Looking for an alternative to Kenya's Diani or Watamu to hone your kitesurfing skills ahead of the Kenya Kite Cup 2025? Making last-minute holiday plans that include adventure and sun, sand and water sports (swimming, kitesurfing, surfboarding)? Or planning your trips for 2025? Consider Dakhla, the southernmost city in the Kingdom of Morocco, which is emerging as a kitesurfing and tourist destination.
Dakhla's low season, the period between October and May, coincides with Kenya's busy coastal holiday season and Kenya's annual kite competition.
Wind speeds average between 14 and 20 knots. This means access to less crowded kite camps and resorts and lower wind speeds compared to the peak season of July and August when wind speeds range from 20 to 30 knots.
You can bring your own board and kiting equipment or rent it locally (kite camp) in Dakhla. The kitesurfing spots are in a lagoon.
But there is more to this pearl of southern Morocco – affectionately known as 'the peninsula in the Sahara' – than kitesurfing.
On days when the wind is not ideal for surfing, you could visit Porto Rico beach (about 60km south of Dakhla, for dunes, desert walks and swimming); immerse yourself in Sahrawi (Berber) culture – learn to wear a turban, cook, socialise and sip Sahrawi or Dakhla tea; go quad biking; bird watch (species include pink flamingos); and/or visit the ostrich farm.
Many of Dakhla's tourist attractions are located about 20km from the centre of Dakhla. Driving takes you off the tarmac and onto uneven, sandy terrain – the stuff of adventure. It is advisable to have a 4x4 vehicle and a local guide.
These can be arranged by tour operators in Dakhla's central business district. You are likely to see and/or encounter white or brown camels crossing the main road or grazing in the low, hot desert shrubs.
Dakhla is set to become another of Morocco's major port cities. The seaport, Dakhla Port Atlantic, is under construction and is expected to be fully operational by 2029.
Raw fish from the sea of Dakhla. Fishing is an important activity in Dakhla.
Photo credit: Roselyene Omondi | Nation Media Group
Dakhla is known for its aqua industry: fishing and aquaculture. Part of the fish is consumed in Morocco. The rest is exported.
The town is accessible by road and air. At around 9.30am, mid-November 2024, a rainbow breaks through the grey clouds above the tail of Royal Air Maroc (Morocco's national airline) on a wintry morning at Casablanca Mohammed V International Airport in Casablanca (Morocco's largest city).
I board the plane for the two-hour domestic flight to Dakhla. This is the longest commercial flight in Morocco, and the positive vibes of the rainbow signal a pleasant flight. And it is.
I step out of the cool air of the plane into the hot desert air that surrounds the plane at Dakhla airport and permeates the walk from the plane to the arrivals terminal. I shuttle to the Hotel Dakhla Boarding a few kilometres away.
The hotel overlooks a large square, residential houses and some shops. A few metres away is a long wall of paintings depicting aspects of life in the area.
I head to the sea-blue Talha Mar, a seafood restaurant, for a local and authentic fish experience. The sea is calm. The air smells of salt and sulphur.
The service starts with round bread rolls and a drink. This is followed by a multi-fish tagine of the day's catch, which is cooked in the waters that overlook the restaurant.
Roasted sea fish and vegetable platter at the Talha Mar restaurant in Dakhla.
Photo credit: Roselyene Omondi | Nation Media Group
On the back of this tagine comes a large plate of oven-roasted fish on a bed of various roasted local vegetables. Finger-licking and satisfying.
My next stop is a local craft market. On sale in and around the complex are handcrafted items made and/or used by the Sahrawi people, such as pottery, rugs and carpets, metal tea kettles and cups, jewellery, cosmetics and nut butters.
I return to the hotel and prepare for what turns out to be an extravagant, no-frills three-course dinner at the home of a local host.
On offer: an array of welcome soft drinks, dates and pastries; fish and pumpkin soup; roast lamb; platter of assorted fruit. My host's generosity and hospitality, combined with the utmost respect and kindness, are heart-warming and memorable. I return to my hotel to rest and prepare for a drive in the sand and sun of the Sahara.
Two of my most memorable experiences of the Sahara in this part of Morocco are the unexpected atmosphere of wind-swept heat (a factor of Dakhla's location on a peninsula between Western Sahara and the Atlantic Ocean and a lagoon) and the spectacular natural and somewhat otherworldly landscapes.
I end my stay in Dakhla with a visit to its iconic large kettle in a see-through metal fence and a meal at Terassa, in the centre of Dakhla, taking in the sounds and sights of the Atlantic Ocean.
In Dakhla, family and friends share couscous tagine on Fridays.
Photo credit: Roselyene Omondi | Nation Media Group
Things to do in Dakhla
Explore the Sahara. You can:
·Kite surf. This is one of Dakhla's main attractions and its popularity is growing. Several kite schools and camps offer guided lessons and company for beginners and semi-professionals.
·Cook and stay in a tented Berber (indigenous community) settlement. Bring your own food for this interaction.
·Watch the sun set over the dunes or, if you are in the centre of Dakhla, over the Atlantic.
· Fill up on the couscous tagine that the locals make on Fridays. If you can, try the local fish too.
·Try Saharan tea. It is served any time of day with tradition and pride.
Getting there
·Two-hour flight from Casablanca Mohammed V International Airport in Casablanca – Morocco's largest city – with Morocco's national carrier Royal Air Maroc, Air Arabia or other airlines flying to Dakhla. Kenya Airways flies to Casablanca via Accra.
·By road, from other cities in Morocco or from Mauritania. You can hire a 4x4 vehicle and guide, or travel by bus (CMT Bus, for example).
