January has the reputation. For three of the Taghazout points, December has the figures. Boilers, Killer Point and Banana Point all have their best month now, and so does Cathedral Point at Imsouane. Count the clean days, the ones with swell and no wind to spoil it, and Boilers gives four days out of seven, Killer Point, Banana Point and Cathedral Point three each. The winter swell is at full size, 2.2 m at 12.5 seconds, and in December the wind gets at these exposed points less often than in any other month.
La Baie at Imsouane gives five days, level with January, and Anchor Point four. Hash Point, sheltered inside the village, gives only two, because even a winter swell does not always reach it. December is also when the season narrows by level: the big days on the points leave little margin for error, and it is the one month of the year when the main breaks are for advanced and expert surfers only.
The weather is the price. December has the most rain of the year, four days and 49 mm, and the least sunshine, a little over seven hours a day. Then there is Christmas: crowds and prices are high all month, and camps fill for the holidays, so the first fortnight is the easier one to book and the quieter one in the water.
Morocco keeps the journey short: a three-hour flight from much of Europe, and Taghazout forty-five minutes from Agadir airport. The sea is 18°C and the air 22°C, so pack for a 4/3 on the long sessions. If you surf at the level December asks for, this is the month to plan the year around; if you are still getting there, March gives you the same points smaller and with more room.
