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Moulay Bouzerktoun

Marrakech-Safi · Moulay Bouzerktoun · Cercle d'Essaouira دائرة الصويرة

also known as Moulay Bouzerktoune, Moulay Bouzarqtoune, Moulay Bouzarktoun, Moula-Douraine, مولاي بوزرقطون

Part of Moulay Bouzerktoun →

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wavesadvanced onlyhigh crowds

On this page

The spot
Wind
Forecast
Month by month
Water
Level
The scene
Launch
Schools
Tips
Getting there
Photos
FAQ

Riding essentials

Season

Mar–Oct

Months riders and schools name

How windy

20-30 kt

Character: mixed · cross-shore

Room to launch

tight

access rules on record, below

Water

waves

19–21 °C in summerSmall sandy beach with a rocky slab producing a right-hand wave

Hazards

Reported by riders

Level

Advanced only

With a caveat: see Your level

BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced

Crowds

high crowds · busy Jun Jul Aug Sep

Schools

named at this spot

From the airport

Essaouira-Mogador Airport (ESU)

Transfer times under Getting there

On the clock

14:00 · 15:00

Light in the morning, building through the day and peaking around 14:00-15:00. The thermal usually fills in between late morning and midday and holds into the late afternoon.

The marks are the clock times the record names, laid on a 24-hour day. The bar between the first and the last covers those hours; it is not a promise of wind.

Nearbystraight-line distance

Backup spotsWhere riders go when the wind doesn't work here.

Essaouira Bay
Diabatno page yet
Cap Sim
La Grotte
Taguinzano page yet
Iftaneno page yet

The spot

Moulay Bouzerktoun is a fishing village 20-25 km north of Essaouira, standing straight out into Atlantic swell. It is a wave spot and not a kite beach: a small patch of sand, a rock slab holding a right-hander, side-shore wind from the right, and a lineup that knows exactly where the takeoff is.

Season

The reliable season runs spring to early autumn. Summer brings the strongest wind and smaller, choppier waves; spring and autumn bring cleaner or bigger swell on lighter wind.

For advanced riders

For kiters this is advanced territory, ridden as wave sessions or as the top end of a guided downwind toward Essaouira, not as a place to progress.

The launch and the exit are the whole problem: rocks, current, a reef that dries out at low water, and a crowded peak on a good day.

Services are thin next to Essaouira, but Magic Fun/FBC keeps a cafe, a few rooms and windsurf and SUP gear on the spot, and the Essaouira kite schools drive people up when the day suits.

The wind

locals call it Alize/north-east trade-wind system, also locally named Charki.

Direction

cross-shoreN to NE

Dominant direction

N to NE, generally right-hand/starboard side-shore at the spot.

Kite sizes

4567891011121314

metres · typical quiver highlighted

The quiver, in words

8-9 m is the standard adult size on a normal season day. For a 75-85 kg rider a 7 m covers the 25-30 kt summer afternoons, an 8-9 m the rest of the season, and a 10-12 m only the lighter spring and autumn days when the swell is bigger and the wind drops to 4-6 Bft.Rig smaller than you would for Essaouira Bay.

Character

mixed

When it fills in: see above ↑

Average strength

No station average exists for Moulay itself. The nearest long-run coastal record sits around 9 kt annual mean with 26 kt average gusts, which badly understates the spot - riders here work in 20-30 kt through the season, and guided downwind days are usually 25 kt or more.

Typical strength

20-30 kt through the season. Guided downwind days out of Essaouira usually run at 25 kt or more, which is the honest baseline for the spot.

Strong, wave-oriented and often demanding, with side-shore wind and clear swell; it can be gustier than Essaouira and strong enough for small kites.

March-October is given for side-shore wind, stronger in summer. June-August bring very strong wind and smaller waves, while spring and autumn bring bigger swell but lighter 4-6 Bft wind. April-September is treated as the prime kite/downwind window, with July-August strongest and sometimes too much for less experienced riders.

Winter has less reliable wind but larger Atlantic swell.

Forecast

Live forecast

Windguru Windfinder Windy

Month by month

10 ktJan17°
10 ktFeb17°
11 ktMar17°
11 ktApr17°
12 ktMay18°
12 ktJun19°
13 ktJul20°
12 ktAug21°
10 ktSep21°
10 ktOct20°
10 ktNov19°
10 ktDec18°

avg knots per month · water °C below · season highlighted

Monthly averages. Highlighted: the months riders and schools name (Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Mar, Oct).

Measured at Essaouira, ~17 km from the spot (reanalysis-based climate estimate (MERRA-2 era, ~1980-2016)).

