AGADIR

MOROCCO

I had a really good fortnight's holiday in Agadir, a city on the Atlantic in the South West of Morocco.

I have heard a lot of bad reviews about Agadir, but I really believe that it all depends on the individual's impression and what they make of their time there.

Let me try and give you a bit of information about it and my review of our two weeks there.

AGADIR ITSELF

The city of Agadir itself is primarily a tourist resort that is popular with European travellers. But do not dismiss it merely as a beach holiday; the atmosphere of the city is completely different from any other holiday resort that I have ever visited.

Agadir is very different from any other city in Morocco. It has been completely rebuilt after a tragedy - the earthquake of 1961 that killed 15,000 people - consequently there is a totally different city culture and architecture in the city than there is in the rest of the country.

With the earthquake Agadir saw one of the most complete wipeouts of any earthquake in this century: only a small quarter north along the beach survived. and Agadir moved its centre a couple of kilometre south and away from the dangerous epicentre. The Moroccan authorities decided that a new version of the Arab world should be built in an area away from the old town.
European architects introduced wide boulevards, and the simple lines of the Arab house was mixed with modern Western architecture of the same period

There is a memorial park is placed where the old town centre once was, and except a small mosque and some structures that can serve for ceremonies, there is nothing but trees and flowers here. The area is not really a place for excursions -- there are too many of Agadir's inhabitants who have many memories buried in the soil.

The town of Agadir is very modern and clean. The stretch along the sea is filled with high-rise resorts and restaurants. The town has all the banks, travel agents, shops and more restaurants.

This makes the town seem sterile and unpleasant, and while it is completely different from Casablanca or Marrakech, you still get the feel that you are somewhere completely different.
Many of the modern buildings and hotels are built in Moroccan fashion, and the flowers and trees that surround the city are all very exotic.

The beach is simply spectacular, and reached by a short walk through sand dunes. The beach is clean, long, wide and there is a continuous breeze coming in from the Atlantic, which makes it a pleasant place all through the day. The only drawbacks are the undercurrents, which can be strong and dangerous, and the temperatures, which can be unpleasantly low in wintertime.
We were there in July and yet the beach was not like many continental beaches at peak times, it was beautiful to walk along, our hotel offered guided walks along the beach early each morning, it was not crowded or filled with sun worshippers.
There was a private part of the beach to our hotel were all the beach facilities were included in the price of the holiday.

One thing you did have to look out for on the beach were local selling various goods, they are very hard to get rid of until you learn the technique - look straight ahead and give them a resounding 'No'

AIRPORT AND TRANSPORT

Agadir Al Massira airport and has good connections with all possible destination. The airport is located approximately 13 miles from the centre of Agadir.

TAXIS

Taxis can be found directly outside the arrivals hall.
Fares to the city centre are fixed at 150 dirham (around £12), during the day and 200 dirham (around £16) after 7pm. The journey time is about 20 minutes.

BUSES

Bus number 22 departs from the main road, a short walk outside the airport terminal. It does not go to Agadir itself, but to Inezgane. This town, is more of a suburb of Agadir, and provides transport into Agadir.
The journey from the airport to Inezgane costs 4 (around 30p) dirham. The last bus leaves the airport at 8:30pm.
At Inezgane, you can catch a bus on lines 20, 24 or 28 to the centre of Agadir. The fare is 3 (around 30p)dirham.
Buses are preferred by most Moroccan travellers, but has a tendency of becoming full quickly, much because Agadir is only a stop on the way south or north.

CAR RENTAL

Renting a car in Agadir is easy, and a little bit less expensive than in other parts of Morocco. At around 2500- 3000 Dh a week (around £200 - £250 all included, except petrol) a small car is at your disposal, and small villages can be reached easily.

CURRENCY

Moroccan Dirham (Dh) = 100 centimes. Notes are in denominations of Dh200, 100, 50, 20 and 10. Coins are in denominations of Dh10, 5 and 1, and 50, 20, 10 and 5 centimes.

Currency Exchange
Moroccan Dirhams can only be obtained in Morocco. The most convenient way to obtain Dirhams is through an ATM, where official rates automatically apply, but daily withdrawal limits can seem low .

National currencies should be exchanged at official bureaux de change only (identified by a golden sign); changing money in the street is illegal. There is no commission charge and visitors will be issued with a receipt which they must keep in order to exchange Moroccan currency back into the original national currency upon departure.

