Seaside in Essaouira
Essaouira is a small port town on Morocco’s Atlantic Coast. We took a day trip to Essaouira from Marrakesh, just a few hours away by train. When we arrived in this seaside city, it was sunny and you could smell the salty sea air. Blue fishing boats line every dock, creating a picturesque scene.
Essaouira citadel by Scala harbour
The coast is filled with restaurants serving up fish, lobster and crab. We met a live lobster and 15min later it was our lunch. The seafood is reasonably priced and fresh, but the local shop owners are pushy as you wander around looking for the right meal.
This is the same all around Morocco, there was hardly a moment when I didn’t feel heckled by locals to eat or shop at their venue. This is unfortunate because it’s such a beautiful place, but this kind of constant disturbance really put on a damper on our trip.
Although you have to deal with the heckling, Essaouira and Morocco as a whole is a great place to shop for home decor. We wandered through the medina and it was full of color, cute restaurants and handicrafts. The cobblestone paths along the ocean are lined with art and shops that have have beautiful berber and kilim rugs and pillows at a fraction of what they would cost in the U.S. We found an artistic and colorful Berber Rug we purchased to bring back home. Always try to negotiate in Morocco, they expect it and start high and haggle a bit.
All in all out day trip was fun wandering along this seaside town, but it’s not a place I would’ve wanted to stay for more than a day. Do you have any more tips on visiting Essaouira, please leave them in the comments below.