Every figure, month by monthKnots · Wind from · Air · Water

Month	Knots	Wind from	Air	Water
Jan	9.6 kt	N	14.4 °C	17.2 °C
Feb	10.3 kt	N	15 °C	16.7 °C
Mar	10.6 kt	N	16.7 °C	16.7 °C
Apr	11.4 kt	N	17.8 °C	17.2 °C
May	11.8 kt	N	18.9 °C	17.8 °C
Jun	12.3 kt	N	20.6 °C	18.9 °C
Jul	12.9 kt	N	21.7 °C	20 °C
Aug	11.9 kt	N	22.2 °C	20.6 °C
Sep	10.3 kt	N	21.7 °C	20.6 °C
Oct	9.5 kt	N	20.6 °C	20 °C
Nov	9.7 kt	N	17.8 °C	18.9 °C
Dec	9.8 kt	N	15.6 °C	17.8 °C

How this was measuredmeasured · reanalysis-based climate estimate (MERRA-2 era, ~1980-2016)

A ground station recorded this, at the distance the page names.

A station this far away — often inland or at an airport — can understate accelerated local wind. The typical daily max and the direction are columns of the table above, month by month. Highlighted months are the riding season from the spot record.

Essaouira · Weather Spark · reanalysis-based climate estimate (MERRA-2 era, ~1980-2016)

The water

Type

waves

Standing depth

Not a standing spot. The wave breaks over a rock slab and reef plate, and near low water there is very little depth at all, plus waist-deep holes in the reef right where you launch. Booties are not optional.

Tides

Tide drives the wave here. Low water gives smaller, faster, quicker-breaking waves and uncovers the reef; high water gives bigger waves; the incoming push gives the biggest and cleanest.The range on this coast is large for a reef - springs run to roughly 3 m against a low near 0.6 m, and the waterline moves tens of metres.Do not launch on a low tide.

Temperature

Summer (°C) 19-21 near Essaouira; another 2026 figure gives 20-22 in June-August and 21-23 in September.

Winter (°C) 16-17 near Essaouira; also reported at around 16 °C, requiring a 3 mm long wetsuit.

Modelled monthly average: 17–21 °C

Wetsuit

3/2 mm covers most of April-December near Essaouira; 4/3 mm is recommended for January-March and often for April-May. Booties/reef shoes are prudent at Moulay because the entry is rocky/slippery.

Currents

Strong current, and one of the reasons Moulay is closed to beginners and intermediates. Nothing published gives its direction or its strength, so treat it as another argument for staying within reach of the sand.

Conditions

Small sandy beach with a rocky slab producing a right-hand wave. Waves run 1.5-3 m from March to June, smaller with stronger wind in summer, and swell returns with lighter wind in autumn; winter waves are given as 2-5 m, less in summer. There are two reef waves, one below the cliffs and one farther south by the beach/camper base.

Your level

BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced

not for beginners herenot for intermediates here

Advanced and experienced riders only: swell, current, a rocky slippery entry, and a lineup full of people who ride here every week. The on-spot centre takes intermediate windsurfers but does not teach kitesurfing at all, and the only kiters seen regularly are good private riders downwind of the main break.

The scene

What riders come here for

wavesadvancedfreeridestraplessdownwindwindsurfing

A serious wave-rider spot, framed around windsurf wave clinics and considered a benchmark advanced wave/downwind venue; it can be packed with around 100 people in summer.

Launch and rules

three ways on to the water, and what each one asks of you

With a school or a boat

6 schools name this spot

See who they are

On your own

Room to launch: tight

Read the access rules

Somewhere else

5 spots nearby

All 5 spots within 40 km are under Nearby

Rescue

No public rescue service and no lifeguard - the beach is not supervised for bathing, and cover on Moroccan beaches outside the labelled town beaches is generally limited or absent with minimal signage. The practical safety net is a wider, partly sandy beach downwind with no reef or rocks on the sand, which is where you land if you break something and drift.

Guided downwind trips from Essaouira run with a 4x4 following the coast for pick-up. Beyond that it is you and whoever you rode out with.

Launch

The main spot has a small sandy beach and stony/rocky entry beside the village, with reef/slab close to the launch. A wider, partly sandy downwind rescue beach with no reefs or rocks on the beach is where good private kiters are sometimes seen.

