Windsurfing in Morocco

Windsurfing instructor Tom Brendt spends a few days in Morocco every year. This year, he brought back some particularly beautiful photos.

April is the month when I set off on my annual trip to Moulay Bouzerktoun in Morocco. The town is located east of Marrakesh and north of Essaouira. There, two action-packed weeks await me with my Wave Specials: windsurfing, surfing, and stand-up paddleboarding.

This year, I flew directly from Lanzarote to Marrakech without any layovers. Exactly fifty minutes passed between takeoff and landing. Marrakech Airport was quite an experience. While I’m used to standing in long lines at passport control and waiting a long time for my luggage at most airports, things turned out completely differently than expected here.

It’s midnight and the airport is absolutely packed. Baggage from two flights is being processed at every carousel, and yet no one has to wait for their luggage. Passport control took less than two minutes, and including currency exchange and getting a local SIM card (for your stay in Moulay, I recommend the SIM from the provider INWI), I was already sitting in my transfer taxi 30 minutes after my arrival.

Welcome back to Marrakech—once again, a lot has happened. Construction and modernization are in full swing. Light reflectors along the curbs cast the glaring light from countless spotlights, streetlamps, and neon signs into my eyes in a somewhat erratic pattern, and from there, it’s likely transmitted to my brain as a wild jumble.

If driving in Marrakech demands the utmost concentration even in daylight, at night it seems like a pure game of chance. Cyclists wrapped in dark cloths emerge from the alleys without lights, riding right into the middle of intersections and changing lanes as if they were in a video game.

My driver, a young, well-groomed Moroccan, seemed completely unfazed by it all. He steered his minivan with ease through the city, while his right hand kept the horn pressed and his left finger operated the high beams to give the acoustic signals visual emphasis.

It is well past midnight when we leave the outskirts of Marrakech behind us. Another two hours on a fairly straight stretch of road lie ahead of us. Should I place blind trust in my driver, close my eyes, and get some sleep? After the first ten kilometers on the country road, it’s clear: No.

Four eyes are perhaps better than two after all. Including a brief chat with the driver every fifteen minutes. In between, the smartphone didn’t necessarily keep the driver on course, but at least it kept him from dozing off.

Thanks to the late hour, there was hardly any traffic on the route to Moulay. So we saved a good forty-five minutes off the normal travel time and reached my accommodation at the Magic Fun Windsurf Center in two hours.

Once I arrived, I quickly fell into an almost comatose sleep. However, my normal sleep cycle had me waking up at sunrise. The roosters, chickens, donkeys, and dogs in the area seemed delighted by the first rays of sunlight.

Moroccan roosters seem to follow a slightly different schedule than their counterparts in more northern regions anyway. The wild crowing begins shortly after one in the morning. I had ample opportunity to confirm this over the next few weeks, though it didn’t really bother me.

An announced air traffic controllers’ strike in Spain had prompted me to arrive a few days early. This meant I had the Magic Fun realm all to myself for a while and was hoping for a few decent days of wind and waves.

There were indeed plenty of waves. Moulay rolled its typically endless two- to two-and-a-half-meter waves over the reef. Only the wind was nowhere to be seen. The ideal swell direction for Moulay is north/northwest; paired with a wave period of eleven, twelve seconds, or more, the waves roll over the rock formations beneath the water’s surface as if pulled by a string.

Luckily, I had my SUP with me and was able to enjoy some fantastic sessions against the picturesque backdrop of the small fishing village. Occasionally, a few fishermen would join me, venturing into the lineup on half-cut windsurf boards strapped with air-filled tubes made from old car tires.

Since I had little desire to ride the waves over the reef or navigate the rocky entry point—which was also exposed at low tide—I spent my time in Essaouira soaking in the unique atmosphere of the seemingly endless city beach, the numerous cafés and restaurants, and the silhouette of the medina.

With each passing day, the guests of my clinics gradually arrived, and things became a bit more lively. We were also scheduled to have an initial familiarization session with windsurfing equipment before the official coaching began. This came in very handy for most of them, as most hadn’t been on the water over the winter and were a bit rusty.

If I have to go a few days without wind during my windsurfing clinics, then I’d prefer it to be exactly as it happened to us during these two weeks. Week two was a carbon copy of the first.

