Top Surf Spots Near Taghazout

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Taghazout is a small fishing village on Morocco's Atlantic coast, about 19 kilometres north of Agadir (Wikipedia). Within a short walk or a quick drive you can reach a string of surf spots Taghazout has been famous for since the 1970s: long right-hand points to the north, gentle beach breaks in the bay, and an hour up the road, one of the longest waves in the country.

This is a guide to those breaks. What kind of wave each one is, who it suits, and roughly how to get there. We run the surf school here, so the spots below are the ones we read off the forecast every morning.

The spot changes, because the ocean changes

There is no single best wave near Taghazout. There are eight breaks within reach, and the right one depends on the day. Swell direction, wind and tide decide whether Anchor Point is firing or flat, whether the bay is clean or blown out.

That is why we do not fix a spot in advance. We check the forecast at dawn, split the groups by level, and choose the break that works that morning. You find out at breakfast where you are going. Groups are eight people maximum per coach, beginner and intermediate split apart, and the coach is in the water with you.

Anchor Point and the right-hand points

Anchor Point is the wave that put Taghazout on the map. It is a long, fast right-hand point that peels over a rock shelf just north of the village, and on a solid northwest swell it runs for several hundred metres. It is not a beginner wave. The takeoff is steep, the rocks are real, and the crowd on a good day knows it. This one is for confident intermediates and up.

Anchor Point is the headline, but the stretch of coast north of the village holds a cluster of right-hand points, each with its own character:

• Panorama (Hash Point): a softer, sand-and-reef right just south of the village centre. Fatter and more forgiving than Anchor, which is why improvers like it.
• Killer Point: a powerful right about ten minutes up the road, named for the orcas sometimes seen offshore. Heavier takeoff than Anchor. Advanced only.
• La Source: a reef break near a freshwater spring under the cliff. A natural step up once the beach breaks feel small.
• Mysteries: a fast, shorter right just north of Anchor, less predictable and best left to surfers who already read reef.

If you are weighing up whether your surfing is ready for these, our honest take lives in Surf Lessons in Morocco for Beginners.

Beginner-friendly beach breaks in Taghazout Bay

If you are standing up for the first time, you want sand under you, not rock. The beach breaks in and around Taghazout Bay are where almost every first lesson happens, and for good reason. The whitewater is gentle on small days, the bottom is forgiving, and there is room to make mistakes.

The main beginner options sit a few minutes south of the village:

• Taghazout central beach: small, shifting peaks right in front of the village. Basic learning waves on the right day.
• Devil's Rock and Croco: sandy beach breaks near Tamraght, a short drive south. One to two metre waves are typical, and the two spots sit close enough that there is usually a workable peak between them.
• Banana Beach: a mellow sand-bottom right near the river mouth at Aourir, a quarter of an hour south. Best around high tide.

Sand is slower than water and hurts less. On a gentle morning these breaks are where you learn to read a wave, pop up and turn, before you go anywhere near a point.

Imsouane and its long peeling wave

Imsouane sits about an hour's drive north of Taghazout, and it is worth the trip. The Bay is a long right-hand point that peels over sand, slow and patient, and it holds a reputation as one of the longest rides in Morocco. On the right swell you can ride it for a very long time and still be standing when you reach the inside.

The slow, sand-bottomed wave makes The Bay unusual: a point break that beginners and improvers can actually enjoy. Longboarders love it. Around the headland, Cathedral is the opposite, a faster, hollower right for intermediates and up. Two very different waves in one small harbour village.

Imsouane is not part of the daily surf school rotation, since it is a drive away, but it is a classic Morocco surf trip detour. If you are planning your weeks, the seasons matter as much as the spots, which we cover in Best Time of Year to Surf in Taghazout.

Lesser-known spots worth the drive

A little further out, the coast keeps giving. These are not secrets, but they see fewer boards than Anchor Point on a sunny afternoon:

• Boilers: a powerful, hollow reef break roughly twenty minutes north toward Cape Ghir, named for the rusty ship boiler on the rock at the takeoff. Shallow and serious. Experts only.
• Tamri: beach breaks well north of the village that can pick up swell when the points go quiet. Exposed and often windy, but a good shout when everything closer is small.

We will drive to reach a wave when the forecast says the local spots are not working. The point of eight breaks within reach is choice. When the swell is wrong for the bay, there is usually somewhere within an hour that is right.

Which surf spots near Taghazout suit which skill level

The quickest way to picture it: start on sand, graduate to the points.

• Beginners: Taghazout central beach, Devil's Rock, Croco, Banana Beach, and Imsouane Bay on a small day. All sand-bottomed, all forgiving.
• Intermediate: Panorama and Hash Point, La Source, Banana Point, Imsouane Cathedral on a clean day. Faster waves, some over reef, where reading the lineup starts to matter.
• Advanced: Anchor Point, Killer Point, Mysteries, Boilers. Powerful, often over rock, with takeoffs that punish hesitation.

In the surf school we split beginner and intermediate into separate groups, eight to a coach, and send each to the break that fits. Nobody gets dropped into Anchor Point on day one.

How to get to each break

Most of the famous waves are closer than you think. Anchor Point, Panorama and Hash Point are a walk from the centre of Taghazout. Killer Point, La Source and Boilers are short drives north, ten to twenty minutes. The beginner beach breaks around Tamraght and Aourir are a few minutes south. Imsouane is the outlier at roughly an hour north.

If you are here with us, transport to the chosen spot is part of the surf programme, so getting to the break is not something you have to solve. If you are exploring on your own, a scooter covers most of these in a morning, and you can rent one through us. Just time your sessions to the tide. Many of these points come alive at a particular stage of the tide and go flat at another.

Pick your dates, tell us your level, and we will match you to the right wave for the days you are here. Build your trip and we will read the forecast when you land.

Questions people ask