Imsouane is about an hour up the coast from Taghazout, and it is the one day trip our guests ask about by name. The reason is a single wave: on the right swell, the ride at the Bay can run for more than five hundred metres. That is not a figure of speech — you can paddle back with tired legs and a genuine walk of shame down the beach.
Where it is, and how to get there
Imsouane sits roughly 80 km north of Agadir, on the same stretch of Atlantic coast as Taghazout. From the surf house it is about an hour by road, following the coast north past Tamri. From Agadir airport allow closer to an hour and a half.
There is no bus that goes when you want it to. Realistically it is a taxi, a hire car, or a lift with Taghazout Surf Trip — we run it as a group trip when the forecast says it is worth going, and there is no fixed day of the week.
The Bay: the long one
The Bay is the wave Imsouane is famous for, and it is on the south side of the village. It is a classic Moroccan point break: the take-off sits at the end of the main headland, and on the best days the sets start peaking right beside the harbour wall and peel from there.
It is one of the longest right-hand waves in Africa. On a good swell you are looking at rides of five hundred metres and more, and it is mellow — a soft, peeling wall rather than a steep drop. That combination is rare, and it is why longboarders travel a long way for it. If you have ever wanted to practise cross-stepping or noseriding, this is the wave for it.
It is also genuinely beginner-friendly on a small day, which is not something you can say about most point breaks.
Cathedral Point: the serious one
About a kilometre north of the village, around the main headland, is Cathedral. It is a different proposition entirely — a right point breaking over rocky reef, with a committed take-off and a hollow section of roughly a hundred to a hundred and fifty metres.
Faster, heavier and shorter than the Bay. Intermediate and up, and on a decent swell it is an advanced wave. It needs a northwest swell with a period of at least ten to fifteen seconds to line up properly on the reef, which is why it is often flat when the Bay is working.
When it actually works
The window is October to April, the same season that brings the swell to Taghazout. Outside that, the Bay still breaks on small days and remains a pleasant longboard wave, but Cathedral generally will not.
Two practical points. The Bay handles size better than it looks, so a big forecast is not a reason to write it off. And because the two spots want different conditions, a day at Imsouane is rarely wasted — if one is not working, the other often is.
What happened in 2024, and what it looks like now
It is worth knowing before you arrive. On 17 January 2024, Moroccan authorities demolished a large part of Imsouane with about twenty-four hours' notice to residents and business owners. The stated basis was that the structures were unlicensed and stood on public maritime land, and it formed part of a wider national campaign along the coast.
It was a serious event for the people who lived and worked there, and we are not going to pretend otherwise or take a side in it. What we can tell you is the practical picture: the rubble has largely been cleared, many of the surf camps, hostels and restaurants have reopened or relocated, and construction has continued through 2025. The village is functioning.
The wave, of course, is unchanged. If you have seen photographs from before 2024, the shoreline will not match — but the bay and the point are exactly as they were.
Day trip, or a night there?
Most people go for the day, and that works: leave early, surf the morning, eat, surf again if the tide allows, drive back. You will be gone eight or nine hours.
Staying a night makes sense if the forecast is genuinely good, because you get the dawn session without the drive. There are guesthouses and small hostels in the village. It is a quieter place than Taghazout, with less around it in the evening — that is either the appeal or the drawback, depending on you.
Practical notes
- Bring cash. Card acceptance is limited and there is not much in the way of banking.
- Take a longboard or a mid-length if you have one. The Bay rewards volume and length far more than a shortboard.
- The walk back is long. That is a nice problem, but a leash and a bit of fitness both help.
- Check the forecast the night before, not a week out. Cathedral in particular is either on or it is not.
If you are staying with us and want to surf it, mention it early in the week and we will watch the charts for a day that suits your level. For the breaks closer to home, the Taghazout surf guide covers each one by wind, tide and difficulty, and things to do in Taghazout has the rest of the coast’s flat-day options.
