Essaouira is the most relaxed town on Morocco's Atlantic coast — a fortified medina of whitewashed houses with blue shutters, an unbroken sweep of sandy beach, and a steady wind that has made it one of Africa's best windsurf and kitesurf spots. Marrakech sends its overheated visitors here in summer to breathe; Casablancans come for the seafood and the calm. The medina is a UNESCO World Heritage site and small enough to learn in an afternoon.
Walk the Skala de la Ville, the sea-facing rampart with its row of bronze cannons looking out toward the Iles Purpuraires, then drop down into the souks to find the carpenters working thuya wood — the burl from a fragrant local conifer that turns into boxes, chess sets, and inlaid trays. Argan oil, pressed by women's cooperatives in the surrounding hills, is sold everywhere; the cosmetic kind is mild, the culinary kind is dark, nutty, and worth carrying home.
The working port is the heart of the place. Hundreds of identical bright blue wooden boats crowd the harbour, fishermen mend nets on the quay, and a row of open-air fish grills at the entrance lets you point at whatever came in that morning — sardines, sea bream, calamari — and eat it minutes later at a plastic table with bread and salad. There is no better cheap meal in Morocco.
The wind that funnels into the bay nine months of the year is what put Essaouira on the international map for windsurfers and kitesurfers. Beginners stick to the flat water near the port; experts head south to Sidi Kaouki or north to Moulay Bouzerktoun for waves. South of town, the Borj El Berod — a ruined gun fort slowly eaten by the surf — is linked by local legend (mostly fictional) to Jimi Hendrix. In June the town hands itself over to the Gnaoua World Music Festival, a four-day free outdoor party of trance music descended from sub-Saharan slave traditions — easily one of the best festivals in North Africa.