Morocco coastal sailing

[krzysiek]

Wife and me we thinking about sailing from Gibraltar to Canaries along the coast of Morocco. Because of unstable northern Africa, does anyone have knowledge about safety in the waters and marinas of West Morocco? What season will be the best?
Regards for any informations.
Kristof

[chuckr]

think of doing the same

[krzysiek]

When is the best time to go?

[psk125]

Google reviews say nice things about the Tanja Marina Bay marina in Tangiers, but saw here: https://stw.fr/fr/forums/cafe-du-por...arina-bay-fuir that it's unfinished. Complaints about high rates with minimal facilities. (Three showers for men, three for women, in a 1400-boat marina?) They also mentioned customs processing delays and errors by officers causing problems. Be aware!

[Tupaia]

Originally Posted by krzysiek

When is the best time to go?

Rabat is fine and safe, Casablanca is closed.
Anytime now is good weather permitting.
Are you planning to continue to Canaries or return to the Med?

[simonpickard]

Rabit is the only safe place to leave the boat down that coast. Lovely marina and a good hub to explore by train other areas.

Sailing down the coast is a nightmare however- fishing nets all the way down, all just under the waterline and some 100m long. We, and everyone else we know who sailing down that coast, got tangled up in 4 of them, some people had more than that.

Just keep a boathook and knife handy and expect quite a slow, frustrating passage from Gib to Rabat.

Regards,
Simon

[Sojourner]

Mohammedia is a new marina near Rabat I hear good things about, also the only refuge port along the coast. Entering Rabat is untenable in even moderate swells from the west... So I hear. Haven't sailed it yet but planned to. Tangier town I can testify is boat loads of fun tho in general...

[simonpickard]

That's correct. Getting in and out of Rabat needs to be done when safe, and it's not safe often. Lots of people had been trapped there for weeks when we arrived. And likewise we left in less and ideal conditions.

The marina does send a boat out to help you get in through the best channel however.

[krzysiek]

Originally Posted by Tupaia

Rabat is fine and safe, Casablanca is closed.

Anytime now is good weather permitting.

Are you planning to continue to Canaries or return to the Med?

Planning to Canaries and return to Med but probably we give up and go directly Med.

[krzysiek]

Thank you all for info.

[Palarran]

I can't say enough about Agadir, Morocco. It's a nearly new port with very nice restaurants built all around it. There is a nice beach, good facilities, a massive souk, and seemed safe to us. And it was stupid cheap, I can't remember how low, but do remember thinking - "that's crazy".

[steve77]

Originally Posted by psk125

Google reviews say nice things about the Tanja Marina Bay marina in Tangiers, but saw here: https://stw.fr/fr/forums/cafe-du-por...arina-bay-fuir that it's unfinished. Complaints about high rates with minimal facilities. (Three showers for men, three for women, in a 1400-boat marina?) They also mentioned customs processing delays and errors by officers causing problems. Be aware!

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.

Some misinformation in the above post. 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.

Cheers!

Steve

[vw1961]

Does anybody know if it is possible to leave the yacht in Morocco for a few weeks for a flight home?

I think in the big marinas security should not be a problem, but does customs allow to leave the country without your boat?

[steve77]

Originally Posted by vw1961

Does anybody know if it is possible to leave the yacht in Morocco for a few weeks for a flight home?

I think in the big marinas security should not be a problem, but does customs allow to leave the country without your boat?

I can't imagine it being a problem, at least in Tangier. We left our boat for six days while touring the country and had no issues. Nobody asks where you go, so we could just as easily have left the country. You may want to send Amine in Tangier a question and ask him.

One thing - when we returned, the marina staff asked us to wait outside our pontoon gate until the police came to inspect our bags. Aparrently, the police want to inspect any bags when you return from a trip and have luggage. The marina staff are tasked with asking you to wait until the police show up.

Its a minor inconvenience, but still an inconvenience.

Steve

[jitait]

Originally Posted by Palarran

I can't say enough about Agadir, Morocco. It's a nearly new port with very nice restaurants built all around it. There is a nice beach, good facilities, a massive souk, and seemed safe to us. And it was stupid cheap, I can't remember how low, but do remember thinking - "that's crazy".

Pallarran: is this recent info - when were you there?

The guy I sail with (and owns the boat) wants to do exactly this: visit the Moroccan Coast on the way to the Canaries from Northern Europe.