Brief history of Agadir
Agadir’s history closely parallels that of Morocco’s other Atlantic ports. It was colonized first by the Portuguese in the fifteenth century, then, recaptured by the Saadians in the sixteenth, carried on its trading with intermittent prosperity, overshadowed, more often than not, by the activities of Mogador (Essaouira) and Mazagan (El Jadida).
Abroad, Agadir’s name was known mainly for the Agadir Crisis of 1911, when, during the run-up to World War I, Germany sent a warship to Agadir bay to support Moroccan independence against French designs. Germany’s real motive – to undermine a Franco-British alliance by using Britain and France’s conficting interests in Morocco – failed when Britain cut a deal with France, allowing the French to split Morocco with Spain while the British got a free hand in Egypt and Cyprus.
The really big event in Agadir’s history was the devastating earthquake of February 29, 1960: a tremor that killed 15,000 and left most of the remaining 50,000 population homeless. In the aftermath, the whole place had to be rebuilt from scratch.
The beach
Agadir’s beach is as good as they come: a wide expanse of fine sand, which extends an impressive distance to the south of the town, is swept each morning and patrolled by mounted police. Along its course are a number of cafés which rent out sunbeds and umbrellas. The ocean – it should be stressed – has a very strong Atlantic undertow and is definitely not suitable for children unless closely supervised. Even adults are advised not to go out swimming alone. The northern end of the beach has lifeguards on duty from June 15 to September 15 8am to 7pm daily, and a system of flags to tell you how dangerous it is to swim.
Paradise Valley and Immouzer
The trip up to Immouzer des Ida Outanane – via Paradise Valley, a beautiful palm-lined gorge – is a superb excursion from Agadir. It is feasible in a day (Immouzer is 62km from Agadir) but it is more enjoyable to stay at one of the auberges or camp in the valley. Paradise Valley begins around 10km east of Aourir, a deep, palm-lined gorge, with a river snaking along the base. There’s a well-marked 2.7-kilometre walking trail at around 28km from Aourir, or you can hire a mule to explore the valley’s Berber villages, and it’s a glorious place to camp, though pitch your tent well away from the riverbed in case of flash floods.
From Paradise Valley, a further 20km of winding mountain road takes you to the village of IMMOUZER DES IDA OUTANANE, a small regional and market centre (of the Ida Outanane tribe, as its full name suggests) tucked away in a westerly outcrop of the Atlas. The waterfall, for which the village was renowned, is nearby, and was best seen at its foot, 4km downhill to the northwest. Unfortunately the falls have been very adversely affected by drought over the last few years; tight control of irrigation now reduces the cascade on most occasions to a trickle, with the villagers “turning on” the falls for special events only. However, the petrified canopy of the falls is of interest in its own right, and there’s a full plunge pool.
The whole area is perfect for walkers. A four-kilometre surfaced road twists down to the foot of the falls, with cafés and souvenir stalls on both sides of the riverbed. A path from the lowest point in the garden of the Hôtel des Cascades follows a water channel across cliffs (it’s then possible to scramble down into the olive groves, but it isn’t a route for the timid or unfit, and ascending again is harder still). Several of the staff at the hotel can help you spot local birdlife, including golden eagles and crag martins.
In Immouzer village, there’s a souk every Thursday. The local speciality is honey, made by bees that browse on wild thyme, lavender and other mountain herbs. There’s also a five-day honey moussem in late July or early to mid-August. Note if you are considering buying honey here that it may well be illegal for you to import it into your home country.
The Massa lagoon
The Massa lagoon, on the coast around 40km south of Agadir, is part of the Souss–Massa National Park, and is one of Morocco’s most important bird habitats, attracting unusual desert visitors and often packed with flamingos, avocets and ducks. The best times to visit are March to April or October to November. Most transport takes you to Massa village, from which you can walk along the oued, an area rich in birdlife, and to the beach at Sidi Rbat. It was here in 682 AD, according to legend, that the Arab general Okba Ibn Nafi, after sweeping westward with his armies to take North Africa for Islam, famously rode his horse into the ocean, declaring before God that only the sea prevented him from going further. The beach itself is often misty and overcast – even when Agadir is basking in the sun – but on a clear day, it’s as good as anywhere else and the walks are enjoyable.
Birdwatching
Oued Massa has a rich mix of habitats and draws a fabulous array of birds. The sandbars are visited in the early morning by flocks of sandgrouse (black-bellied and spotted) and often shelter large numbers of cranes; the ponds and reedbed margins conceal various waders, such as black-tailed godwit, turnstone, dunlin and snipe, as well as the black-headed bush shrike (tschagra) and little crake; the deeper open waters provide feeding grounds for greater flamingo, spoonbill, white stork and black-winged stilt; and overhead the skies are patrolled by marsh harrier and osprey. The surrounding scrubby areas also hold black-headed bush shrike and a variety of nocturnal mammals such as Egyptian mongoose, cape hare and jackal, while Sidi Rbat has a local population of Mauritanian toads.
Twenty kilometres inland, the Barrage Youssef Ben Tachfine is an enormous freshwater reservoir where possible sightings include black wheatear and rock dove.