Rock the Kasbahs

Sandstone arches on the Atlantic at El Gzira, Morocco.

Simon Russell

Drive thirty minutes south of Agadir, Morocco, on the P30, the part of the new Trans-African Highway that hugs the coast between Cairo and Dakar, and the urban landscape melts into flat fields dotted with spiny argan trees and dwarf palms. Here, in a region sheltered from the inland heat by the Anti-Atlas Mountains yet blessed with a microclimate guaranteeing constant sunshine, locals live much as their ancestors did, fishing and farming, retiring to their mud-brick homes for daily siestas. Only a few years ago, the villages of Sidi R'bat, Aglou, Mirleft and Sidi Ifni barely had running water or electricity, but with a handful of maisons d'hôte opening and the paved highway providing direct access, adventurous travelers are rediscovering what '60s trendsetters, like Jimi Hendrix and the Rolling Stones, considered their under-the-radar paradise: the southern Barbary coast.

Just three miles from the sign for Sidi R'bat lies the first beach resort you'll encounter (all hotels mentioned will send a car to pick you up in Marrakech and navigate the roads for you). The terra-cotta turrets of Ksar Massa (double rooms from $230; 011-212-6-128-0319; ksarmassa.com) stand beside five miles of ivory seashore; the kasbah's fifteen rooms, decorated with simple Moroccan handicrafts and fabrics, surround a garden of succulents. After guests eat a lunch of homemade barley rolls drizzled with regional olive and argan oils, followed by the grilled catch of the day, they can hike twenty minutes through the Souss Massa National Park, on the Africa–Europe bird migration path, to a dreamy lagoon where they may spot spoonbills, cranes, flamingos and one of the world's last colonies of northern bald ibis.

An hour farther south, the landscape rises to red-earth mountains studded with euphorbia and fingerlike cacti. The sudden vision of white-and-blue cubic houses tumbling down the slopes to the sea signals that you've arrived in Mirleft. The village's quiet main street of blue-and-yellow arcades is home to a handful of cafés and bazaars as well as dogs napping in the midday sun. Clinging to a rocky red cliff above a deserted beach, the brand-new Kasbah Tabelkoukt (double rooms from $290; 011-212-2-438-7567; kasbah-tabelkoukt.com) has become the retreat du jour for boho-chic artists looking to escape the crowds of Marrakech and Fez.

With biscuit-colored Bejmat tiles and tadelakt walls, Tabelkoukt blends into the dusty landscape. Its seven rooms have terraces with unobstructed views of the ocean and the rugged bluffs, though most guests spend their days outside their own four walls: wading in the infinity pool, lounging in the solarium (which has a wood-burning fireplace for cooler days) and watching the sun set from the baronial dining room, where waiters in traditional white djellabas serve such dishes as dourade en croûte. For a memorable meal, by itself worth the five-hour drive from Marrakech, Tabelkoukt's French owner can arrange a candlelit dinner on the beach, with bright-colored rugs underfoot and twinkling stars above.

To get another perspective on the point where the Anti-Atlas Mountains meet the ocean, drive up the hill at the end of Mirleft's main street to Les 3 Chameaux (double rooms from $120; 011-212-2-871-9187; 3chameaux.com). This former military fort, with its panoramic vistas of mountains, village and ocean, now resembles a rambling farmstead. Ten large rooms and two small villas are furnished in rustic yet comfortable Berber style. The restaurant specializes in simple regional dishes, such as sea bass brochettes and fish tagines.

When all that downtime becomes too much (or not quite enough), remember that the hilly streets and Moorish Art Deco buildings of Sidi Ifni, once a Spanish slave-trading post, are just another hour's drive south. Morocco's King Mohammed VI recently visited Sidi Ifni; perhaps as a result, Riad Tizwa (double rooms from $125; 011-212-6-819-0872; riadtizwa.com), with locations in Marrakech and Fez, has opened an outpost here. Each of its four rooms has views of the sea, Wi-Fi and a hot tub, and the riad is a stone's throw from the hilltop Restaurant Miramar (011-212-7-038-4268), a favorite with locals. The Miramar is the top spot in town for fresh fish and a glimpse of surfers catching the waves.

Before the boutique hotels arrived, the main attractions were the surf itself — the best breaks are in Sidi Ifni and Mirleft — and the unusual rock formations that line the coast. For fifty miles from the town of Aglou down to Sidi Ifni, steep cliffs create a haven for paragliders, who soar from mountaintops and land by the ocean. The most dramatic scenery, viewed from above or below, is south of Mirleft at El Gzira, where massive red sandstone arms reach out into the foaming Atlantic. A walk to these ethereal arches from the beach parking area takes half an hour. If you time it right, on your walk back you can watch the sun sink into the ocean, a moment of magic when everything — cliffs, sand, water — turns a golden salmon pink.