In short
Essaouira is a town of wind. The trade winds blow almost all year, which has made it a capital of kitesurfing and windsurfing — and which explains why the beach is rarely a place for sunbathing.
The medina, World Heritage listed, was laid out in the eighteenth century on a regular plan by a French engineer: straight streets, rare in Morocco. The Skala de la Ville, an artillery rampart facing the Atlantic, borders it. The port, with its blue boats, still works.
Arriving and getting around
No regular international flights: you arrive via Marrakech, two and a half hours away by road, on a CTM or Supratours coach, or by taxi. The local Essaouira-Mogador airport has few services.
The medina is walked and crossed in twenty minutes. The ramparts and the port adjoin it.
What it really costs
Essaouira is cheaper than Marrakech and the sales pressure is far gentler — that is the main reason travellers extend their stay here.
Argan is a local product; the women's cooperatives on the Marrakech road sell direct.
When to come
May–June and September–October. Summer is cool for Morocco — the Atlantic current and the wind hold the town around twenty degrees when Marrakech reads forty.
The Gnaoua and World Music Festival, in June, fills the town for four days of largely free concerts.
What nobody tells you
The wind is constant and strong in the afternoon: the beach is often unusable for sitting, and the sand flies. Mornings are calm.
The Atlantic water stays cold all year here, around 17–19 degrees. Surfers wear a wetsuit even in August.
Orson Welles shot his Othello here in 1949; a square near the ramparts carries his name. The Skala also served as Astapor in Game of Thrones.
The gulls are numerous and aggressive around the port when the fish is landed.