Tarfaya

Tarfaya is a small, windswept town on Cape Juby, about 100 kilometres north of Laâyoune. Few places on the Moroccan coast pack so much history into so few streets: a 19th-century trading post standing in the sea, an airfield from the golden age of airmail, and the memory of the writer who ran it.

Why visit Tarfaya

In 1882 the Scottish trader Donald Mackenzie built a trading post on a rocky islet just offshore. Known as Casa Mar, it is the town’s emblem and can be reached on foot at low tide.

Tarfaya was administered by Spain until 1958. In the 1920s the Cape Juby airfield was a refuelling stop for Aéropostale, the French airmail company flying between Toulouse and Senegal. In 1927 Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was appointed head of the station. He spent around eighteen months here and drew on the desert for his first novel, Southern Mail. A small museum and a monument to the airmail pilots tell the story.

Further north, the Khnifiss Lagoon is one of the most important wetlands on the Atlantic coast. To the south, the wind farm on the Tarfaya plain is one of the largest in Africa.

Getting there

Tarfaya is a short drive north of Laâyoune on the coast road, the nearest airport (EUN). Coaches on the Agadir–Laâyoune route stop here.

Where to stay

There are a few small hotels and guesthouses. Most visitors come on a day trip from Laâyoune, or stop on the drive between Guelmim and Laâyoune.

Good to know

• Check the tide before walking out to Casa Mar: the crossing is only safe at low water.
• The wind rarely drops. Bring a warm layer, even in summer.