Surfing in Morocco in October

Conditions in October

Swell : 2 m
Period : 11 s
Water temp. : 21 °C
Wetsuit : Shorty or 2 mm
Air temp. : 26 °C
Sunshine hours per day : 7.8 h
Rain : 21.2 mm, 2 days
Workable wind : 49 %
Crowds : Medium
Prices : Medium

October is the best compromise of the year, and it reads that way line by line in the grid. Swell reaches 2.0 m at 11 seconds, near November's level. Air sits at 26 °C, level with September and above every winter month: this coast holds its heat late, which surprises people.

And yet crowds and prices stay medium, a full step below November, December, January and February. That is the whole gap: almost the high-season swell, without the high season.

Rain starts, 21.2 mm across two days, which announces autumn without spoiling it. Water holds 21 °C, still a degree warmer than June.

Learning in October

For learning : Very good

October asks more than April but stays very workable, and it is a month worth recommending to a beginner travelling with someone more experienced. The sandbars at Banana Beach and Devil's Rock handle 2.0 m at 11 seconds well, and Imsouane bay does not close out. The 21 °C water helps more than it sounds: at that temperature a session ends when you are tired, not when you are cold.

Where a beginner goes in October

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

For an experienced surfer

Surf : Very good

This is the month to book if you can only book one. Anchor Point genuinely works, Killer Point too and without January's crowd, and Panoramas, Boilers and La Source cover the days the wind turns. At 2.0 m and 11 seconds the coast offers a choice rather than a single option, which is rare in season.

Intermediate
Advanced

Spots that suit October

Where to base yourself

Taghazout

Camps in the region

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

How October 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.