Best Place To Go Sandboarding In Zagora, Morocco In 2024

When people think of sandboarding in Morocco, they immediately think of Erg Chebbi near Merzouga. But it isn’t the easiest place to get to so we wanted to let you know that sandboarding in Zagora is a great alternative.

Whilst Erg Chebbi is one of the most famous places to go sandboarding in Morocco, sand boarding in Zagora is a good option if you are short on time.

Zagora is closer to Marrakech and also not far from Ouarzazate which you can fly directly to from the UK.

Our guide to sandboarding in Zagora gives you all the information you need to know and a review of our own experirence.

Visiting Morocco with kids? Read our guide on what you need to know about visiting Morocco with children.

See also how we incorporated a trip to Zagora into our 1-week Moroccan road trip.

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Where is Zagora?

Zagora lies 350km south east of Marrakech. It will take around 6 hours to drive so you can’t easily visit Zagora on a day trip from Marrakech.

Most people visiting Zagora from Marrakech will take a few days.

Here is a great 2-day trip from Marrakech which includes passing through the Atlas Mountains, visiting a UNESCO listed kasbah, a camel ride and night in the desert.

Zagora is not actually in the Sahara Desert. If you want to visit the desert (and go sandboarding in the Sahara Desert), then you could look at Erg Chegaga which is 100km south of Zagora.

This private tour takes you to Erg Chegaga from Zagora.

You can easily reach Zagora if you fly into Ouarzazate. If you are flying from the UK, Ryanair flies direct from London Stansted.

While there, make sure to visit Ait Benhaddou – setting of the famous kasbah and UNESCO World Heritage and site for many desert adventure movies.

Is Zagora worth visiting?

The town of Zagora is a fairly standard Moroccan town these days but it has an interesting history.

Zagora was a strategic town on the trans-Saharian trade route in the 16th century. The oasis town became a crossroads for large caravans to resupply and pay transit and security fees.

Just outside the Riad Dar Sofian you will find a sign showing Timbuktu being 52 days by camel from Zagora.

There’s a popular misconception that Zagora is in the Sahara Desert. It isn’t – but there are still reasons to visit. Whilst there aren’t the enormous sand dunes that you find in Erg Chebbi near Merzouga, there is a decent sized dune at Tinfou.

You can read all about Tinfou under where to go sand-boarding in Zagora.

Zagora is also home to dramatic landscapes with mountains and palmeraies. The scenery is lovely and can really be appreciated by climbing Jebel Zagora.

If you don’t have time to get to Merzouga (which is 550km / 8.5 hours from Marrakech), then Zagora is worth visiting as a great alternative.

Accommodation in Zagora

We stayed at Riad Dar Sofian just on the outskirts of Zagora. It is a beautiful riad with an incredible pool and garden area. It offered a very welcome respite from the heat.

We had a large suite to accommodate 4 people but they also have smaller rooms. The food was also delicious especially the breakfast by the pool.

You can also stay at Tinfou Desert Camp. Accommodation is very basic but you will get an authentic Berber experience. If you stay here, you will have access to the dunes in the early morning before tourists start to arrive.

What you need to know about sandboarding in Zagora

The thing you need to know about sandboarding in the Sahara (and this applies to sandboarding anywhere really) is that it is really hard work!

Sandboarding is classed as an extreme sport and is similar to snowboarding but unlike snowboarding, there are no ski lifts (or sand lifts in this case).

It is really hard work climbing up the dunes, often in very hot weather.

The good news is that you don’t need any snowboarding experience. Our kids have never been snowboarding but picked up the sandboarding very quickly.

Where to go sandboarding in Zagora

The closest place to go sandboarding in Zagora is Tinfou.

Tinfou is around 30km / 30 minutes from Zagora and very easily accessible on a good road.

On the road from Zagora to Tinfou you can stop in at Tamegroute, especially if you are looking for Moroccan pottery.

Tamegroute is home to the traditional green pottery of Morocco. The enamel gets this colour from local minerals used in the glazing process.

If you are looking for Moroccan ceramics, the Tamegroute pottery co-operative is the place to go.

You can also learn how the pottery is made. Here are some reviews of the pottery co-operative at Tamegroute.

By the way, they will tell you that the prices are fixed and you don’t need to haggle but you can and absolutely should haggle!

Tinfou doesn’t have dramatic dunes like Erg Chebbi in Merzouga but you also won’t get the crowds that you can get in Merzouga.

At the end of the day, bigger dunes also means longer walks back up to the top!

The dune at Tinfou was plenty big enough for our needs.

We had a great experience with Tinfou Desert Camp. We booked a Berber experience with them which included sandboarding, dinner and traditional music around a fire.

It was €15 per adult and €7.50 per child. We arrived at 7.30 and had an hour of sandboarding (included in the price).

They have a couple of old snowboards and you are allowed to go up into the dunes and go up and down as many times as you like (or are able to). The kids absolutely loved it.

Meanwhile, we were quite happy enjoying a very picturesque sunset from the top of the dunes.

If you don’t fancy sandboarding in Tinfou, you can also arrange dromederie (camel) rides.

If you like the idea of staying in the desert (you can stay overnight – see here for details), you can also arrange pottery or cooking workshops.

After sunset we came down for dinner which was a traditional tagine and fruit salad. After dinner we all sat around the fire and listened to the Berber staff singing and playing drums.

It was such a lovely evening and a very memorable and unique experience for the kids.

We hope you found our guide to sandboarding in Zagora helpful but please feel free to drop us a line if you have any questions.