A-frame

Aaberg, Denny

Aaberg, Kemp

Abberton, Koby

Abbruzzi, Sid

Abellira, Reno

Abubo, Megan

academia and surfing

Adler, Tom

advertising and surfing

Aeder, Erik

aerial

Aguerre, Fernando

Aichner, Scott

Aikau, Clyde

Aikau, Eddie

Aipa, Ben

air-drop

airbrush

Airshow

Ala Moana

Alabama

alaia board

Alaska

alcohol and surfing

Alexander, Kala

Alexandre, João (Dapin)

Allen, Chuck

Alms, Paige

aloha shirt

Alter, Hobie

Alvarez, Pepe

Ancell, Kevin

Andaman Islands

Andersen, Lisa

Anderson, Craig

Anderson, Simon

Andino, Kolohe

Angel, Jose

angle

Angola

Angourie

Antarctica

Apocalypse Now

Arabian Sea

Aragon, Janice

Arakawa, Eric

Archbold, Matt

Arena, Eduardo

Ashton, Juan

Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP)

Atlantic Ocean

August, Robert

Aurness, Rolf

Auster, Ken

Australia

Avalon, Frankie

Azores

backdoor

backside

backside attack, Pipeline

backwash

bail out

Bain, Rob

Baja California

Baker, Bernie

Baker, Grant “Twiggy”

Baker, Tim

Bali

Ball, John “Doc”

Ballard, Bill

Ballard, Rochelle

balsa

Baltic Sea

Banks, Jim

Barbados

Barilotti, Steve

Barland, Michel

Barreda, Sergio “Gordo”

Barry, Michael

Bartholomew, Wayne

Baxter, Jackie

Bay of Bengal

Beach Boys, The

Beacham, Debbie

beachboys

beachbreak

Beachcomber Bills Grand Prix

Beachley, Layne

beavertail

Becker, Phil

Bedford-Brown, Stuart

Belgium

Bells Beach

Bendall, Ma and Pa

Bennett, Barry

Benson, Becky

Benson, Blanche

Benson, Linda

Bermuda

Muslim country in northwestern Africa, bordered by the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, and separated from Spain by the eight-mile-wide Strait of Gibraltar. The Moroccan coastline is similar to that of Baja California, Mexico—rugged, dry, and desolate. The main surfing area extends south from Casablanca to Agadir, and is filled with high-quality reefs and points; the area around Taghazoute is particularly rich in surf. 

Roughly 20 good to excellent breaks are located along the 600-mile stretch of coast between Casablanca to Tangiers. The Moroccan south offers vast tracts of surf-filled coastline, but is largely unexplored as it crosses into the Sahara. Winter is the best time to surf in Morocco, as North Atlantic storms produce consistent four- to six-foot surf along the entire west-facing coast, along with the occasional 10- foot-plus swell. Winter air and water temperatures average about 70 and 60 degrees, respectively. 

Anchor Point, Morocco's most popular break, located just northwest of Taghazoute, offers a long and somewhat irregular right-breaking wave. Boats Point, 50 miles south of Agadir, produces hollow rights within a beautiful cliff-lined cove. Spring and fall waves are just as well-shaped, but generally smaller. Summer air and water temperatures are 10 degrees warmer on average than in winter, but the surf often goes flat for days or even weeks at a time. 

The Moroccan surf in general is powerful, and often breaks over barnacle-covered reefs, but the biggest dangers to surfers exist on land: local surf lore is filled with tales of snakes and giant black scorpions, as well as scams, hustles, and thievery. Weak, short-lasting waves can also be found on Morocco's 400-mile Mediterranean coast.

Surfing was introduced to Morocco in the late 1950s by U.S. soldiers stationed at Mehdia Plage, about 75 miles northeast of Casablanca. In the late '60s and early '70s, visiting surfers passed through regularly while on the Euro-African "hippie trail" that more or less had its southern terminus at Agadir. "We lived for a time in the hut of an Arab named Baraque," a 1968 visitor wrote, "drinking mint tea, surfing, talking, and listening to Baraque play his three-string Moroccan guitar." 

Australian surfers Nat Young, Wayne Lynch, and Ted Spencer were filmed riding empty waves in Morocco for the 1969 surf movie 

. The first Moroccan national surfing championships were held in 1992 at a left-breaking point in Dar Bouazza, 15 miles south of Casablanca. 

Two years later, at the same beach, the European Professional Surfing Association staged the first pro contest in Morocco, with native surfers Hamza Benaidi and Christophe Delval both making the quarterfinals. In 1994, King Mohammed VI helped found the Rabat Surf Club and sponsored a Moroccan team to the World Amateur Championship in Rio, Brazil. By 2012, there were surf clubs established in most of the bigger coastal cities. The Moroccan surf is detailed in 

Morocco

Subscribe or Login

Encyclopedia of Surfing

History of Surfing

Interviews

Features

Encyclopedia of Surfing

History of Surfing

Interviews

Features