The secret of Agadir's success is that it's not at all like Casablanca or Marrakesh. It's a much more European resort, writes ADRIENNE CULLEN
IT’S NOT something you’ll read in glossy tourist brochures packed with sun, sea and souks, but on February 29th, 1960, a huge earthquake shook the Moroccan fishing port of Agadir to its foundations, leaving more than 15,000 people dead.
Apart from echoing, on a much smaller scale, the post-Christmas horror we’ve just seen visited on the people of Haiti, what that terrible page in the history of Agadir illustrates today is the remarkable ability of survivors to rebuild their lives and prosper.
Fifty years later this colourful and determined little city on Morocco’s Atlantic coast is one of north Africa’s most popular tourist destinations, packed with well-heeled western Europeans in search of a touch of the exotic – a touch, but most assuredly not too much.
Because, ironically, the secret of Agadir’s success is that it’s not at all like Casablanca or Marrakesh, ancient tapestries made up of higgledy-piggledy streets and houses with a definite flavour of the Middle East – a full 360 degrees in difference from everything we’re used to.
On the contrary. When Agadir was reconstructed, in the 1960s and 1970s, it was calculatedly rebuilt in the western style, with wide boulevards, hotels lined along the seafront and low-rise shopping districts behind, essentially a purpose-built resort for foreigners, in a town that was starting from scratch.
In fact, given Morocco’s French colonial background, the reaction most often heard when Europeans arrive here for the first time is: “Wow, it looks far more like the French Riviera than the north African coast.”
On that basis, it has to be said that Agadir won’t suit everyone. It’s designed for holidaymakers who want to chill by the pool with a stack of best-sellers, doing the minimum possible.
It’s the perfect no-news, no-shoes family-friendly holiday location, with nine kilometres of sandy beaches and between 300 and 340 days of sunshine a year, depending on whom you believe.
On the other hand, like tourist-destination fish bowls the world over, familiarity sometimes breeds laziness and service can be uneven. What tends to save Agadir, in my experience, is that Moroccans are by nature friendly sorts, well suited to the hospitality business – though not to the extent, frustratingly, that they embrace websites as a means of access to the global economy.
Please don’t get the impression, though, that Agadir is like nothing so much as Brittas with sun. If you look for the real Morocco, you will find it. Start in the souk, a huge walled market on Rue al Hamra Mohammed Ben Brahim. Yes, there are some tourist stalls, but this is where the locals shop, full of colourful spices, fruit, vegetables and the scents and smells that go with them.
Present-day Agadir was built a few kilometres from the town that was destroyed in 1960. The original kasbah, or fortified centre, was built in 1540 to lay siege to Portuguese invaders in their fort nearby. All that remains are its ancient walls and entrance arch, but it’s worth seeing for the atmosphere and the views out to sea – where the rollers make for great surfing.
The local Berber culture is fascinating, so by now you’re ready visit to the Museum of Berber Art, actually called the Musée Municipal, on Passage Ait Souss. The small collection, donated by a Dutch anthropologist, includes some lovely traditional jewellery.
If you’re en famille you’ll have to bring the kids for a camel ride. Afterwards there’s the Valley of the Birds, a well-maintained park with a playground at its centre, where you can get to know all the local flora and fauna. Then back to the pool.
As for mum and dad, you can recover with a round of golf (which is well catered for here) and an early-evening walk along the corniche as the sun sets, followed by a flutter in the casino or a night at the Alhambra Cabaret. Not for nothing is Agadir known as the Miami of Morocco – really!
Where to stay, where to eat and where to go
Go there
Aer Lingus (aerlingus.com) flies to Agadir from Dublin. Ryanair (ryanair.com) flies from London Stansted.
Royal Air Maroc (royal airmaroc.com) flies to Agadir from Paris.
5 places to stay
Sofitel Agadir Royal Bay Resort.Baie des Palmiers, Commune de Bensergao, 00-212-528-820088, sofitel.com. A contemporary four-star hotel with Moroccan influences. It has a private beach and access to an 18-hole golf course. Premium rates start at about €130 per night – provided you book well in advance – rising to €359 for a suite and €900 for an ocean-front villa with two bedrooms and a living room. Children up to the age of 11 stay free in their parents' rooms.
Palais des Roses.Cité Founty, 00-212-528-849400, palaisdesroses.com. This five-star hotel, built in the style of a Berber castle, cuts a dash on Agadir's Atlantic coastline. It prides itself on having the first thalassotherapy centre in Africa. Rates are from about €180 for a standard double in low season to about €375 for a suite during peak season.
Kenzi Europa.Boulevard 20 Août, 00-212-528-821212, kenzi-hotels.com. A four-star hotel right on the coast and just minutes from downtown Agadir. It has a private beach, tennis courts and a fitness centre – and, in the unlikely event of Agadir's weather turning a little chilly, there's a heated swimming pool.
Doubles start at about €70, with pool views costing a little more; a family room for two adults and a child costs about €80.
Agadir Beach Club Hotel.Avenue Oued Souss, Secteur Touristique, 00-212-528- 844343, agadir-beach-club.net. Rooms are bright and spacious and have balconies. Doubles cost about €125; family rooms start at about €200. Sea views cost a little more than garden or pool views.
