Surfing in Morocco in August

Conditions in August

Swell : 0.9 m
Period : 8 s
Water temp. : 22 °C
Wetsuit : Shorty or 2 mm
Air temp. : 27 °C
Sunshine hours per day : 8 h
Rain : 3.1 mm, 0 days
Workable wind : 45 %
Crowds : High
Prices : High

August looks like July with two real differences. The swell nudges up, 0.9 m against 0.7, still at 8 seconds: not the season yet, but the last days of the month sometimes deliver autumn's first groundswell. And the water reaches 22 °C, its annual peak.

Otherwise this is the second month of the tourist high season: crowds and prices at maximum, with nothing in the swell to justify either. It rains 3.1 mm across the month, air holds 27 °C, and the sun gives 8 hours a day, easing back from May.

August is when Morocco is most a beach destination and least a surf one.

Learning in August

For learning : Good

This is the most comfortable month of the year for a first ever go at the ocean: 22 °C water, a shorty or even a rash vest, and 0.9 m waves that frighten nobody. Banana Beach and Devil's Rock run every day. The July reservations about group sizes and prices apply unchanged. August makes sense for a family, or for someone who has never been in the sea; it makes little sense for someone who wants to progress.

Where a beginner goes in August

These spots are reachable all year. What the month changes is the size of the waves, not the access.

For an experienced surfer

Surf : Off season

The points show signs of life in the last days of the month, without any regularity. An experienced surfer arriving in August accepts surfing Imsouane bay and watching for the window. Anyone chasing the real return of swell moves a month: September climbs back to 1.5 m and 11 seconds.

Beginner
Intermediate

Spots that suit August

Where to base yourself

Taghazout

Camps in the region

Ten sheets taken from the operators' own sites, published prices included.

How August compares

All twelve months, side by side

Where these figures come from

Air, rain and sunshine: WMO / NOAA 1991-2020 normals for Agadir Al Massira, a station some twenty kilometres inland and so a little warmer than the coast in summer. Swell, period and share of workable wind: Swell Archive and surf-forecast. Water temperature: seatemperature.org and weather-and-climate. Crowds and prices are an editorial judgement, not a measurement.