Morocco Surf Camp
Posted by Cillian Balfe: Feb 06
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I stayed in the Surfmaroc Surf Camp in February 2006.
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Food
I had a great time and scored surf every day, the country is
really cheap so you won't spend much money. You can eat and drink
(non-alcoholic) all you want in Tarhzhoute for about €10,
in fact I don't think I spend more than that on any night and
that was eating starter, main and dessert and a load of milkshakes.
You can get alcoholic drinks in the bar that overlooks Panorama’s
but nowhere else in the town other than the surf camp.
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Waves
The selection of waves is fantastic within such a small area
but if it'd be better to have access to transport to maximise
your options. If you wanted to surf anywhere north of Killers
or as far south as Devil’s Rock you’d be well advised
to get a car. A drive to Devil’s Rock is about 10 minutes
but it would take you about 35-40 minutes or more to walk it and
Killers is about a 15-20 minute walk from the town so be warned
surf maps, you might see of the area, can be deceptive in that
they might not always be to scale and places often look closer
than they are on the ground. Banana Point was probably my favourite,
it's like Easky Left in shape and speed but it's longer and it's
a right so it's perfect for regulars like me.
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Devil’s Rock is another good right, with the eponymous
rock blocking the prevailing northerlies. It’s a good wave
suitable for long and short boards and is very similar to Banana
Point except it’s a little smaller, a little more crowded
and a little less sheltered from the wind. Banana Point and Devil’s
Rock are about a five minute walk from each other.
Panoramas is a long boarder/beginner wave and Hash Point which
you can paddle to from Panoramas is a decent long boarders wave
and while bigger than Panoramas needs a big swell, I'd say, to
work well. Panoramas and Hash Point are waves to visit at the
end of the day when you’re tired and not when you’re
full of energy and looking to be challenged. All the waves are
very dependent on the tide and don't work on a high tide.
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Mysteries is a really strange wave, waves seem to appear and
disappear out of nowhere, it closes out at times and when the
tide turns, a left appears for about an hour or so and then disappears,
this was the only left I saw in a week in Morocco.
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Killers is a fast steep wave that jacks up quickly with a lot
of water behind it. The outer point at which it breaks is only
for the more experienced surfer who can duck dive well and isn’t
afraid to get ‘worked’ on the inside after a wipeout,
two guys cut their feet/legs from hitting the bottom so be warned.
It does also break in closer to the shore and this is a more forgiving
wave. Access to the main wave is via the beach and around the
cliffs or if the tide is on the push access is via the beach and
is quite a paddle out.
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Tarhazoute
The town itself is very undeveloped and you should bring whatever
cash you're going to spend with you as you can't get cash unless
you go to Agadir.
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Accommodation
As to where you should stay, you can stay in these lovely villas
right on Anchor Point for €40 or so a night. You can stay
in the Atlantic Hotel in the town for €8 a night with a good
scattering of South Africans and Kiwis for company. Alternatively
you could stay in the
surf camp (not to be confused with Marocsurf) for €229 for
a week, as you can see it's much more expensive than anywhere
else but do you get more for your money?
You get a breakfast and a sambo at lunch and transport to surf
but on a few occasions it felt like the tail was wagging the dog
in that the driver of the surf vehicle decided we'd go somewhere
and if the surf was great or crap you'd stay there for the day.
The camp is like the standard of a decent Irish hostel in my view,
and at times I found myself thinking that things like food were
expensive.
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On the plus side, all of the staff are very committed to getting
people to surf every day, and they cajoled pretty much everyone
out of bed before 8am each morning; if a group of people want
to go to one spot they're very accommodating in arranging transport
and they're decent guys. If you were going to stay in any surf
camp then this seemed to be the best according to people who stayed
in other ones in the area but I didn’t see the other surf
camps accommodation so can’t really comment on whether other
ones are better or not.
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Am I glad I went?
Absolutely, I met some great people in the camp and scored great
surf.
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Was it value for money?
It was great to do as I was traveling alone but I met some punters
from the East Coast surf Club out there and they had paid €250
for flights and accommodation (in Agadir) for the week as opposed
to €200 I spent on flights and £229 stg on accommodation.
If you're going with mates I’d stay in the villas by anchor
point and rent a car, car rental cost the East Coast Surf Club
guys €250 for a week. Overall, it was a good option for someone
travelling on their own and there was a good few people in the
camp who were on their own. The punters were mostly English but
there were a lot of Welsh there also.
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Would I go back?
To Morocco, yes, to the surf camp, probably not.
Should you go?
Absolutely but be ready for the rubbish and litter that is strewn
everywhere and especially on the shoreline. The town itself has
an open sewer running through it so it's definitely not a place
for someone looking for luxury but overall everyone I spoke to
enjoyed it. If you're going to go it got cold at night so bring
a few long sleeved t-shirts/sweaters and a woolly hat and a fleece.
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If you have fair skin bring some good sun tan lotion as the sun
is strong even though it wasn’t all that warm during the
day. It would get up to about 17-18 degrees in the daytime and
would fall quickly at night.
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Wetsuit and booties
I was told going out there that 3mm wetsuit would do me. I brought
my 5:3 and found this ideal. The water was colder than I imagined
it would be and everyone I spoke to in a 3 mm said they’d
be better off in a 5 mm. A lot of people didn’t surf with
booties but walking over the broken glass on the way to the waves
is easier with booties. I cut my feet up on the first day on urchins
and sharp rocks and wore the booties after that. The wearing of
booties is very much a personal choice and whether you should
wear them or not is up to you but you should at least bring them
so you have the option of wearing them. I finally got the last
of the sea urchins out of my right foot nearly two weeks after
they got in there. Apart from the urchins there is a huge amount
of broken glass everywhere, so much so you’d nearly think
it grows in the wild in Morocco, so the booties do come in handy
out of the water as well as in it. There is no need to bring gloves.
If you’re very fair or are thinning on top you should consider
bringing an old baseball cap to wear in the water if you’re
going to surf under mid-day sun.
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All the best, Cillian
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