Hotel Anezi.Boulevard Mohamed V, 00-212-528- 840940, hotelanezi.com. A four-star hotel a short walk from Agadir's town centre and bazaar market. As well as more than 200 rooms and suites, the Anezi also offers 94 self-catering apartments. Doubles cost between €60 and €100, depending on the season; two-bedroom apartments are available from between €80 and €180.
5 places to eat
Miramar Hotel and Restaurant.Boulevard Mohammad V, 00-212-528-840770. One of the few premises on Boulevard Mohammad V to have survived the 1960 earthquake. It's a little more expensive than average, but the setting is classy mid- 20th-century chic and the food is fresh and beautifully presented. Try the traditionally prepared lobster.
Le Jacaranda.4 Route Inzegane, Agadir-Bensergao, 00-212-528-280316, jacaranda-hotel-agadir.com. Don't let the fact that it's a hotel dining room put you off. Some of Agadir's best restaurants are attached to hotels, and here the setting is charming and elegant, the food is superb, and it's served on designer Rosenthal china.
Yacht Club Restaurant.Agadir Port, 00-212-528- 843708. Diners can't get any closer to the sea than this restaurant, which is bang in the middle of the port. Not surprisingly, this popular place is famous for its seafood, particularly its sea bream, whiting and sardine stew.
La Scala.Rue de l'Oued Souss, Complexe Tamlelt, 00-212-528-846773. Despite its name, La Scala is 100 per cent Moroccan. It's swish, and popular with wealthy locals as well as Moroccan and international tourists. Cleverly, the owners run a shuttle bus between the restaurant and many of the town's hotels. Very good food but pricey.
Restaurant Daffy.Rue des Orangiers (off Boulevard Hassan II), 00-212-528-820068. Friendly, family-run, authentic and not a typical tourist choice because it doesn't serve alcohol. Inside, it is decorated like a Bedouin tent. Good, reasonably priced local fare is served on low tables, while diners sit on padded banquettes and cushions.
5 places to go
The Souk.Rue al Hamra Mohammed Ben Brahim. Allow plenty of time, because this walled souk is enormous. There are tourist stalls where you'll find good-value traditional pottery, kaftans and leather goods, and others where locals buy fruit, vegetables and spices. Don't have any qualms about haggling – hoteliers will tell you that prices are boosted by as much as 50 per cent in the expectation that you will.
The Kasbah.Dating back to 1540, when it was built to lay siege to the Portuguese, the walls and entrance arch of this ancient stronghold are all that remain after the earthquake of 1960. The current town was built three or four kilometres to the south in the aftermath. Take a taxi to the kasbah for its atmosphere and walk back to town to get the best of the great sea views.
Museum of Berber Art.Passage Ait Souss, Avenue Mohammed V, 00-212-528- 844541, marrakech.world- guides.com/marrakech_ museums.html. Also known as the Musée Municipal and Musée Bert Flint, the latter after the Dutch anthropologist who donated this delightful collection of local Berber Art. Open Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, 9am to 1pm, and Friday, 3pm to 9pm.
Valley of the Birds (Valée des Oiseaux).Between Boulevard 20 Août and Boulevard Mohammed V, this well-maintained park is designed to let visitors familiarise themselves with the local flora and fauna. Kids love the playground in the centre.
A camel ride.It's the first thing the children will want to do, so give in gracefully. Head through the dunes to the beautiful clean beach, probably just a few hundred metres from your hotel, where you'll find camels and ponies galore. And don't forget a photo of your Lawrence of Arabia moment.
Hot spot
Alhambra Cabaret. Boulevard du 20 Août, 00-212-528-821967. Agadir’s coolest spot. It doesn’t really get going until about 1am, but as it stages the best shows in town it’s worth staying up late for. The food is good, the service friendly and the ambiance is the essence of Morocco. It’ll cost you, though, and you should “dress smartly”.
Shop spot
If you have your heart set on bringing home a genuine Moroccan tajine or a camel-hide bag, try out the Complexe Artisanal on Boulevard Mohammed VI, where prices are fixed. Colourful Moroccan clothing and fabrics abound in the Nouvelle Taborjt district. And if you want to shop where the locals shop, go to the Marchée Centrale, off Avenue du Prince Mulay Abdallah.
Coffee break
Yacout. Boulevard Mohammed VI (formerly Avenue du 29 Février), 00-212-528-846588. There’s no better place to savour the flavour of traditional Morocco than in Yakout’s shady garden in the centre of town. The coffee is strong and sweet, the mint tea comes in elaborate silver pots, and the Moroccan and Lebanese pastries are to die for.
A good night out
Casino le Mirage. Village Valtur, Parcelle 31 Secteur Touristique et Balnéaire, 00-212-548-848777, worldcasinodirectory.com/ casino/casino-le-mirage-1059. Of the five legal casinos in Morocco, Agadir has two, and the Mirage is by far the more interesting. There are blackjack tables, English roulette wheels, poker sessions and gaming machines – all with the potential to turn your holiday spending money into a mirage. Open from 6pm to 5am.