Essaouira Day Trip From Agadir

Our guide was waiting for us in the lobby (our fifth trip and the first company to be early), we were the first on the mini bus so grabbed forward seats near a window (we were at the back on a previous trip and the aircon was nonexistent), collected folk from a second hotel and we were off, our guide switched between English and French and was the most informative of the guides we have had, pointing out landmarks and recounting the history of various places. We stopped at a service station with a cafe for a break, clean toilets (don’t forget your toilet paper), then we spotted goats in argan trees and pulled over for photographs, and then about 20k out we stopped at an Argan cooperative, we had visited one previously, you are shown the process of nut extraction by local ladies, explained by the in-house guide, offered a taste of Argan oil and honey with some bread, then invited to browse their products, no hard sell. Then off to Essaouira. We pulled up near the square and were told we would be collected here. Our guide asked if anyone would like to go off and do their own thing (you miss out on the knowledge of the guide but have the autonomy to do your own thing in your own time), then led us round the medina and souk, stopping at a shop making wooden items (tours have set places where they will go, a quid pro quo thing, no hard sell). We were given set freer time to wander round the battlements, but felt we were pulled up for being late when we weren’t. Then to the terrace restaurant, we were given the choice of eating elsewhere at the start of the tour, but once outside were herded upstairs to a shared table, so the horse bolted rather quickly and the prices were high here, but without the Michelin quality - my wife had seafood noodles which were black with the amount of soy sauce in it! I would avoid this restaurant and go elsewhere to eat, as it’s the usual quid pro quo between the tour company and restaurant - the fish market looked amazing for eating! Our guide then took my wife and me back to the square as everyone else stayed on for dessert, we had an hour and a bit of free time till departure, so went back into the souk for a wander - it was if he didn’t trust us in the souk - then down to the port - i recommend this as all the fishermen were selling their wares here, very pungent smells and quite a steampunk image! Plus walking back you get the best view of Essaouira - see the photo of my wife by the blue boat. We met up promptly at 16:30, but again felt accused of being mate when we were bang on time to the minute, not our fault others weren’t interested in exploring as much as possible. We had a stop at the service station on the way back for a toilet break, getting back to our hotel just before 20:30. The tour itself was a lot better than our tour of marrekech in that our guide wasn’t rushing, but there’s so much more to see at Marrakech, just make sure you get free time if going to Marrakech. All in all a professional tour, skip the terrace restaurant,, take a spare top as it’s a windy town, see the port, and make sure you meet up early, as being on time is considered late!

We had a very good day with omar, he was very informative and responsive most of all very good driver, the highlight of the tour was the goats on tries and the old harbor of essaouira.

Myself, my wife and three kids stayed in Taghazout, near Agadir, in August and we decided to book a day trip to Essaouira to give ourselves something different to do after a few days lounging around by the hotel pool. We stumbled across OkeyTours and decided to sound them out about the trip. We sent a whatsapp message through and they were ultra responsive, giving us a price and a detailed explanation of the trip without any hard-sell or pressure. It was a very competitive quote - far cheaper than what you'd get with Tui etc - so we booked. Our guide Zakaria came to pick us up the next day from our hotel - band on time. And on the relaxed two hour journey to Essaouira he told us lots of interesting facts about Morocco and about villages we encountered en route. We had a couple of stop-offs - one to explore desert landscape not too far from Agadir and a second to visit an Argan oil women's collective, where we could see how the oil is produced and buy products from a delightful little shop. Plenty of time to take pics and nothing felt rushed. When we arrived in Essaouira itself, Zakaria gave us a guided tour of the old part of the town, but he didn't overwhelm us and gave us whatever time we needed to 'do our own thing' - but food, look in shops, etc. He took us to the local fish marlet which was fascinating and full of colour (as well as smells!). Then we explored the narrow lanes filled with stalls and shops before taking a look at a very old and beautiful riad hotel. One of the highlights of the six hour trip came on the way home when we turned a corner to see an Argan tree with loads of goats climbing its branches - something we'd hoped to see, but didn't really expect to witness. Zakaria (who speaks excellent English by the way) was only too happy to pull his people carrier over and let us take pics. All in all it was a wonderful trip - one that we'll never forget. Thank you Zakaria and OkeyTours!