Surfing Safi

Right Point · Best Oct-Mar · 4-15 ft · Crowd 3/5

Big NW-W swell, E-SE wind

Safi's main wave, known as Le Jardin after the public garden on the cliff above, is a long, hollow right that breaks over a rocky shelf just north of the town. On a big winter swell it's one of the best barrels in Africa.

It needs a solid north-west to west swell and offshore wind, which usually means winter mornings. The takeoff is steep and the reef is shallow, so it's for expert surfers only. At bigger sizes it becomes a big-wave spot.

Safi is an industrial port town and not a pretty place to stay, but surfers come for this wave alone.

Beach Break · Best Year-round · 1-5 ft · Crowd 3/5

NW swell, SE wind, all tides

Lalla Fatna is a beach below high cliffs north of Safi, with waves breaking both ways along the sand. The tide doesn't change it much, and it works year-round.

It's a good place for improvers when Safi's point is too big, and on good days it gets busy with surfers from Safi. The steep road down to the beach is part of the trip.

There are a couple of cafés at the bottom in summer, and Safi is about twenty minutes south.