Hazards riders report 20 reported

Wind

Powerful, gusty wind
Strong summer wind that can be excessive for less experienced riders
Gustier than Essaouira Bay on some days, and unconfirmed how often.
Powerful wind that is too much for less experienced riders in July and August
Gusty patches on some days despite the clean side-shore setup

Crowds and zones

Crowded experienced-rider lineup in peak summer
Beach is reported as unsupervised for bathing
No rescue service and no bathing supervision on the beach

Bottom

Rocky slab/reef and stony, slippery entry
Very little depth over reef and holes near low water
Rock slab and reef plate right at the launch, with waist-deep holes in the reef
Very little depth over the reef near low water

Waves and currents

Exposed rocks at the point, especially at low tide
Strong current
Crowded lineup among wave riders in peak season
Currents and Atlantic swell
Packed lineup of experienced wave riders in peak summer - up to around 100 people on a good day
Winter swell reaching 4-5 m faces on the biggest days
Exposed rocks at the point, worst at low tide

Other

Stony, slippery entry

Rules & access

1 min read

Standard wave-riding priority/etiquette applies in the lineup, as at any dedicated wave spot
No official 2026 municipal or beach-authority ordinance, permit, or seasonal kite zoning was found for Moulay Bouzerktoun in the sources searched; the beach is also reported as unsupervised for bathing.
Wave priority applies in the lineup: one rider per wave, the rider closest to the breaking section has right of way, and kiters keep clear of windsurfers and surfers already riding.
2026: no municipal ordinance, permit requirement or seasonal kite zoning was found for Moulay Bouzerktoun. The beach is also not supervised for bathing, so nothing on it is managed for you.

Access rules drift faster than anything else we hold — check locally, and propose an edit if this has changed.

Schools that ride here

Rider tips

Time your session around the tide. The push is when the wave is best and the rocks are covered.
Never launch on a low tide. There is very little water over the slab and there are waist-deep holes in the reef at the entry.
Rig smaller than you would for Essaouira Bay. 8-9 m is the standard size and a 7 m gets used on the strong afternoons.
Helmet, impact vest and reef shoes, every time.
Watch how the regulars read the break before you go out. The takeoff spot is narrow.
Mornings are lighter. The wind peaks around 14:00-15:00.
If you are unsure of your level, book a guided downwind from Essaouira instead of driving up alone.
This is not a lesson beach. Learn in Essaouira Bay and come here once you can already ride waves.
The village hosted world-tour windsurf and kite events for years, which is the level the spot is built around.

Getting there

Airport

Essaouira-Mogador Airport (ESU) is the nearest airport to Essaouira, 15 km from Essaouira city; Marrakech Menara (RAK) is the common larger fallback for overland transfer to Essaouira.

Route

Moulay is about 25 km north of Essaouira, about 20-30 minutes by car from the medina/Essaouira. There is no public transport to Moulay; taxi or private transfer is recommended. From Marrakech airport to Essaouira, bus via Marrakesh takes about 4 h 12 min or driving about 2 h 28 min before the onward coastal transfer.

Transfer

20-30 minutes from Essaouira; about 170-195 minutes driving from Marrakech airport to Essaouira plus the Moulay transfer, depending on source and traffic.

Cost level

2026: budget-to-mid-range locally, but transfers add cost. Magic Fun rooms start from 15 EUR/night, with double rooms from 30 EUR/night.Seagull downwinds run 40 EUR/person with return transport. Other options run 80 EUR with own gear or 120 EUR with rental gear. The Marrakech airport-Essaouira bus runs MAD 90-190, with a private shuttle at MAD 600-1,800.As of 2025, Essaouira airport-town taxi runs DH150, and accommodation-arranged transfer runs around DH200.

Staying

Small supply on the spot: 5 rooms at the Magic Fun centre in Moulay, singles plus doubles and twins. Everything else is Essaouira riads and apartments, or the surf and kite camps around the town.

No-wind days

Surf and SUP are the direct alternatives, and Magic Fun is a SUP and windsurf centre: in autumn you often alternate windsurf and SUP through the same day. Moulay itself has cliff walks and fish restaurants. Essaouira has the medina, the port and the day trips.

Photos

FAQ

When is the best time to kite at Moulay?

The side-shore wind season runs March to October, with June-August the strongest, while spring and autumn bring bigger swell with lighter wind around 4-6 Beaufort.

Is Moulay Bouzerktoun suitable for beginners?

No, local schools reserve it for advanced riders because of swell, strong current, a rocky and slippery entry, and a crowded lineup of experienced riders.

What is the wind like?

Wind is a north to northeast, side-shore Alize/Charki trade flow, typically 20-30 knots and often gustier than Essaouira Bay.

What hazards should riders know about?

Hazards include exposed rocks at the point especially at low tide, strong current, and very little depth over the reef near low water.

Are there kite schools nearby?

Yes, Magic Fun/Fanatic Boarders Center runs a local base with rooms and windsurf/SUP infrastructure, and Essaouira schools such as Seagull Club and Windy Essaouira organize supervised downwind trips.

The bigger pictureEverything about Moulay Bouzerktoun

Last updated: August 2026