Things to do
5-
Essaouira Medina
Laid out on a grid by a European engineer in the eighteenth century, the walled town is easier to navigate than the older Moroccan medinas, with straight main streets and low white buildings under blue shutters. Workshops turn thuya wood and galleries sell Gnaoua art. Pressure from sellers is mild here, which makes browsing unhurried.
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Essaouira Port
Blue wooden boats crowd the working harbour, unloading sardines and conger eel under a cloud of gulls while carpenters build new hulls on the slipway alongside. Grill stalls cook the morning catch at the quay. Smells and noise are strong, and the fortified gate at the entrance carries a view back over the ramparts.
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Mogador Island
Offshore islets hold a ruined prison, a mosque and a Roman era site linked to purple dye production, and they now sit inside a reserve for Eleonora's falcon. Landing is barred through the breeding season and often year round. Boats circle the rocks from the harbour, and the view from the ramparts at dusk is free.
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Plage d'Essaouira
Sand runs for kilometres south of the harbour toward Diabat, with kitesurf and windsurf schools clustered where the bay opens out. Wind keeps the swimming cold and choppy through summer, though the walk and the horse rides along the water are the point. Ruins of a crumbling fort stand at the far end near the river mouth.
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Skala de la Ville
Brass cannons still point out to sea from the bastion on the northern ramparts, a walkway of cut stone where Atlantic spray comes over the wall in rough weather. Arms dealers cast the guns in Europe in the eighteenth century. Film crews have used the rampart repeatedly, and the walk along it takes minutes.