From souk to surf: why Oualidia is Marrakech's perfect partner

21 Jan 2025by Abigail Flanagan

For discerning clients keen to recharge after the Red City, the sleepy Moroccan coastal village – with its birdwatching, royal connections, and celebrated oysters – is the ultimate off-season escape

La Sultana Oualidia sits beside a 12-kilometre saltwater lagoon

Rat-a-tat-tat! An unrequested wake-up call shatters my sleep. Until now, service at La Sultana Oualidia has been flawless. So why, I wonder groggily, is someone tapping on my window? Bleary-eyed, I pull up the blind…to find an African blue tit pecking at the reflective glass. I’ve been woken by the dawn chorus before – but never by an angry bird arguing with itself. Still, its timing is impeccable: it’s sunrise. Grabbing my room’s binoculars, I head onto the terrace.

Located halfway down Morocco’s Atlantic coast on the edge of the small fishing town of Oualidia, La Sultana Oualidia sits beside a 12-kilometre saltwater lagoon. Shielded from the ocean by cliffs and a sandbank, the lagoon is a wetland of international importance. Home to an astounding array of marine and bird life – and seven oyster farms – for foodies and nature lovers, it’s paradise.

It’s low tide, and a salty seaweed tang hangs in the warm breeze. On the shoreline, white storks and egrets prowl mercury-like rock pools, watched by a marsh owl perched in a Norfolk Pine. Beyond rustling trees and unfamiliar bird calls, Oualidia is pin-drop quiet.

Royal seal of approval

But summers in Morocco’s ‘oyster capital’ tell a different story. Renowned for its seafood, safe surfing, caramel sands, and mild climate, Oualidia draws thousands of domestic tourists throughout July and August. Fashionable since King Mohammed V built his now-derelict summer palace here in the 1940s, the resort attracts a well-heeled crowd, many of whom own second homes.

Still, by October, most visitors are feathered. So, later, I head out on a guided birdwatching safari with assistant front desk manager (and wildlife fanatic) Chahbi Messaoud. La Sultana Oualidia offers numerous adventurous ways to explore the area, from horse riding, fat sand biking, and night fishing to surfing lessons, paddle boarding and float tubing. With our kayaking plan scuppered by unusually choppy waters linked to tonight’s supermoon, we board a small fishing boat instead.

“Autumn migration is one of the best times,” smiles Chahbi as we chug into the lagoon, past curlews, plovers, and oystercatchers. “There are always many birds, but now and in spring, thousands arrive, even flamingos.”

With good reason, Oualidia is known as the oyster capital of Morocco

While flamingos aren’t forthcoming, the marsh teems with herons, storks, and spoonbills. An osprey sits atop an oyster bed’s marker post. Three hundred tonnes of oysters are produced here annually, and fishermen are chest-deep in the water, sorting gnarled basket-loads.

“The land here’s protected: 80% is for wildlife, 20% for the town. No dirty water is allowed into the lagoon, and the water quality is constantly checked,” Chahbi explains. “That’s why it’s so special for nature and food. John Dory, eel, turbot, sole, sea bass…all lay their eggs here. And, of course, we have the best oysters.”

Boutique bolthole

Of Oualidia’s 10 classified hotels, La Sultana Oualidia is the only five-star luxury property. Like an ancient Moorish fort, the traditionally stone-clad hotel is a stunning jigsaw of terraces, turrets, and domes. At night, when lanterns glisten, it’s fairy-tale pretty.

Twelve individually quirky rooms and suites feature tadelakt bathrooms, aged marble floors, private terraces and outdoor jacuzzis – plus mobile ‘butler’ phones to ensure clients’ whims are instantly answered. For total escapism and wrap-around views, the stand-alone treehouse suite is unbeatable. With its wood panelling and Art Deco brass flourishes, it’s all very ‘gentleman’s yacht’, apart from the eucalyptus tree growing through its middle!

Treehouse suite at La Sultana Oualidia

When to travel

Marina More, Audley Travel's senior product executive for Morocco, advises the best times of year to visit:

"Both May and September avoid summer’s peak crowds and high prices and still offer good weather. Oualidia enjoys around 320 sunshine days a year, but for beginner-friendly surfing, kayaking, and other water sports, May – with its calm seas and average temperatures in the low 20s – is a great time to visit."

Ironically, Oualidia’s simple pleasures have kept it off Britain’s radar. For UK travellers, Morocco typically means medinas, mountains and deserts, not sleepy seaside escapes. But as Moroccan National Tourist Office trade manager Farouk Lazhar notes, international interest is growing:

“In 2024, accommodations across Sidi Bennour, where Oualidia is the main tourist destination, recorded 845 hotel overnights from British travellers – a 68% year-on-year increase.”

For clients seeking post-Marrakech relaxation, La Sultana Oualidia – three hours away – ticks every box. I’d come straight from Marrakech, where I’d visited Four Seasons Marrakech (an urban oasis with expansive leisure facilities) and lunched in the exceptional restaurant of La Sultana Marrakech, the sister property to that in Oualidia. My souk and sites-packed schedule had been fascinating but exhausting. Only once – on a sunrise hot air balloon ride over the Jbilets hills – had I completely relaxed, and, truthfully, I’d arrived here in need of some downtime.

But as the tides have rolled in, something has shifted. Whether it’s the lagoon’s hypnotic powers, the pampering I’ve enjoyed in the cathedral-like spa, or the staff’s genuine warmth: "Everything we do comes from the heart,” chef de rang Hannan Kassali smiles as she sneaks more Moroccan pancakes before me – Oualidia has worked its magic. Letting my shoulders drop, I sink into my jacuzzi and silently thank a wise king.

Book it: Audley Travel offers three nights at either La Sultana Marrakesh or Four Seasons Marrakech, plus three nights at La Sultana Oualidia, based on two adults sharing, from £5,575pp or £7,695pp, departing Gatwick on 19 May 2025. Price includes international flights, B&B accommodation, private Marrakesh tour, hot air balloon ride, transfers, spa package, birdwatching and kayaking at La Sultana Oualidia, and VIP fast-track at Marrakech airport; audleytravel.com/morocco; visitmorocco.com/en; lasultanahotels.com/oualidia

CHANGING LIVES IN MARRAKECH, ONE MEAL AT A TIME

Women make up under 20% of Morocco's workforce, and many who are employed are poorly paid. Marrakech’s non-profit Amal Centre works to address this by training disadvantaged women (for free) to become professional chefs. Clients can support the centre by dining at its student restaurant or booking one of its excellent cooking courses.

Importantly, Amal helps graduates secure decent jobs, like at Izza – an arty riad in the Medina – where two interns now enjoy permanent roles. Izza’s superb restaurant, Noujoum, is worth recommending. But for the original female-empowering feast, direct guests to Morocco’s first restaurant staffed entirely by women: Al Fassia. Showcasing traditional Moroccan cuisine, Al Fassia’s restaurants, now in two locations, are among Marrakech’s finest. Clients should book ahead…and order the lamb shoulder.