin Bones Later + the Anticlimactic State of Big Wave Record-Breaking

Lucas Chumbo might have surfed the biggest wave ever this year. But how will we…

Mar 23, 2024

Watch: ‘Fresh and Fried’ Ft the Quik Kids

How taxing is it to tackle the Gold Coast’s Triple Crown in a single day,…

Mar 23, 2024

The Popular Vote: The People’s Stab In The Dark With Kolohe Andino Champion

Which board looked best — to you —under Kolohe's talons?

Mar 22, 2024

Six Key Learnings From Portugal

Three CT events in, what do we know? 

Mar 21, 2024

‘Zipper’ Is Going On Tour, Here’s Where You Can Watch It  

Dates, times + locations for the Venice, Encinitas, Sydney + Byron premieres.  

Mar 20, 2024

Dane Reynolds On His Future, His Past, And Chapter 11’s Raison D’être

Our 9-minute plunge into the collective psyche of Ventura's pillar(s).

Mar 20, 2024

From ‘Blue Ribbon Cross Country Runner’ to Vogue – How Steph Again Is Back With A Rip Curl Remix

Everything we know about the she-GOATs sponsorship boomerang.

Mar 18, 2024

Stab Interview: Darren Handley Explains Why You Can’t Buy The Winning Stab In The Dark Model

And his decades-long standoff with Slater.

Mar 17, 2024

Griff Embraces Portugal’s Eternal Time Loop To Vanquish Medina + Ewing, Defay Delays The Inevitable

A redeeming closing act at Supertubos.

Mar 16, 2024

The Secret Behind Lungi Slabb’s Inconceivable Greenmount Funnel

Six broken boards, one leaking forehead, and five days of Superbank mysticism.

Mar 16, 2024
Advertisement