Essaouira · Things to do
Checked August 2026 · 5 official sources
THINGS TO DO
A walled 18th-century port laid out on European military lines, so the sights are the fortifications, the working fish harbour and the craft workshops inside them, plus a beach that the wind has turned over to kites and boards.
Skala de la Ville and the sea ramparts
The raised artillery platform on the medina's seaward wall, lined with old brass cannon and open to walk along. UNESCO lists the whole medina as a late-18th-century fortified town built under Sultan Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdallah to European military designs, and this is where that is most obvious.
The fishing port and Skala du Port
A working harbour rather than a marina: blue wooden boats unloading, gulls, nets and grilled-fish stalls at the gate. Busiest in the late morning when the catch comes in; the Skala du Port bastion beside it charges a small fee for the view back over the ramparts.
📍 Map & photos · $
The souks and the thuya-wood workshops
Essaouira's medina is smaller and far easier to navigate than Fes or Marrakech, laid out on a grid. The woodworkers' quarter under and around the ramparts turns local thuya root into boxes and inlay, and you can watch it being cut rather than only buy the result.
Kitesurfing and windsurfing on the main beach
The reliable northeasterly that gives the town its nickname makes the long bay south of the medina one of Morocco's main board spots, strongest in the afternoon from spring to early autumn. Ocean Vagabond on Boulevard Mohamed V rents kit and teaches kitesurf, windsurf, wing and SUP.
📍 Map & photos · $$ · Website ↗
Walk south to Diabat and Borj El Baroud
About an hour on the sand from the medina, past the Ksob river mouth, to the half-buried ruined gun tower and the village of Diabat behind it. Check the river before crossing, as it can be too deep at high tide, and go with the wind at your back on the way out.