I'm Gillian, a Scotland based home & lifestyle blogger. Follow along as I navigate this new journey sharing my life from home.
Sandboarding wasn’t on my Morocco list. Then my sister and I spotted it on GetYourGuide, and it ended up being a private tour: one guide, just the two of us, for around £20 each.
It was one of the best days of the whole trip. If you’re looking at sandboarding in Agadir and wondering whether it’s worth a morning of your holiday, here’s what the day was actually like.
Why we booked this one
Agadir has a long list of desert-style day trips, and most of them lean hard on quad bikes. I didn’t want to spend half the day on an engine. I wanted to see something, learn something and do one properly fun thing.
This tour is listed as an Agadir desert adventure with sandboarding, and it runs about five hours. Hotel pick-up and drop-off are included, there’s a live guide in English or French, and you can cancel for free up to 24 hours before. You can also reserve now and pay later, which is handy when your plans are a bit loose. It has a 4.6 rating from over 1,200 reviews, which is plenty to go on.
Prices move depending on the date you pick. We paid around £20 each, and the listing shows lower starting prices on some days, so check the dates you want.
The pick-up and the drive north
Our guide collected us from the hotel in Agadir at 9:30am. He was lovely from the first minute, and he talked us through everything we passed on the way. Nothing felt like a script. If we asked about something, we got the full story.
Because it was only the two of us, we set the pace. We stayed as long as we liked at each stop, and the whole day felt properly indulgent for the price. It was like having a private driver and guide, which I never expected at this budget.
First stop was Aghroud, sometimes spelled Agkroud, where all the houses are painted in rainbow colours. It’s a village where people really live, which is partly why it looks so good. We wandered around with our phones out like everyone else.
Further up the coast he pulled over at a lookout point above a beautiful beach. Wide, golden, barely anyone on it. We stood there longer than planned, and nobody hurried us.
Then a banana farm, which was a very short stop. I didn’t expect to enjoy a banana farm as much as I did, but seeing how they grow while someone explains it right in-front of you.
All of that happened before we reached the dunes. The sandboarding itself is about 70 minutes north of Agadir, so the drive is part of the day, and a good part.
The sandboarding
Nothing prepares you for how hot and open it feels when you arrive. There’s sand and sky and a very strong sun, with the Atlantic somewhere in the background. Properly desert.
Our guide showed us how to stand on the board and shift our weight, then sent us down a small slope to start. It was gentle enough to get the hang of it without any drama. Once we’d found our feet, we moved up to a much bigger dune.
Every single time we went down, he filmed us and carried the board back up for us. I’d like that noted. I’d have happily carried my own if I’d had to, but I didn’t, and I appreciated it more with every climb.
Because the climbing is the real workout. Going down is over in seconds. Getting back up through soft sand under a blazing sun is the bit that gets you. By the end we were both laughing and out of breath, in a good way.
Neither of us is especially sporty and we managed fine. You’ll fall over, because everyone does, and sand is very forgiving to land on.
Lunch at his mum’s house
This is the part I’ll remember longest.
On the way back he stopped at a local market and bought us some local bananas, which we ate in the van. Then he drove us past his house, where his mum had made us a chicken and potato tagine, with fresh bread and Moroccan tea.
We sat down to a home-cooked lunch at a stranger’s table and it was so good. The chicken was tender, the bread was still soft, and the tea was hot and sweet even though it was already boiling outside.
I’ll be straight with you about this one. The listing doesn’t promise lunch at anyone’s home, and I don’t know whether every guide does it. Ours offered it off his own bat, so don’t book expecting it. If it happens to you, be a good guest.
What to wear and bring
We both wore shorts and a baggy shirt to keep the sun off our shoulders. Loose clothes work better than tight ones here, because you’re climbing and sitting in sand all morning.
We sandboarded barefoot. The sand is soft, and it’s easier to feel the board that way. We also tied our hair up with claw clips, which stayed put the whole time and were far easier than a hair tie.
Take water, and more of it than you think. Take sun cream and put it on before you leave the hotel. It’s a hot, open desert with almost no shade, and the dune climbing makes you thirstier than a normal sightseeing day. If you’re the type to forget, leave both by the door the night before.
Bring a bit of cash too. We tipped our guide 200 dirhams between us, which worked out at about £9 each, and he deserved it. A tip isn’t included in the price.
The honest bits
It’s a long morning. We left at 9:30am and got back at 2:30pm, so you’re out for five hours, and a good chunk of that is in the van. The stops help if you get restless on long drives, but it’s still a big slice of your day.
There’s no shade at the dunes, and the climbing is tiring. If heat flattens you, pick a cooler day or plan to rest afterwards.
I can’t promise you’ll get a private tour. Ours was just the two of us, but group sizes can vary, so check the listing for the date you pick.
The listing also mentions a hidden canyon and an optional camel ride. We skipped the camel, and our day went a slightly different way from the description. The page itself says itineraries are subject to change, so treat the stops as a guide and not a promise.
Questions people ask about sandboarding in Agadir
Not really. Going down is easy once you’ve been shown how to stand on the board. Getting back up the dune is the hard part, and you’ll feel it in your legs. You don’t need to be sporty, but you do need to be happy with a proper climb in the heat.
Ours ran from 9:30am to 2:30pm. The listing says five hours, and that’s about right once you count the stops and the drive.
Ours was. We had one guide and nobody else, so we could go at our own pace. I can’t guarantee that for every date, so check the listing before you book.
Shorts and a loose, baggy shirt to keep the sun off. We went barefoot on the boards and tied our hair up with claw clips. Sun cream and water are the two things not to forget.
We paid around £20 each. Prices change with the date, so check the dates you want on the listing.
We did. We gave 200 dirhams between us, about £9 each, and it was well earned.
Yes. It was 10 out of 10 for us. The pick-up, the stops, the dunes and that tagine all earned their place in the day. If you’re in Agadir and want one day that feels like a treat without costing much, this is the one I’d book.
If you’re planning more of your trip, there’s plenty more in the travel section.
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Most Sundays, once the house has gone quiet and it's edging towards nine, a letter goes out. It's the one I'd write to a friend with good taste and not nearly enough time: one thing worth reading, one thing worth buying, and one thing to skip. No noise, no pressure to spend, just the considered version of what I've actually been using, loving, or quietly sending back.
