Dar Bouazza Surf Guide

Dar Bouazza Surf Guide

The megalopolis of Casablanca, one of Africa's largest cities, offers a different experience than expected when one thinks of Africa. Huge and bustling, with traffic jams and mega-malls and football stadiums, Casablanca is the financial capital of the nation, and in reality, is far from the sleepy town imagined by Hollywood in the film of the same name. A dizzy mix of old and new, east and west, it is home to the both the largest mosque in Africa outside of Cairo, as well as home to one of the biggest McDonald's restaurants on the continent. Understandably, like Rabat, it is also home to the upper crust of Moroccan society, whose large homes populate the chic beach neighborhood of Anfa on the beaches south of downtown.

While Casa, as the locals call it, is populous and right on the coast, there is great surf to be found within an hour's drive north or south from Anfa. Dar Bouazza is found about 40 minutes south of the Anfa neighborhood by coast road. It's one of Morocco's few lefthanders and while it's usually fairly fat, it can pack a punch and has some rippable sections, holding big swells. Weekends find the small local pack on it, but the crowd spreads out as the size increases.

Park in the dirt area within sight of the break and time your jump off the sharp rocks at the top of the point. The wave runs down the rocks. Low tides make it steeper and it can practically disappear when the tide is too full. If the tide is too high or if the swell is too small for Dar Bouazza, continue another mile down the coast to the beachies and rock shelf peaks off the mile-long stretch of Jack Beach.