Morocco - Facts
- Morocco is located in North Africa with a Mediterranean coastline to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. It has borders with Algeria to the east and the Western Sahara to the south.
- Morocco also houses the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta, Melilla and Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera, and several small Spanish-controlled islands off its coast.
- Rabat is the capital city of Morocco and the country’s seventh largest city, while Casablanca is the largest city, centre of business and industry and main transport hub.
- The population of Morocco is over 37 million.
- Morocco has two official languages, Arabic and Amazigh. French is also spoken and understood by almost all Moroccans and Spanish is widely spoken in the northern and southern regions of Morocco.
- The official currency of Morocco is the dirham (DH) which is abbreviated to (MAD).
- Morocco is UTC +1, except during the sacred month of Ramadan [approx. mid-April to mid-May] when it’s GMT.
- Most of Morocco, particularly along the coast, experiences a typical Mediterranean climate, with mild, wet winters [November to March] and hot, dry summers. The south is much drier. See Weather for more details.
- In spite of its strategic position close to the sailing routes between Europe, the Mediterranean, Madeira and the Canary Islands, many yachts don’t visit Morocco. Although the coastline and harbors offer limited cruising, the attractions ashore (such as the old quarters “medinas” and markets of some ports and the country beyond them), the great food, safe marinas and friendly locals, make a visit to Morocco worthwhile.
- Yachting facilities continue to improve, particularly on the Atlantic coast where there are new marinas in the capital Rabat, Mohammedia, Agadir and Tangier plus a new marina in Casablanca under development. All marinas have excellent security.
- Repair facilities in the bigger ports are adequate and there are small boatyards in both Tangiers and Casablanca which have dealt with yachts in the past and carried out simple repairs. Find out more details in yachting essentials.
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With its strategic position close to the sailing routes between Europe, the Mediterranean, Madeira and the Canary Islands, more and more yachts are taking the time to visit Morocco. Although the coastline and harbors offer limited cruising, the attractions ashore, great food, safe marinas and friendly locals, make a visit to Morocco worthwhile. SV Novara report on having had a great time there and “totally recommend it to other cruisers.” Read more about their time in Tanger, Rabat Bouregreg and Agadir – https://www.noonsite.com/report/morocco-tanger-rabat-bouregreg-and-agadir/
Expect a wait for two hours at admission to Tanger (and exit too). It’s all because of Customs, Police and Immigration, whonat times just disappear. The Tanja Bay Marina part is quick enough. Get to Slspend less time and you are lucky/ you’ve hit a good day. If the waiting pontoon is full when you arrive/leave you will be expected to mull around under engine etc. Any pre-sent documents seem to count for zilch in terms of prefilled administration or shortening of the formalities.
Drones are taken on arrival if you declare. You have three days free. Explanations are only in Arabic. Then it’s a stepped percentage fee based on a valuation they make (which is high) for the next 42 days. This fee (not therefore small as described) is for storage by customs! If you don’t leave Morocco with drone they will keep it for themselves after 45 days. The system is not flexible and will not accommodate you if you are staying longer than 45 days. Pick up is at Customs not in the marina. You can expect to spend half a day picking up. This is not inline with “pick up your drone for a small fee when you leave”. This process is not conducive to encouraging international visitors or longer stays.
Catamarans now pay 150 per cent from 1 September 2023. This is an unfortunate and unnecessary policy change and may impact the previous popularity (and hence community) for longer term stops, all things considered.
Hi, we’re hoping to visit marina Smir next few weeks. Pilot book says it’s closed and I can’t find anyone who has been there recently. Anybody got any up to date info on this marina? Thanks.
Hi Simon, we haven’t heard anything about this marina being closed. I’ve emailed them to get an update which I’ll post here when we get a reply.
We left Rabat, after we travelled Morocco very pleasant and safe. The Government does incredible efforts to establish safety. Our next trip meant to be Santa Cruz La Palma, but my mate got sick and we continued to Agadir. Another beautiful and typical Moroccon place. Unfortunately, the Marina is in transition. She has been handed over to the Hilton Hotel Administration and sanitation services are “basic” but clean. This means, they will be built new and while this happens, the old One are taken apart. Nevertheless, they are clean and usable, even for women.
However, Morocco makes visible one issue happening to “cruisers”. In Rabat asa also in Agadir I saw more than one boat, emptying their holding tank. I found, we are becoming our own enemies by being lazy with garbage, use of plastic and our request for “comfort”. It makes me sad to see, we are “killing” our own “playground”. The ocean is not a eternal ressource!
