Casablanca

Casablanca surfs at Dar Bouazza, twenty-odd kilometres southwest of the centre, where the city thins out and the coast turns into a run of reefs and sandy bays. It is the busiest surf scene in Morocco outside the Taghazout region, and almost entirely a local one.

The Dar Bouazza stretch has genuine variety within a few kilometres. Jack Beach and Sablettes are the sand-bottom, beginner-friendly end. Further along, reefs such as Dinosaure, Le Spot and Ain Diab hold real power on a winter swell and are the reason Casablanca produces so many of the country's best surfers. Water quality improves the further southwest you go, away from the port and the city outfalls.

The season is autumn through spring, when North Atlantic swell arrives and the summer onshores drop. Winter can be genuinely big here — this coast faces the open ocean with nothing in the way.

What you get in exchange for a less scenic setting than the south is convenience: an international airport, everything open all year, and a line-up that is Moroccan rather than a rotation of visiting surf camps. Schools and board rental cluster along the Dar Bouazza road.