Camping Atlantica

When we had taken delivery of our Camping Morocco book, Camping Atlantica had stood out for me and, I had marked the page as a site that I'd like for us to visit.

Now, after the disappointment of the site at Agadir, we were set to do, just that.
We drove at a leisurely pace, winding our way along the West coast and, in parts, the views were simply stunning. We felt very relaxed by the time we arrived but, nothing could have prepared us for the complete contrast, between the two sites.

The site is huge, spanning both sides of the road. It's very well laid out and has every facility you could imagine, or hope for, including a water park, restaurant, gym, the list goes on. Someone has invested a lot of money in this place.

We haven't really mentioned too many sites, and what they were like along the way. The truth is that after a while, they blend into one almost. Some are better than others of course but, they tend to deliver roughly the same level of service.

Camping Atlantica gets a particular mention as it shows what can be achieved.

Within minutes of arriving, we bumped in to a lovely lady and her husband, Rick, and Mary, both English but, now living in France. They invited us round to their van that evening, which was very kind of them. We joined them for drinks later that day and it has to be said, they did a grand job of making us feel very welcome.

Winter sun. You can't beat it, can you?

The 'pitch' next ours was occupied by another English couple, Jackie and Colin, who were also lovely, and always made time for a chat when we saw each other.

If you've ever driven through a French village, and wondered where all the people are, well I can tell you that, if it's the winter time, they are all in Morocco in their Motorhomes! Just about every other 'van on the site was French, and good for them!

It was a couple of days before New Years eve when we got to Atlantica and I'd noticed a poster on the shower block wall advertising a New Years party in the main restaurant. It had been many a year since we'd ventured out on New Years Eve. This we had to have!

A bit keen, not too many in yet.

The tickets were 500 dirham, or roughly 50 euros, each. Not cheap but, it had to be done. It included a 5 course meal and all soft drinks. We didn't know it at the time but, you could take your own alcohol with you. Result! maybe it wasn't so expensive after all!

The night was a sell out and a resounding success. We thoroughly enjoyed it. It had been organised by the French, with the French in mind. Nonetheless,  we were made to feel very welcome.

How on earth did I manage to pull this stunner?

We were the novelty couple, being English, and the only ones there, and we were soon in conversation, at one level or another, with the tables around us.

They know how to enjoy themselves, do the French and, they can dance the legs of many a nation, if what we witnessed was anything to go by!

Bon Annee everyone!

Agadir

We decided that we were ready to tackle Agadir after our stay at the Casbah, and so we consulted the map to see if we should visit anywhere along the way.

We had been told that Ouarzazate, was a 'must see' destination, along with a few colourful adjectives thrown in for good measure. We had long since learned that, beauty, is very much in the eye of the beholder and, subjective to say the least.

After consulting Google we decided that we didn't need to visit, and that we had seen many beautiful places along the way that, at the very least, compared favourably. Rightly or wrongly, we chose to head West, towards Agadir.

Again, we had been informed by others that, Agadir was a very modern place and very much a seaside resort. A little break by the sea sounded just fine to me and so I had high hopes.

When we got to Agadir, it was bedlam and, to be honest, I was by now getting a bit fed up of the chaotic traffic in the bigger towns and cities. We snailed our way along the N10 before Madame Sat' Nav' turned us right with a promise of, 'You have reached your destination on your right after 100 yards'

And indeed we had. Camping d'Agadir, straight off the busy, noisy, main road. The place was packed. It looked like a Motorhome car park, there were that many vans in there. 

Most of them were clearly going to be there for some time by the looks of things, the kitchen tents were out, safari rooms were filled with tables and chairs, and the 'don't walk near our pitch' windbreakers created the ubiquitous, passive aggressive, garden fence of the motorhoming world, every where you looked.

We were told to park at the bottom end of the site by the boundary wall, which was all that separated us from the busy, noisy, road and, oddly enough, I thought, a couple of nightclubs.

What a horrible place that site is. It cost us 100 dirhams (about 10 euros) for the night, showers were extra and, one sleepless, traffic filled night later, I'd had enough, and so had Sue. We paid up and left, declaring, to ourselves at least,  that we didn't need to see Agadir that badly.

We consulted our Morocco Camping book and headed North, along the West coast.