After a very pleasant experience in Tanger, we have continued south to Rabat. After Asilah and Larache would not guarantee our minimum depth (1.50), we sailed in 24 hours into Rabat and arrived exactly for high tide. Calling the pilot by channel 10 and they came on a motorboat and guided us in. I never had less than 6 meters, but Rabat has almost 5 meters tide. It is mandatory to call pilot by ch 10. No cost involved. The Marina is nice and within 3 minutes you have Tramway to Rabat. People in the office give very helpfull support. Consider, incoming all your procedures undergo again. But if you have your cruising card for custom office, one process less. You get assistance and officials are very kind. Now we travel 2nd class train through the country all with help from the office personell. What a delight!
Moroccon borders are OPEN!
After very unpleasant experience in the Spanish Costa del sol (La Linea de la Concepción, Estepona, Fuengirola, Ceuta), Tanger arrival was a delight.
Coming in with 30-35 gales, a man waited at the reception dock and helped very efficiently to secure the important 1st line. After we had our bow into the wind tied up, the rest was a piece of cake. Next, he took our 2 Corona Virus documentation and asked for 10 minute patience. Really, 10 minutes later he confirmed to have been cleared and now, we were escorted into the offices, where Custom Border Control issued a internal cruising permit for the boat, Immigration issued our visas (1 for Colombian 90 days and 1 for Swiss 90 days). Then, 3 guys acompanied us to the boat and inspected the boat. We had to declare alcohol, drugs and were good. I was checked due to my heart medication, which once shown they were happy (me too).
I have to state, this procedure is very well organized, they speak clear english, french and spanish and they are very polite. I can only recommend a visit to Tanger.
Later on in the office, they are very helpful with orientation, locations and future ports. I have been confirmed Port of Rabat (Bouregreg), Casablanca is not ready and mixed comments come from there, Mohammedia is extremely expensive compaired to rest of Morocco and Agadir I will confirm within these days. But Morocco is after Mediterranean Spain a delight!
I have been informed by email Tangier marina is now open to private boats .I am awaiting price
And booking confirmation !!
Thanks Martyn for letting us know – I’ve emailed them for details. Do let us know anything further you find out. Much appreciated.
Yes, it appears Morocco maritime borders are now open which is great news. Either a vaccination certificate or negative PCR test needed for entry.
They will not reply. They never do! Check Navily, there are prices…
We have just received an email stating that Morocco’s maritime borders are still closed
# Day #69 (Porto de Rosario, Fuerteventura) – Bye bye Morocco and five important learnings for cruisers
It has been quite some time since the last update. And this for a reason.
Morocco has been surprisingly exotic, welcoming and adventurous for us. We are so full of impressions and experiences, there is so much to tell. We now struggle to understand, why so many cruisers miss out this place on their way South.
When we considered Morocco the first time as a sailing destination, and we started our planning using the obvious websites (noonsite.com and the like), we remained quite ambiguous, doubtful and we were questioning if Morocco is a good destination for cruising boats.
After four weeks cruising from Tanger to Agadir we are sure – Morocco is a great cruising destination. Depending – of course – on the expectation you have and the benchmark in use.
To be clear: Morocco does not compare to any European country we have visited so far, for the good and for the bad. Here is a good and true story to illustrate this. Morocco applied in 1987 to become member of the European Community, after King Mohammed VI finished an apprenticeship in Jaques Delores’ office. The application got rejected. It was the fastest denial of the EU ever since.
If our expectation would have been to experience the same level of safety and comfort like in Europe, we would better stay away and take the direct route to the Canaries and to the Caribbean. But we are keen for the adventure, the exotic and the different, and Morocco offers the opportunity of time travels through various medieval medinas, souks and authentic oases. I mean – serious oases in the desert!! Where you have the feeling the last caravan has just left.
It takes some days to accommodate to Morocco. But after we have accommodated, it is now time to shine some light on some confusing ‚recommendations‘ we found about Morocco in the internet.
