After four wonderful days in Marrakech and celebrating Eid (the end of Ramadan), we headed to Essaouira for some beach time. Essaouira is known for having quite hippie vibe, a beautiful harbour and for being a great spot for surfing. And the absolute best thing about this city was, that there were cates everywhere. I was an intensely happy crazy cat lady.

Getting there

There are a couple of buses running from Marrakech to Essaouira. The two companies you should pick are CTM and Supr@tours. Both have their offices close to the train station of Marrakech, leave two to three times a day to Essaouira, take about three hours and a half one way and cost 75 to 80 MAD. You have to be at the station 15 to 30 minutes before your bus leave and get assigned seats and a break stop about an hour in, where you can get snacks and drinks. The station of Supr@tours is closer to the old town of Essaouira, which is a plus if like us you have decided to take about 15 kilos of goodies back from Morocco.
As said in my Marrakech post, there are loads of day trips as well and I think it is also worth it to just go for a day. Just don´t be surprised: Essaouira is a LOT colder than Marrakech. Everyone told us, but I thought it like 30 degrees in Essaouira compared to 40 in Marrakech, but the wind and the sea really make it cold, we were wearing long sleeves and pants almost all the time and I felt so cold I had to borrow my friend´s cardigan, so definitely bring a jacket.


Sightseeing & Where to Eat

The old town of Essaouira is very, very pretty, easily walkable and just nice for a long extended stroll. The old harbour is beautiful and quite famous and taking a stroll along the beach is absolutely wonderful. We mainly just wandered for the day without a plan and it was just great. Definitely make sure to have the amazing traditional breakfast in Essouira: freshly baked bread, drenched in either butter and honey or olive oil. It is SO good! Even for me as a German it was a bread revelation and that is a compliment. You can get two breads and a can of fresh mint tea (with about kilos of sugar) for just 17 MAD, or 1,70 Euros. We also headed to Taros, a rooftop bar, for drinks. Not only is the bar very beautiful, you also get an amazing view over the old city.


Surfing

I tried surfing for the very first time in Essaouira and I LOVED it! It is so, so much fun. I have always loved the ocean and being by the beach and I have always admired the coolness of surfers, but I have literally no sense of balance and kind of thought that would probably kill all my chances at even getting close to standing up.
But we were so lucky and our lovely Couchsurfing host was also a surf teacher and you really should not pass on an opportunity like this. So we headed to beauitful Sidi Kaouki beach with a public bus for just 7 MAD (70 cents), which took about 20 minutes and leaves every two hours. The beach is absolutely gorgeous and if you are not up for riding waves you can also try camels and horses. If however you are keen on trying surfing you can rent a wetsuit and a surf board and lessons for 250 MAD (25 Euros) for roughly two hours. And even I with my complete lack of balance managed to stand up and had a wonderful time so if I can it so can you! I really want to learn surfing now and maybe even go on a full on surf vacation and I am so glad I tried it. Maybe I will become a surfer girl after all!