Experience 06 · SUNSET
The Timlaline dunes at sunset: sand, ocean and a board
Forty minutes up the coast the hills turn to sand, and the sand runs down to the Atlantic. Timlaline is a small desert with the sea at the bottom of it, and the best place on this coast to watch the sun go into the water.
- DurationAn afternoon: leave around 15:00 in winter, 17:00 in summer; back after dark
- Price350 MAD per person, transport, boards and tea includeda camel ride 250 MAD more
- LevelAnyone who can walk up a dune; sandboarding is optional
- Best seasonAll year; the wind is lightest in the evening
Background
Why Timlaline
The coast road north of Taghazout climbs past the point breaks, drops to the banana stalls of Tamri, and somewhere before Cap Ghir and its lighthouse the landscape changes: the argan hills give way to pale dunes that the wind piles against the slopes and spills down to a wide, empty beach. These are the Timlaline dunes, a small Sahara on the Atlantic, about 40 km from the villages. Nobody lives there. In the late afternoon the sand turns from white to gold to pink, and the sun goes down into the sea in front of you with no building in sight.
It is the easiest taste of desert you can have from the coast, and for many guests the evening they talk about most. You climb barefoot, the sand is cool under the surface, and from the top you see the whole bay of Taghazout to the south and the cliffs running north toward Imsouane.
On the ground
The afternoon
We leave the house about two and a half hours before sunset and drive north along the coast, with a stop at Tamri for bananas if the stalls are out. At the dunes you have about an hour and a half: the boards come out, and the slope facing the beach is long enough for a proper run and soft enough that falling is funny rather than painful. Wax the board, sit or stand, and climb back up for another. Then tea on the sand as the light goes, and the sunset from the top. We drive back in the dark and you are home for dinner.
What to bring
A warm layer for after sunset (the wind off the ocean is cool even in summer), sunglasses, water, and shoes you can take off easily. Leave the drone at home unless you have the permit. Our Dunes & Valleys plan includes the evening, with a camel ride.
With us
How it works with Hilal
Switch on the dunes in the builder: 350 MAD per person with the transport from your house, the boards and the tea. A camel ride of about an hour on the sand can be added for 250 MAD per person. We pick the day with the clearest forecast of your stay. With a car of your own the drive is about 45 minutes from Tamraght along the N1; park where the track meets the road and walk in.
Questions
Your questions
Where are the Timlaline dunes?
On the coast north of Taghazout and Tamri, about 40 km from the villages, 40 to 45 minutes by car along the N1 towards Essaouira.
Is sandboarding hard?
No. You can sit on the board like a sledge or stand like on a snowboard; the sand is soft and the slopes are gentle. Children love it.
What does it cost?
350 MAD per person, with transport from your house, the boards and tea on the dunes. A camel ride of about an hour is 250 MAD more.
Further reading
To read before you come
Guide · QuadQuad rides between the beach and the argan hillsGuided quad rides from Tamraght: 90 minutes along the beach and the river bed, or a half day in the argan hills. 320 MAD or 500 MAD, pick-up at the house.
Journal · Day tripsImsouane: the longest wave on the coast, one hour northA day trip to Imsouane from Taghazout: the Bay, one of the longest rights in Africa, Cathedral Point, the harbour, when to go, and lunch on the beach.
Journal · PlacesNine places around Tamraght and Taghazout that nobody tells you aboutThe quiet beach, the skatepark not on any map, the Wednesday souk, the lighthouse, the bread ovens: nine places near Tamraght and Taghazout the guides skip.Photo credits: Ryan Waring, Haris Khan (Unsplash). The other photographs are ours, taken from the two houses and on the road.
YOUR STAY
Make it part of your stay.
Add it to your plan in the builder, priced line by line. Our team confirms everything before you pay.