## “There is no way of avoiding “baksheesh” in Morocco.”
Well, you might see it this way… Another recommendation goes: “Five Euros to the Harbour Police will do the job. (i.e. to get admission to an anchorage)” Mate, we got the job done (see Mohammedia post) without paying a single Dirham! Alright, there is some explanation on this sensitive topic. Bribing isn’t just ‘a little trick’ when it comes to officials of the state authorities. Isn’t this disrespectful to the visiting country as well as to the duty of an official? Would we bribe in our home countries? We literally crossed Moroccan borders ten times – in and out of Tangier, Rabat, Mohammedia, Essaouria and Agadir. We filled > 40 (!) forms for entering or leaving Morocco. We have been asked more than ten times whether we have to declare a drone, weapons or ammunition. Our boat got searched four times, with very limited engagement, by the way, on the officials side. The cost of all this to us was 0€. When the customs officers in Tangier, Agadir or Rabat saw our cruising family setup downstairs, they had satisfied their duties. (We sail a 46’ Hanse with a really impressive and tall rigg, no question about our boat). Never we have experienced an unkind word or unprofessional behavior. The opposite: everybody is happy when they are able exchange some words in English or Spanish or French. And there is always a relative back in good old Germany worthwhile to mention. When it is prayer time, you have to wait for half an hour or so. But what is the matter? And most important: Nobody asked us for a gift or money. It was not required. Other crews with bigger boats have been asked. Anyways, I would urge to refrain from recommending bribing on the Internet as the ‘little trick’: It remains illegal. Bribing is poison for a state because it drives a vicious cycle, where the losers at the end are the ‘no-haves’. Website administrators should check if they want to publish statements that explain bribing as ‘part of their culture’.
## “There are a lot of fisher nets and traps on the Moroccan coast”.
Yes, there are a lot of fishers on the Moroccan coast. They go out on the Atlantic to make a living under very simple conditions. Imagine an open 6m-boat with a 15hp outboard engine and five fishermen, 10sm off the coast of Tangier. And yes, they don’t have lights, their nets are not litten, and of course they neither have an AIS or VHF. For the VHF would not be a lot of use because they speak Arabic and Berber only.
What they catch you can buy the next day on the fish markets. The fish markets in Salé or Essaouria, for example, appear medieval, in the complete absence of any deep freezers or packaging. A broad variety of small quantities of all kind of species offered for a little change. This is pre-industrial fishing, definitely.
Sailing down the Moroccan coast from Tangier to Rabat we used Radar, because we had a lot of fog. As soon we could spot them we always gave them a wide berth – they are out for work, we just for pleasure. We never got in trouble with our 8,5 feet/2,6m draft. It happen several times, that we passed a fisher buoy in a distance of a few meters – no problems occurred, since the attachments are deep enough to not mingle with our keel or ruder. Sometimes you might experience, that a fisher boat is running straight into your course or just behind you. They wave hello and disappear. Don’t worry about the ‘Moroccan net tale’ – it is no worse than for example off the Spanish coast. The recommendation we read in one of the blogs to „stay 100sm off the Moroccan coast“ ist just HILARIOUS and only good to scare other cruiser fellows.
## „There are only a few marinas, and they are not to a Western standard.“
You can see all over the country an impressive amount of brand-new infrastructure, ranging from high ways, high-speed train links, ports, industrial complexes, new housing projects. We saw it in the North as well as in the South, not speaking about the Rabat/Casablanca area. Tanger, Rabat and Algier have brand new marinas, just opened recently. Essaouria appears as a medieval fisher port without any marina-like service, but the harbor is safe and has been dragged in 2018 to 3m (we had 5m under the keel during spring time).
I guess it is a fair statement, that the aspiring Moroccan middle class has not yet discovered boating as a key pleasure time activity. Thus, services in marina are not the same, when it comes to food stores, laundry, ship chandleries and the like. Any business in a marina need to be sustained from the international cruiser community – that to a large extent . Which still appears to be hesitant to visit Morocco in the large fleets similar to the Canaries, for example. My take from our visits: don’t worry about draft, water quality, diesel quality and the like. Prices (except Mohammedia) are a very good value deal. We paid around 20€ per night for a 46’ monohull.
One remark to Diesel: As long as your boat is not equipped with a ‘car-like’ after exhaust treatment (like SCR), problems with the fuel quality are unlikely. Marine engines got there technical ‘genes’ from engines for vehicles (excavators, tractors and the like = no sophisticated exhaust gas treatment required). Moroccan diesel contains more sulphur compared to EU5/EU6 diesel in Europe. The higher sulphur levels causes malfunctions in recent EU5/EU6 diesel car engines. But not in typical VOLVO/YANMAR/Perkins diesel engines. There is even a positive side effect, since higher sulphur inhibits the ‘diesel fouling’. Just be aware to clean up your filters to remove suspended sediments.
