I am sure Dakhla and Essaouira, two kiteboarding pearls in Morocco, are not for everybody. Especially Dakhla is a place for kiteboarders who are 100% dedicated to kite and just kite there. Yes, there is no many other options for activities except surfing, fishing, stand-up paddling or just chilling-out when there is no wind. But on another hand, it is really rare to be without the wind in Dakhla.The magic atmosphere of Dakhla starts at the airport in Casablanca. There are two groups of people waiting for a plane to Dakhla: Moroccans who work at port and kiteboarders. When you arrive in Dakhla, there are many familiar faces of Dakhla waiting for transfers to kiteboarding centers. I feel more like coming home – windy home 🙂
And my 7-meters kite is happy to be in the office almost all the time 🙂 there are rare moments when I can bring my 9-meters turquoise beauty out to enjoy the wind of Western Sahara.
Flight and accommodation in Dakhla:
Flight price (return ticket): Bologna or Milan – Casablanca – Dakhla from 320 EUR (Royal Air Maroc; find tickets on Skyscanner.net or Momondo.com).
Accommodations: from 60 EUR in kite centers around the lagoon for an all-inclusive package. Most of the centers have an option of a single traveler if you travel alone. Check different prices in low and high season (the best low season months are June and September) and most of the centers also offer Pay 6 days, stay 7 days.
Flight and accommodation in Essaouira:
My cheapest option to fly to Essaouira is from Milan to Marrakech with Ryainair (with boardbag included about 150 EUR) and then I take bus from Marrakech to Essaouira (2 hours, 8 EUR). There are also options to fly with Royal Air Maroc and Easyjet (to Marrakech, Casablanca, Rabat, Agadir).
In comparison to Dakhla, there are many more options for accommodation in Essaouira. You can stay there for 100 EUR for a whole month or you can spend 100 EUR per day in a nice hotel (I haven’t tried that option :). If you go to Essaouira for kiteboarding, it is great that your room is near kite centers, so you don’t need to walk a lot after great, but an exhausting riding.