Most hotels have their own bureaux de change

The Euro and US Dollar are widely accepted, even preferred.
Credit/Debit Cards and ATMs

Some credit cards are accepted in larger restaurants, hotels, guest houses and the occasional shop in the souks. Cash can be withdrawn from ATMs .

Traveller's Cheques
To avoid additional exchange rate surcharges, travellers are advised to take traveller's cheques in Pounds Sterling, the Euro or US Dollars.

Banking Hours
Mon-Thurs 0830-1230 and 1500-1830, Fri 0830-1200 and 1500-1830.
Exchange Rate
£1.00 = Dh 12.52

ACTIVITIES IN AGADIR

Agadir does have a wide range of activities. Along the beach, camel rides, water scooters and parachute pulling of speedboats are on offer Apart from that; there are many tennis courts and an 18-hole golf course. You can sail, go horseback riding, try your hand at water-skiing, diving or deep-sea fishing.
Most of the hotels offer a wide range of activities too. Our hotel - the Caribbean Village Agadir - certainly did, if you wanted you could have stayed in the complex and been entertained all day and night.

There is also The Birds Valley or Vallée des Oiseaux is not only an aviary, but also a small zoo. This zoo with mouflons (a type of sheep), lama's and monkeys is as zoo itself is only very small, but it is a very green and lush place to visit complete with waterfall in the centre of town.
For families it's a popular place to go, not only because of the birds and animals, but also because of the playground. Opening hours of the Valley of the Birds:
daily from 09:30-12:30 and 14:30-18:00.
Entrance fee: 5 Dh for adults and 3 Dh for kids (around 40p and 30p)

THE FISH MARKET AND PORT

The fish market of Agadir has been turned into the surprise tourist attraction.
Agadir an important fish city, serving both African and European markets. The fisheries outside West Africa are rich, but there is a danger of the extinction of certain types of fish, especially the Sardines, which are threatened by high tech fishing vessels from the European Union. The port of Agadir has started to become somewhat of a tourist trap. The real reason is the startling change it represents from the rest of the tourist's Agadir that starts just 200 metres from the port gates. It is the first sardine port in the world.
The port is a bustling affair, and thrives from the rich fisheries off the Moroccan Atlantic coast.
It certainly is a very interesting (if smelly experience) and I would really recommend that you go to see it.

THE KASBAH

The Kasbah is the ancient ruined walls of the old city. It sits is at the top of a hill which dominates the whole city.
Of nighttime the Kasbah is lit up looks quite pretty.
Except from parts of the walls and the gate, there is nothing much up there and yet there are numerous busloads that make the journey. But there is a really good reason to go and that is to see the incredible view over Agadir. And this is definitely worth the 20 minutes ascent by foot, or 3 minutes in a car. You can get a taxi up the hill it's about £1 and you can arrange for a bit extra for the driver to wait for you or you can walk back down.
Warning though, there are guides who attach themselves to you and walk you round explaining the ruins to you and then demand money from you afterwards. There are also locals who will thrust a goat in your arms and demand money, or put you on a camel - again demanding money.

THE SUUQ

The Thursday suuq -- or market -- of Agadir is wonderful and is totally dominated by Moroccans, it has high quality products for sale such as leather, handbags, incense sticks, oils, spices, make up, hats, rugs as well as some wonderful foods
There is however one thing to look out for if you are fresh to Moroccan business culture: any guide you take with you will receive healthy commission on every product you buy. And it is from the money you pay too much, that he makes his best profit. Always haggle the prices though, the locals recommend
that you haggle to around 50-75% of the original asking price.

SHOPPING

The Municipal Market (Marché) is a two-story complex of shops selling all types of Moroccan-made souvenirs such as leatherwork from Marrakech, ceramics from Fes, and fossils from Erfoud at fixed, prices. The concrete building is between avenue des F.A.R. and avenue Prince Sidi Mohammed and is open daily 9am to 7pm.
Close by is the Uniprix supermarket, which sells a large range of fixed-price souvenirs including T-shirts, beachwear and accessories, toiletries, general grocery items, and alcohol. It's on the corner of boulevard Hassan II and avenue Prince Sidi Mohammed and is open daily 9am to 1:30pm and 2:30 to 9pm. Similar supermarkets to Uniprix, only smaller, include Anaprix, on boulevard Hassan II at the junction with rue de la Jeunesse, open 9am to 1:30pm and 2:30 to 9pm daily; Quick Service, in the

Tafoukt Complex between boulevard du 20 Août and place al Wahda, open 8am to 8pm daily; and SM Supermarket, Complexe Touristique de Tamlalt, corner of rue des Dunes and Chemin de Oued Souss, open Monday to Thursday and Saturday 9am to 1pm and 4 to 9pm and Friday 9am to noon and 4 to 9pm.
There are also lots of small shops where the shop keepers will try to lure you in, in these shops you do need to haggle as their original prices are very over inflated.
If you are not wanting to buy anything from these shops, walk quickly past without looking at them and ignore their remarks like 'cheap as fish and chips' and Asda price!