Another remark about Moroccan boaters and marineros: they are in average pretty inexperienced. Bear this in mind while maneuvering. Don’t expect any support from the outside. Be skeptical about the boat handling skills of your neighbor on the pontoon. Advise your crew not to follow the requests of the marineros while berthing.
## „Western food is expensive.“
Morocco is a perfect place for restocking supplies. The best place we found is the double-town of Salé/Rabat (easy to memorize „sale & rebate“). Western food, compared to the local price level and purchasing power, is imported, taxed and more expensive. The Moroccan food industry – if we want to call it that way – consists from very short delivery chains. Usually, Mom and Pop grow some fruits, crops, vegetables, keep some chicken or goats and sell their produce directly for a couple of Dirhams on the market in the city, the souk, inside the Medina or just directly on the street. This trade feels very authentic and like a hundred years ago. It lacks all the fertilizers, pestizides, freezed warehouses and other productivity and availability enhancer – they only can sell what they got, inshallah!
This medieval concept of nurturing got rediscovered in the Western World just recently: ‚Get your food from your local farmer‘. The food is labeled ‚bio‘ or ‚organic‘ or ‚slow‘ – and you get this back home paying a premium. Proper food cannot take advantage of all the productivity enhancers, that make our processed supermarket food so cheap. If you are up for the Moroccan fresh food, it is fresh, affordable and probably healthy.
If you are still in need for the processed food of an supermarket, because for instance it is packed and much more easily storable, you will find it in one of the few Western supermarket. They have imported and taxed food of all kinds.
One word to the cleanliness: Well, Moroccan cleanliness has many faces, and sometimes it achieves scary dimensions of almost non-existence. It is obviously not live threatening – the average life expectancy is with 76 on par with EU countries like Slovakia or Hungary. Stay away from the places where you feel uncomfortable, the number of alternative traders seems to be endless, such are the possibilities to get excellent quality food for a bargain. With some effort, you will find always a trader, a hotel, a restaurant that pays decent attention to cleanliness and might in return ask for a little higher price. It is worth it.
## „Don’t travel with pets to an Arabic country.“
It easy to enter Morocco with a pet. We have never been asked for our dog’s documents during our ten boarder crossings. (requirements are listed for instance on [pettravel.com], but they are similar to other countries). Traveling around Morocco is more difficult but doable if you are sensitive about some specifics. Cats are all over the place and Moroccans feed cats in the streets. But with dogs they have a split relationships: some are afraid of dogs. Especially elderly women wearing the traditional hidschab – just give them a respectful wide berth with your dog on the leech. Some others just hate dogs – give them a wide berth, too, because they might try to kick your dog. A minority have dogs at home – you can have endless conversations with them. The vast majority of Moroccans are curious, friendly and interested in dogs. Kids loved our dog and it always was a big ‘hello’ walking Vu in Morocco.
What makes traveling with pets difficult in Morocco: You cant have pets in public transport or taxis. Rental cars are the best mean of transport with a pet. A few restaurants might not accept pets inside. Walking with a dog through a souk with all the dead animal parts on the streets is a sensational firework for the dog. Other constraints: dogs shouldn’t be in the vicinity of religious places.
## Morocco will soon get more popular amongst cruisers
Our experience in Morocco was: all people we met have been very friendly and probably to their standards very open. Almost every place is worthwhile a visit, as long as you have the time for a break, long enough for a mint tea, a ramble through the souk and an observation of the people passing by.
If you got the patience and openness to talk to the stranger on the street, you will find a lot of things in common with the Moroccan people. Everybody cares about their family and friends, etc. There is always stuff to talk about. And you will always find somebody, that speaks your languages – even in the remotest places in Morocco.
Very helpful, thanks! I’m on my way to Tanger from the Med..
TANGIER MARINA: AUGUST 2019
Security is exceptional. There is some sort of attendant, guard or policeman patrolling constantly.
The marina is effectively fully open but with many available berths.
Tie up at the reception berth to clear in. Everyone is cheerful and attentive – and bureaucratic.
Among the bizarre questions are whether you have a drone, a speargun, firearms or sparklers (flares). Mine were photographed, possibly to amuse others as to their ancient expiry dates. I was politely advised not to fire them in the marina. They may take a cursory glance around your boat – remember drug and people smuggling is a serious problem here.
