Tourist Places to Visit in El Marsa, Moroccan, West Africa, Africa

Tourist Places to Visit in El Marsa, Moroccan, West Africa, Africa

El Marsa is a beach city in Western Sahara, under the Moroccan control. It falls under Laayoune Province of Morocco’s Laâyoune-Boujdour-Sakia El Hamra region. El Marsa is geographically positioned between 26°08′ N latitude and 14°30′ W longitude, around 25 km southwest of El-Aaiun, the capital and largest city of Western Sahara. El Marsa is located on the highway N1 leading it to Boujdour and holds a port on the Atlantic Ocean. El Marsa has facilities of a hospital, many restaurants and shops. In terms of population, El Marsa is the 2^nd largest city in Laayoune Province following the capital El-Aaiun, according to the 2004 census.

How to get El Marsa?

Hassan I Airport is the closest airport to El Marsa, located around 27 km from the heart of El Marsa. This airport is served by Binter Canarias, CanaryFly and Royal Air Maroc with flights from/to Agadir, Casablanca and Las Palmas. Taxis are generally available at the airport and visitors can also hire a car for comfort and convenient airport travel.

There are buses regularly plying between El Marsa and El-Aaiun. One can rent a car in the city for local travel, sightseeing purpose and inter-city travel.

Food and Shopping in El Marsa:

There are all sorts of shops can be found in El Marsa, ranging from cloth and shoe stores to electrical and electronic devices. Although there are shops and restaurants in El Marsa, visitors can reach the nearby capital El-Aaiun for more qualified options. Some tourist favor restaurants in El-Aaiun (around 25 km from El Marsa) are listed below:

Cafe dubai
La perle
Café las dunas
Pizzeria Samir

Things to do in El Marsa:

Exploring beaches
City tours
Shopping

Places to see in El Marsa:

El Marsa Port:

The port of El Marsa is the major economy source of El Marsa and a famous tourist attraction as well. It is a nice sightseeing spot, can be reached by rental vehicle from the city centre.

Beaches of El Marsa:

Being located on the Atlantic Ocean coast, El Marsa attracts a large number of water sport lovers for its striking beaches. There are also many nice restaurants on the beach-line with a variety of delicacies.

El-Aaiun:

El-Aaiun is the capital city of Western Sahara, located around 25 km northeast of El Marsa. The city is the site of many renowned manmade and natural attractions like Stade Sheikh Mohamed Laghdaf, the Spanish Cathedral of Saint Francis of Assisi and desert beaches.

List of other places of interest in and around El Marsa include:

Bir Lehlou
Smara
Moroccan Berm
Dakhla
Guelta Zemmour
Laayoune-Plage
Windfish Pro-Center
Massage du Monde
Tarfaya
Centre Artisanal
Laayoune Off Road
Dchira

Best time to visit El Marsa:

El Marsa is a year round destination, although the most preferred time to visit El Marsa is from June to August.

Hotels in El Marsa:

There are hotels limited in El Marsa, so visitors are advised to drive towards the capital El-Aaiun, where all sorts of hotels can be found with a wide range of amenities. It is also advised visitors to book hotel rooms well in advance prior reaching the site to avoid difficulty in finding hotel rooms during peak season. The below list includes hotels in El-Aaiun (first 7 hotels, around 27 km) and Dakhla (rest of the hotels, around 510 km):