Imagine that during a calm cool breeze of a beautiful morning, you just had to leave your family, colleagues and your fluffy cat in your flat, to inconsiderately escape the hustle and bustle of the city and fulfill your craving for waves and nature with your beloved fiancée. CTM bus station in Casablanca is jam-packed with passengers coming from all over the twelve regions of the kingdom, besides some joyful wandering tourists, who can’t help themselves but show genuine smiles to locals.
It’s outstanding, and perplexing too, how effortlessly you can travel between world countries to Morocco for a few hundred dollars. Money will return again, but will you be 25 years old, freshly engaged, and on your way to reaching a paradise destination for worldwide surfers? Learning about new cultures that feed your mind and soul, to better help you realize the true meaning of life? Take some time to think about it.
We’re currently in the paradise of surfing, one hour and thirty minutes from Agadir, hidden behind the Atlas Mountains in Morocco, a remote town that is hiding a thriving surfing community.
Your eyes are gazing at an old-time Berber fishing village that is still unaffected by technology, and social media, also shockingly, unspoiled by mass tourists, along with a bay that leads to a tiny artisanal fishing port filled with azure-blue wooden boats. From afar, you catch sight of an 800m long right wave flawlessly unfolding. A straight crystal wave that is smooth, carefree, and everlasting, just like how local surfers describe it. Greetings from Imsouane.
Taking a break from the modern world, connecting with water, embracing the unexpected, and forming real connections with complete strangers from all over the world… If you look at it in a way, this is what Imsouane and Imi Bay (the camp that looks out over the bay) are all about. With the perfect amount of adventure, tasty seafood, golden hour yoga sessions, and friendly service in a minimalist Moroccan-style setting.
From the balcony of your bedroom at Imi Bay, you can start your morning with a breathtaking view of the longest right wave in Africa, as you hear music coming from downstairs, this means that the camp guests started gathering for a breakfast buffet. Once you make your way down, it’s all greetings and handshakes from everyone, and while you’re enjoying the healthiest green bowl made of a vari
ety of fruits, your eyes pierce their way along to the middle of the bay, noticing a bump that grows gradually to a smooth crystal wave. You start imagining what it would feel like to grab a board and paddle your way to the centre, wondering if the next set would feel like the dreamy wave everyone wishes to ride.
Time flies quickly as you make your core memories in such a place, your heartbeat matches the beat of Gnawa music and Moroccan folklore, sometimes some reggae music with old-school rock that plays on repeat.
Imsouane is no longer a well-kept secret, and occasionally there may be up to 200 surfers in the water coming from all over the world! Although fishing and the production of argan trees still dominate the local economy, surfing is now the main source of income for the people who live in this small, isolated community.
Imsouane is still a special place to visit because it is a small population and is near to the local community. On the port dockside, you can choose and buy a variety of fish that will be grilled in one of the old-school restaurants that overlook the area. In the village of magic waves, you can literally go surfing with a fisherman who knows all the hidden spots by heart, get some secret techniques from a vegetable vendor, who is a legendary local surfer, or have the most meaningful conversation with Hicham Oukhair, a guy in his early twenties, who wears his heart on his sleeve and pretty known for his hospitality and local guidance. He will tell you all about his home village, his community, and his buddies.
There is a local saying in Imsouane that goes like this: “once you step your foot in Imsouane, you’ll never want to leave”. No matter how many words are used to describe this paradise destination, only your eyes would get it.