Best Romantic Beaches in Essaouira

Romantic Beaches in Essaouira: Cannons at Sunset and Dinner Inside a Fishing Boat

Essaouira offers a kind of romance that the purpose-built resort beach cannot fabricate: the romance of a place that is genuinely old, genuinely windswept, and genuinely itself. The 18th-century ramparts that look out over the Atlantic have been watching the same ocean for three centuries, and the sunset that illuminates them each evening is the same sunset that Hendrix watched from the Diabat ruins, that Orson Welles used as a backdrop for Othello, and that the Portuguese used to navigate by four centuries earlier. Essaouira invites couples to feel themselves part of a long story, which is a different romantic proposition from a private sandbar or an overwater villa, and one that suits a particular temperament extremely well.

Top Romantic Beaches in Essaouira

Essaouira Ramparts at Sunset

The Skala de la Ville, the main sea-facing rampart of Essaouira, was built in the 18th century by French military architects and fitted with Portuguese bronze cannons that still point toward the Atlantic horizon. Walking the rampart parapet at sunset — the cannon barrels silhouetted against the orange sky, the surf crashing on the rocks below, the offshore islands turning from green to black in the fading light — is one of the great free romantic experiences available anywhere in Morocco. The rampart walk takes about twenty minutes at a leisurely pace. The light is best in the last forty-five minutes before sunset. The wind is usually at its calmest late in the afternoon, making this the most comfortable point in the day to be standing above the Atlantic with someone beside you.

Dinner at Chez Sam

Chez Sam is built inside the hull of an old wooden fishing boat in the inner harbour of Essaouira, with porthole windows looking out over the working port and tables positioned so close to the water that the Atlantic spray can reach the tablecloths on days of strong swell. The menu is entirely marine — whatever was landed that morning is prepared in the Moroccan tradition of charmoula spice, preserved lemon, and olive oil. The atmosphere is unlike any other restaurant in the city: the confined space, the boat smell, the sound of the harbour outside, and the extraordinary freshness of the fish create a dining experience that is specific to Essaouira and immediately recognisable as such. Reservations are essential in season.

Full Moon Walk on the Empty Beach

Essaouira's five-kilometre main beach, which fills with kitesurfers and promenading visitors through the day, becomes completely empty after dark — there is no beachfront lighting south of the medina, and the trade wind that animates the beach during daylight hours creates a cold Atlantic darkness that most visitors prefer to observe from behind a medina window. In full moon conditions between October and April, when the wind drops for a few days and the moon reflects on the flat wet sand, the beach becomes one of the most extraordinary night landscapes in Morocco. Walking south from the medina in moonlight, with the surf audible but the water barely visible, and the Diabat ruins emerging from the darkness after twenty minutes, is an experience that requires nothing more than a torch, a warm jacket, and a willingness to walk into the dark.

Plan Your Essaouira Romantic Escape

Essaouira's romantic appeal is inseparable from its architectural and cultural character. Browse our curated collection of romantic hotels in Morocco and compare riad quality, Atlantic view, and proximity to the ramparts. For the complete guide to Morocco's beautiful beaches, see our beaches in Morocco guide.