Agadir Favorites

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Favorite thing: The last weekend in Agadir I visited the northern end of the Agadir beach (zone 1), close to the corniche with the restaurants. Unlike in the hazy mornings when I walked along almost empty beaches earlier in the week, it was now in the afternoons very lively and at sunday even very crowded.

I am not patient enough to lay down at the beach for a whole day, but one hour or so is OK for me. So I did at saturday and sunday. I sat at the crowded beach between the Morroccan families, youngsters and kids, who were enjoying the beachlife. From my part I liked the late afternoon sun, the seabreeze and the view at the local beachlife. It was so much more fun and interesting here than in the parts of the beach with the sunbeds close to the hotels with all the tourists from abroad.

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Favorite thing: I like to stroll around on markets in the countires I visit, because of the liveliness, to have a look to the products of the region and sometimes to do some shopping.

I was lucky, just one block from my hotel in Nouveau Talborjt was a local market. I could buy fruits (picture 1) and bread (picture 2) here. It's one block southwest of the Place Lahcen Tamri

Agadir has also a Central Market in the citycentre (picture 3) between the Boulevard Hassan II and Avenue Prince Moulay Abdallah. You can find here vegetables, fruits, meat, flowers, souvenirs.

Fondest memory: This time I went to the Central Market to see one of my VT- friends Med (me_34) who has his flowershop (picture 4 & 5) here. It was nice to sit in his shop for some time and have a look at the daily life in the markethall and of course enjoy his hospitality, having lunch together. Thanks Med for the fresh flowers every two days at my hotelroom and roses to bring home.

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Favorite thing: When you travel around Agadir look out for the goats climbing in the trees. In the this part of Morrocco grows the tree argan (Argania spinosa). This tree is unique to Morocco and produce a fruit like a olive, which is pressed for oil. The oil can be used for cooking and the body.

The goats like the argan too and it is not unusual to see the goats climbing in the branches to eat the leaves (picture 1). During all our trips in the area we saw goats acting this way, so you can't miss it. Also there are several places along the road where you can see the production of argan oil (picture 2, 3 & 4).

Favorite thing: There are many banks in Agadir and most hotels can change your money into Moroccan Dirhams for you. The exchange rate is a set rate done daily by the government too so no need to shop around for the best rates. The maximum amount you can withdraw from a cash machine is 4,000 dirham. That's about 400 euro, more than the monthly salary for the average Moroccan.

Most machines accept Debit cards but if you come across one which doesnt work just move onto the next machine and then remember the name of that particular one. Credit cards are not widely accepted for payments, although you can use them at travel agents and many upmarket hotels, restaurants and shops.

You can also change travellers cheques at most banks which you can use Euros, US Dollars and Sterling cheques but they do charge commission.

Favorite thing: I am white like a flour or... excuse, Brits or Scandinavians (usually :-) and I hardly get a tan first of a bit red colour... So, sleeping in the sun on a beach is not for me unless I have an umbrella (it costs :-). And being always moving character, I can't do nothing that is I can't lie on a beach to get a tan more than, say 10-15 min.

So my main and favourite activity was swimming or better to say diving into large waves in the ocean, some water sports, walking along long beach, watching people and amazing, exotic gardens of some fancy hotels located along the beach.

Favorite thing: Traveling around Morocco by own car, my wife (Urszula = matcrazy0) and I, stopped at many palces along the Atlantic Coast looking for any public beach we used to see in Western Europe and... except of hotel beaches, we didn't find any. There were rather some areas of sandy coast but dirty, with no facilities, no foreign visitors but many local sellers and beggars (kids), Urszula complained.

So, Agadir was a surprice! The beach was clean, long (8 km, 5 mi), wide with a lot of tourist facilities along (toilets/restrooms, restaurants, bars, water sport equipment hire etc.). There was a very pleasant breeze from the Atlantic which made it a very nice place all through the day. The beach was guarded by local police and there were not many sellers (a few) on the beach. I could see young locals playing football on the edges (western and eastern) of the beach.

Fondest memory: Wide and loooong sandy beach, to walk along (for me) or to get a tan (for my better half).

Favorite thing: As Agadir itself doesn't offer anything special, one day we rented a car and went to Essaouira. It's about 2-3 hours drive along the coast road. Even the driving was a pleasent experience, no tourist, only sea on the left and mountains on the right. We passed through some typical countryside villeges, such as Tamri, where there was a huge banana souk.

Fondest memory: Well, Agadir might not be all that spectacular. But the beach simply is; clean, fine grained, very long and wide - just how a beach should be. The water temperature of the Atlantic Ocean is about 22°C (72°F) in the summer - very refreshing as the air has 30°C (86°F) and up!