»
In summer, when chic, young holidaymakers come to
sizzle before the breakers on Grande Plage, there’s a frisson
of French Riviera. And, year round, weekend diners from
nearby cities come to lunch in the seafood restaurants. I
watched one gent in impeccable moustache, blue blazer
and chinos stride into L’Araignée Gourmande (
araignee-
gourmande.com
)
like a Moroccan David Niven.
Nevertheless, Oualidia does not have the sheer pace of St
Tropez. It’s a place to do nothing more complicated than
swim in the lagoon and eat local oysters; perhaps just admire
the birds that brighten the lagoon like a carnival troupe or
watch golden sandflats materialise and vanish with the tides.
Watch the air filled with vast drifts of gulls. It’s the sort of
find in which specialist luxury travel agency Lawrence of
Morocco (
lawrenceofmorocco.com
)
excels. I could have lost
days simply watching the widescreen view from the terrace
of my hotel, L’Hippocampe.
No one looks at the sea the way a surfer does. Like a
school physics experiment, the lagoon mouth between the
cliffs softens, then radiates ocean swell across the bay. The
tidal channel around which Oualidia’s white villas curve
creates sandbanks arcing across the lagoon. Where the two
meet you get peeling waves.
“
A real natural wave pool,” agrees Laurent Miramon, a
Moroccan-born Frenchman who “arrived in Oualidia in the
cradle”. After a teenage career as a professional windsurfer,
he returned in 1991 to found Morocco’s first-ever surf school,
Surfland (
tel: +212 661 146 461,
.
“
Oualidia is a paradise for beginners because it has small
waves of amazing perfection and beauty,” he says. “That
means you can guarantee progression and safety. With
guidance, anyone can learn the basics here in a week, but
this is such a magical place. For me, the best thing
about Oualidia is not just the sport and nature, but the spirit
of friendliness.”
The surf guru must be doing something right. One of his
protégés is Moroccan pro-surfer Ramzi Boukhiam – currently
ranked number three in the World Juniors, and last year
a 12-year-old nephew of the Moroccan king rode his first
wave thanks to Surfland.
The area isn’t just suited to beginners. When winter
storms dredge sand from the lagoon mouth, head-high tube
rides can barrel across the sandbar. And, 15km south,
enumerable peaks go unridden at a break named Les
Tomates, after the local crop.
Despite all of this, only a handful or surfers are regulars
here, a result of the fact that Oualidia has never really had a
board culture to speak of. “When I began here, surfers didn’t
consider this region – for them, there was simply no surf in
Oualidia,” Miramon says. “But I discovered the wonder of the
place and a wave with a degree of power above all the other
waves in Morocco.”
Miramon, it turns out, discovered Snake on a surfari of his
own. Ten years ago, there were only two or three local surfers
in Oualidia. One was Chouaib, who not only switched from
windsurfing to wave-riding through Surfland, he found a new
career as its watersports instructor. “Of course, there are more
surfers now,” he says when we meet at the school, a former
boatshed emblazoned with Quiksilver logos. “Now we have
maybe 10 surfers in the area.”
I’m incredulous. Every kid around Taghazoute is in a
wetsuit. “Surfing is still new here,” Chouaib explains. “We’re
not the same as Taghazoute. Maybe that’s why here everyone
is calm and we have no problems.”
I’m politely unconvinced by the small waves in the
lagoon, so Chouaib offers to show me a “magnificent left”
ocean-side. With fellow instructor Mohammed, we jet down
the lagoon in a RIB, then crunch over sandflats dusted with
white shells. A heavy swell rolls inexorably from the open
11
10
0 5 9