Small waves and calm conditions gave us the chance to get to know the spot, the waves, and their sections on surfboards and SUPs. Entry and exit vary quite a bit depending on the tides. While at mid-high or low tide you can start off gently on the sand, at low tide you need to walk carefully further into the water, let yourself be pulled out a few more meters into the water start position, and only then begin. Otherwise, the numerous rocks are just waiting to skillfully pierce your skin.

We naturally scheduled our weekly trip to Essaouira—including a visit to the medina and dinner in the city—for one of the first calmer days, so we could make the most of the wind and waves in the second half of the week.

Day by day, both the waves and the wind picked up, and on day three the wind shifted slightly offshore from the northwest, allowing us to mount the sails on the SUPs to get a feel for the timing and catching the waves at low speed.

Slowly, the wind shifted further toward the ideal northerly direction, and from then on, the windsurf boards came into use. I must say I was actually somewhat surprised at how quickly the students were able to put what they had learned so far into practice. The last two days of each week, however, did leave a few of them with a bit of a wobble in their knees. The waves kept getting higher and more powerful, but they also ran cleaner and cleaner from the cliff off Moulay across the reef, seemingly endlessly long.

This meant there was plenty of space both for our group to practice and for the participants of the Moulay Wave Classic, a 3-star World Tour event that was taking place at the same time. The event was significantly smaller compared to previous years. Not too many participants—mostly local wave masters—took to the water in pursuit of points.

The winner in the men’s pro division was Jericoacoara-based Jahdan Tyger, who has French-Brazilian roots. In the women’s division, Frida Miron, originally from Rügen, took first place ahead of her sister Emma. The Gobisch family also performed well against the rocky backdrop of Moulay: Peter Gobisch took third place in both the U21 and U18 junior divisions. In the U18 junior division, his brother Anton followed in fourth place.

Trine Gobisch took fourth place in the U21 junior women’s division and third place in the U18 category.

Whether they were competitors or windsurfing and wave enthusiasts, everyone got more than their money’s worth during these days. The beginners left their mark on the wave crests with several turns, while the experienced riders worked on precision and speed, hoping to eventually launch into their first aerials.

Everyone had plenty to talk about every evening on the terrace of the Magic Fun while we waited for our dinner at the on-site restaurant. The view from that terrace—and from the restaurant as well—is almost worth the trip on its own.

When the spray from the waves crashing ever closer to the reef is illuminated by the warm light of the sunset, everyone—even on the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth day—keeps pulling out their camera or smartphone to capture these moments on their devices, so they can look back on them again and again for weeks and months to come. The fact that like-minded people—whose passion is and always will be windsurfing, and who are constantly striving for new challenges and to improve their skills—gather here and at the clinics also creates an exceptionally good and pleasant atmosphere. Magic Fun has chosen a pretty ideal name for this place and for our clinics in Moulay.

The village of Moulay Bouzerktoun looks much the same as it did in previous years. What is striking, however, is the growing number of lodging options available. This became quite apparent, at least on windy days, when non-Moroccans equipped with windsurfing gear emerged from nearly every house and made their way to the small ramp leading down to the beach and the spot. Most accommodations are very basic but offer everything you need for a stay, including the occasional water shortage. The nearest hotels are located in Essaouira, a good thirty minutes away.

For daily meals, there’s the Magic Fun Café Resto, the Lawarma right above the cliff (which also has a great view), and, brand new, the Ocean House right next to Magic Fun.

Windsurf rentals are available almost exclusively at the Magic Fun Center.

The equipment at the Magic Fun Center is getting a bit long in the tooth, but station owner Bruno makes sure everything always works perfectly, so you hardly feel like you’re using older models.

If you’ve rented accommodations from former Moulay World Cup pro Boujmaa Guilloul, he’ll be happy to deliver rental gear from his shop in Sidi Kaouki—located further south—right to the garage at your place.

If you’re looking to relax, completely escape the fast-paced, colorful, and perhaps even noisy daily grind, and don’t place too much emphasis on absolute comfort—while riding endless waves, enjoying stunning sunsets, and experiencing a starry sky like few other places on Earth can offer—you should definitely pay a visit to this little village between Essaouira and Safi.

You’ll encounter the local wildlife on any walks you take, and it’s not uncommon for them to accompany you for the rest of the way. A very special place where not only the windsurfing and wave conditions can be extraordinary.

See you again in 2027!