You will be allotted a berth but there are almost no finger berths and mooring can be awkward in a cross wind. Put your foot down and ask to lie alongside if you don’t feel it is do-able. They will relent and probably leave you where you are for the duration of your stay.
In Aug 19 the high season rate was 190 Dirham a night. Around 19 Euro. for a vessel up to 10-12m, electricity and water included, although you may have to ask for a connection to the massive 5 core sockets.
Showers and loos are just about OK. No laundry. WiFi indifferent depending on how busy it is. There are some nightclubs towards the far end which can be noisy when chucking out at 4-5am
MONEY: Walk to the end of the marina, to your left across the road is a green coloured bank BCMI, where there is a no-charge hole in the wall. It is difficult to see the screen in daylight.
ALCOHOL: Is not illegal but not widely available. There are some bars. However, there is an off-license (bottle store) a few doors to the right of the bank, next to Contacto.
FOOD: Cross the main road and walk up the wide street a few hundred yards to find a Carrefour on the left. More expensive than local shops but a less intimidating prospect if you are worried about the Tangier reputation for tourist prices.
I found the Souk and Kasbah of Tangier more exciting than threatening. It has come a long way in a short time and is a reasonably secular city of almost a million people. The fruit, veg and meat markets in the tiny back streets often have prices displayed and are friendly, welcoming and a pleasurable culture shock. This is THE place for spices and slippers, tagines and teapots.
I felt safer here than in many first world towns and cities. Everyone is welcoming, polite and helpful.
OK there are some druggies and beggars. Name me anywhere there are not . . .
I still haven’t found a laundry so might do another post.
We just spent two weeks in the new Tanja Bay marina in Tangiers. We left yesterday and arrived in La Linea (Gibraltar) after a very nice downwind sail.
As of yesterday, there are two bathroom facilities in separate buildings, and each has two normal showers for men and two normal showers for women. In addition, each has a male and a female restroom for the handicapped, including a toilet and a shower. If you do the math, there are a total of four normal and two handicapped showers for men, and four normal and two handicapped showers for women. All are located very close to berths where visiting boats were berthed.
As far as cost, our 15 meter boat was $28 usd per day, including VAT, water, and electricity. Wifi was very good.
The marina staff was excellent. Every single person we interacted with was friendly and helpful. Most spoke English. Security was very good. The pontoons are accessible via a key card, but it is easy to reach around with your hand and just press the exit button to open the gate. To counteract this, there are marina people at the gates around the clock to watch for people who do not have key cards. We found them at their post every time we walked the docks at night.
Laundry facilities were incomplete. Amine, the harbormaster, told me that the machines were on site and should be installed soon. However, as of May 4 they were not.
There are a few berths with finger pontoons, but most have lines laid to allow stern or bow-to mooring. We were told that funding has ben approved to install the finger pontoons, and this will be a big improvement.
The entire complex is very new. Unlike many places where the marina is completed and then shops and restaurants may or may not appear, in Tanja Bay it was all completed at once. There are several restaurants and coffee shops. One restaurant serves alcohol, and there was a night club which I believe served alcohol.
Customs and Immigration was not the speediest I have ever encountered, but it wasn’t the slowest, either. I will say this, the customs officer was the friendliest I have ever met, even catching me off guard when he started cracking jokes. Definitely not used to those guys having a sense on humor. Also, there was absolutely no hint of asking for bribes or baksheesh. Checking in was perhaps an hour and a half, and checkout was an hour. Everything is completed at the welcome pontoon and included a brief and friendly boat visit from the police.
While we were there there were about 8-10 cruising yachts in berths. There were a lot of available berths, perhaps 100 open spaces for yachts >10 meters.
We really enjoyed our visit to Morocco, and I would recommend Tanja Bay for anyone wishing to visit Tangiers. For comparison, we have also visited Smir and Saidia and I would put Tanja Bay first with Smir second, and Saidia a far distant third.
