Surfers ride high on Morocco’s winter waves
Fleeing the gloom of northern Europe in search of warm winter waves,
surfers are flocking to a fishing village on Morocco's Atlantic coast
now selling itself as a top surf destination.
It may be a world away from Australia's Gold Coast, or Hawaii's
Waimea Bay.
But with enough wind, the ocean breakers at Taghazout swell to four
or five metres (13 to 16 feet) and are usually at least 300 metres long,
making it the Maghreb country's best surf spot, according to Moroccan
pro Boukel Simo.
Morocco's first “surf festival”, held at Taghazout in late December,
caught the attention in particular of board riders fed up with the ice
and cold of the northern hemisphere winter.
“Surfers arrived from all over, mostly Europe,” said Mohammed, who
repairs surfboards in Taghazout.
“The conditions in December are perfect: winter waves and sunshine.”
Add to that the blue skies, mild winter temperatures -- the sea
averaged 19 degrees Celsius during the three-day festival -- and an
international airport at nearby Agadir, there is plenty about Taghazout
to impress sun-deprived surfers.
Tom, a seasoned German surfer in his 30s, drew a favourable
comparison between California and Morocco's southwest coast.
“Smaller waves, but a better climate than San Diego!” Phil, a New
Zealander living in London, who like his Finnish friend Antton had flown
out for the festival, was sold on Morocco's surf.
Less than five hours by plane from northern Europe, the only
alternative is the Canary Islands, he explained, “and that's more
expensive.” “In Europe it's cold and dark at the moment,” he added.
The Cecille family, from La Rochelle on France's Atlantic coast,
arrived in Agadir, but not with the intention of spending their holiday
in Morocco's top beach resort. They headed immediately for Taghazout.
“It's been two months since I last surfed. It's great here,” said
Baptiste, the 17-year-old son.
The village is already a victim of its own success, however, with
some visitors complaining of crowded waters during peak season.
“Avoid the Christmas holidays... The whole of Europe is out there,”
wrote one contributor on the website allosurf.net.
The village now hosts numerous “surf camps,” touted by travel
agencies, and offering accommodation and courses in a water sport that
has flourished since the 1990s.
Surfboards lie alongside fishing boats pulled up on the wide sandy
beach at Taghazout, where the tourism trade has provided work for locals
like Omar, an instructor who works at the surf camps.
The high season runs until April.
“After that, there aren't many people here,” said Xavier Frederic, a
Frenchman who has run a pizzeria in the village since 2005, and whose 20
tables were fully booked for the duration of the festival.
The event's organiser, Mehdi Ouhabbi, is seizing the opportunity to
clean up Taghazout's beaches and raise concerns about the environment.
“In one day, we filled more than 200 bags of litter that we found on
the beach,” he said, pointing to a pile of rubbish nearby, beneath which
a trickle of waste water from the village flowed directly out onto the
sandy shore.
“Running water arrived here three years ago, but there are no plans
for water treatment facilities,” with the local authorities citing a
lack of funds, Ouhabbi said. The waste water “smells bad and it makes
the surfers' eyes sting,” he said.
Ouhabbi admitted there was little hope the village would retain its
laid-back surfers' paradise character, pointing to plans for a vast
hotel and golf complex in the area. A “surfers' village” is also
envisaged, with the government stressing that it wants to develop
“sustainable tourism.”
“At the beginning it was just a few hippies,” said Marco, a Frenchman
who has lived in the area for 25 years. “But it could become big
business, a new Cote d'Azur,” he added.
AFP
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