EATING OUT

Agadir has plenty of restaurants, and is one of the few places in Morocco where Western style restaurants manage to serve good foreign food. But still, there are more mediocre than good places around If you really want some great genuine Moroccan food, step out from the tourist streets and look for the first place where normal Agadirians stay and eat: this is the place where the people who know go.
We were very lucky to have incredible Moroccan food served to us in our hotel.

FOOD

Moroccan cuisine offers a lovely mixture of fruit and vegetables, rare and aromatic spices, delicate fish and t meats.
The most popular dishes are: Tagine, Couscous, Pastilla.
Food is usually well balanced, moderately and carefully spiced.

Harira
Is the famous Moroccan soup well spiced and rich in starchy foods, herbs and aromats also meat. Flavour is also added to make it creamy.

Mechoui
Roasted lamb in a special natural oven served in one piece. It is eaten with salt and cumin.

Couscous
It is also the Moroccan national dish cooked mainly on Fridays. A veritable mountain of white granular semolina hides within carrots, turnips, courgettes and various vegetables with pieces of mutton or chicken.

Pastilla
Is a sweet dish, the most caloric part of the Moroccan menu consisting of wafer-thin layers of flaky feather-light pastry filled with cream

Tagine
Is specially cooked meat with vegetables in a spiced sauce

Kebabs
You will see delicious kebabs being cooked in front of you at the entrance to the souk, in squares or at the roadside. A convenient and cheap delight.

Mint Tea
Refreshing, warming and stimulating, drunk in the morning, after meals or at any time. A pleasure you should never refuse.

Pastries
Honey cakes, cornes de gazelles, almond feqqas, raisins, and ghoriba with almonds or sesame... DELICIOUS.

ACCOMODATION

Agadir has a lot of hotels that range from lousy places that double as brothels to five star hotels with more than one swimming pool. Agadir is steadily getting more and more popular as a tourist destination, and anyone coming here during European or Muslim holidays as well as weekends should try to make reservations ahead.
I would certainly recommend our hotel, the Caribbean Village Agadir.

CLIMATE

Morocco is a country where you easily could start the day with a walk around a true oasis, then go skiing in the mountains and end the day with a swim in the ocean.
Being a country right on the border to Sahara, on the ocean and with some of the highest mountains of Africa, Morocco has several climatic zones.
As for Agadir the best season is from April to October, the temperatures range from 24 to 30, annual sunshine levels are more than 8 hours a day.
It can seem very cloudy, but in fact this is generally sand in the air from the Sahara.

OUT AND ABOUT

You don't have to stay in Agadir, there are plenty of reasonably priced excursions available, do try and get out and about a bit, you really MUST try and visit Marrakech.

40km south from Agadir, there is the Souss-Massa river national park. This was only opened in 1991 and is a famous spot for bird watching. You can also take an exciting excursion by 4x4 open vehicles through the park, which was created to protect the endangered Bald Ibis. As well as the hundreds of different birds there, the park is also home to numerous mammals, including jackal, red fox, Egyptian mongoose and African wildcat.

About 80km east from Agadir, there is the city of Taroudannt, which is worth the visit if you don't plan to visit Marrakech. This is just over an hour from Agadir and is a lovely old Moroccan market town; look out for the colony of white storks that live in a group of trees near the eastern gate of the town

Marrakech is about 250km from Agadir and takes 3 - 4 hours.

Casablanca is around 400km away, so if you want to visit here you would need to book accommodation.

IN CONCLUSION

We certainly had a wonderful holiday in Agadir, it certainly wasn't a 'Blackpool with sun' type of resort, we saw lots of very interesting sites, met some wonderful people and came back a lot more educated about Morocco than when we went.

I would certainly recommend it.

Summary: I'd go back tomorrow