Mar 28, 2019 09:23 AM
Yacht Delivery from Canaries to Mallorca March 2019; we ripped the mainsail just offshore Safi, and fixing it and finding spare parts has been a challenge. We had the sail repaired in Jorf Lasfar (see comment under that section) but to find the exact shackle needed became a quest for the Holy Grail; if you need any part, your best bet is to hop on a train to Casablanca from anywhere and go to SOREMAR or ESPACE MARINA, both very close to the train station in Casablanca; on a general note, the people have been so friendly, so helpful, and that includes all customs, immigration, police personnel
Morocco october 2018
Sailed the coast of Morocco from Tangier to Erikousa on our way to the Canaries. Beware of unexpected wind and stream behaviour in the strait of Gibraltar. We had a very easy crossing, avoiding all larger ships, but when following the Moroccan coast 10NM east of Tangier, suddenly we had a 3 NM current from west fighting against wind from east, making the ocean pretty untidy, resulting in us arriving in Tangier later than expected.
There are a lot of fishing nets and boats within 3-5NM from the coast, night and day. During night boats often fish in formation, also with nets reaching 100m from the boat, so stay clear when you see multiple lights (they may blink lights at you). Did also se a couple of fishing boats with no or very weak light.
We exchanged some cigarettes and whiskey for fresh fish, and one of my crew members joined one of the larger vessels, exchanging stories and pictures with 15 Moroccoan fishermen. Most of the fishing boats seemed very friendly and were waving. Some were asking for money and cigarettes, but we never felt threatned. I think you will be very unlucky to meet anyone that would do any actual harm.
SY Murphy`s Law
Mar 28, 2019 09:25 AM
Indeed, they are VERY difficult to see; in order to avoid them, they appear not to go beyond the 50m contour
Posted on behalf of Jan Harzem
Be aware that in a lot of areas inshore there are loads of small fishing traps, consisting of empty bottles as markers, with lines with weights and hooks on them. Even in daytime, in rougher seas they are difficult to see. The weights consist of metal tins with concrete in them, as I can tell from experience. They are usually laid in clusters. Keep a sharp lookout.
Passage Ceuta, Strait of Gibraltar, to Rabat, Morocco, attempted boarding 1620, 29 Nov 2016
35 25.00N 006 10.76W, COG 208(M)SOG 8Kn under sail alone throughout event sequence
4 men on app. 25′ open vessel with outboard approached at high speed from east, shore line app 5.2 NM east. Upon approaching they began signaling for water, food, cigarettes, whiskey. When denied, they attempted to come alongside on the aft port quarter. Evasive maneuvers of swing my stern towards and into their vessel dissuaded further attempts. They followed my vessel two-three boat lengths astern for approximately one (1) hour, returning toward shore prior to night fall.
Sitting in Smir on the fuel dock waiting for the customs who won’t clear you until 10.00 local time. So much for an early start. Smir is expensive to moor. They have put up their prices for 2017. The alongside mooring was very noisy with loud music at night. The café’s are three times more expensive than in the city. Wifi is only available in the office, unless you have an expensive cup of coffee in a café and get a code for their wifi. Marina staff are friendly and helpful. The complex and surroundings are ultra tat. It is after all a holiday complex. I certainly wouldn’t go again. M’diq looked more interesting.
Oh, and they had no diesel. If you do decide to go, Tetouan is worth a visit. We flagged down a blue and white car which is a public taxi. You cram in with the locals and pay 10 dirham to the city. At 12.5 to the pound thats cheap travel.
The entry to the port has plenty of water if you keep the red buoys to port as per norm
Posted by the RCC Pilotage Foundation 23 September, 2015:
Morocco currents
The following currents have been recorded by Will Pedder:
– a strong westerly set between Al Jebha and Al Hoceima – up to 2 knots
– between Al Hociema and Melilla the current varied E or W, not noticeably linked to wind or tide.
– there was a set of 1.5kts S into the Baie Betoya, and 1.5 kts E around Ras Tleta Madari N of Melilla.
Headlands were uncomfortably choppy even in light airs, but we could detect no quieter waters closer to or further from the headlands.
Casablanca and Mohammedia – Visit November 2013
We arrived at night in windy conditions from the Algarve. Wanting to enter a port you can’t miss we chose Casablanca. The port entrance was hard to find, the light was out of order, nobody on CH 16. We docked on an empty floating pier where the marina is being constructed – next to the old part of town. In the morning we were told this was not allowed, there was no other place in the port for yachts, and we were sent to
Mohammedia (12 nm). Mohammedia is safe to enter (port entrance light out of order too), visiting yachts are welcome in the small marina, but there are few places for boats with a 2m draft. A good place to leave the boat for land trips.
“Blue Swing”, Canadian