Port of Essaouira and Skala du Port

About this place

Essaouira's traditional fishing port, one of the liveliest and loveliest places in town, crowded with hundreds of blue wooden boats packed side by side, fishermen mending nets and landing their catch, and flocks of gulls wheeling constantly overhead. The harbour mouth is guarded by the Skala du Port, a square stone fort with small turrets at its corners, built in the eighteenth century, which visitors climb for its old cannons and views over the port, the town walls and Mogador Island. The port is separated from the medina by the Bab el-Marsa gate. On the quay are simple stalls grilling fresh fish, where you choose from the day's catch and watch it cooked in front of you, and a fish market selling sardines, prawns, crabs and small sharks. The visit combines the daily life of the fishermen with the town's maritime history. Wandering the port is free, while the Skala du Port costs a foreign visitor sixty dirhams according to the Ministry of Culture's ticketing site, half for children, open from nine to five. The best times are the morning, when the boats come in, or just before sunset.