News
03.07.09
So we found an information gap in the market and apparently there is only one place to stay in Taghazout – it is official, have a look Wikipedia under the following link – no doubt this will change – but we were there first! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taghazout
Surf Berbere Blog Launch for weekly and daily updates about anything going on or down in Surf Berbere. http://surfberbere.blogspot.com/ New guide on www.magicseaweed.com check it out at http://magicseaweed.com/Morocco-and-Tagahazout-Guide--Content/1612/
The summer surf has been kicking in and has been great for those wanting to learn with light winds, hot weather and 21-degree water! 25% off for all students in September = BARGAIN! (We will be checking your student ID's - walkabout cards don't quite qualify).
Finally if you are bored have a look at the new video on the website – not a great deal of surfing, but Hassan doesn’t get out of the house much so we have to make him feel involved.
11.05.09
Hi All, We have had a beach clean up, nearly got the association set up (meeting tomorrow I think) and then got the Wilaya involved in the fundraising side of things, sooooo who knows we may clean up Taghazout one day! Tudor, Alex and Hassan all went off to Ouarzazate to be extras for the new Ben Hur remake. Tudor and Alex are now the body doubles for the main characters (apparently Tudor is not just a shorter, fatter version of Ben Hur, he really does look like him now [Joseph Morgan] – Tudor’s mum you will be so proud of our Moroccan diet and how slim your boy is looking!). If you look really hard you might be able to see Hassan’s shadow as tenth spear holder!
We have shut the camp for this month as we are doing a quick little refurb, redoing the steps and a bit of tidying up around the surf camp. To show this off we are giving anyone who books the Taghazout surf camp in June a 30% discount and with the new booking system it should be really easy.
Look forward to seeing you out here soon!
James
P.s. Mohammed has started dying his hair as he thought that all the greys coming through were putting the women off him – sure Momo that is why!
www.surfberbere.com
25.03.09
Hi All,
The big news is that we have said goodbye to Pete, Crystal and Niels (Abi, I can hear you weeping already!), but we are about to say hello to Alex. Not soon enough alas as the camp is left to the capable hands of Tudor in the interim. Guess who Tudor’s first group are, a school bus of 16yr olds. Don’t worry he has been told to behave and we have the local Gendarmerie paying special attention!
A big thank you to Pete, he was epic, really helped us have an awesome season and has improved the surf camp beyond recognition. We have not put the balcony overlooking Anchor point in yet, but the dream is still there.
Pete has left the dog (Charlie) with us. Now we thought the best way of deciding whether Charlie lives would be to do a vote, all of those that want the dog to live, you have to submit our enquiry form saying “let Charlie live”, all those wanting rid of the dog just do the opposite, submit our enquiry form saying “put the dog out to sea”!
Obviously, I am joking we are not going to kill the dog, but it would amuse us to have some feedback anyway. Hell, William Ellis nearly killed the cat, and frankly my sister didn’t appreciate Charlie sitting on the car seats!
The waves are pretty calm for the time being, so beginners now is the time to avoid the big rollers, pros keep a beady eye on the magicseaweed long range surf report for any glimmer of hope!
The camp is shutting down for the month of May, we want to do some cheeky refurb action, so either get your Summer hols booked up, or get looking into next Winters surf sessions!
Take it easy,
James
28.02.09
Hi All!
We have had the first real flat period of the season, alas this has coincided with a bit of rain – absolute shocker. That being said there have still been some fun and games going on. Old Youss managed to get pissed and “fall down some stairs”, cracked a rib, and lost of his face in the process. Those “stairs” pack a real mean punch, the net result Youss reckons he needs to wear a corset under doctors orders and that he won’t be able to carry a gas bottle for at least two months as it is dangerous for his health.
Sadly, the famously well-endowed garbage raiding Siamese cat has finally used up its last life. No, it wasn’t Will Ellis throwing it off the top balcony when pissed. The cat seems to have scampered its way out of most problems, but when we saw it lying apparently dead for three days in a row we were finally sure. Goodbye Siamese cat, you were a friend and a foe, you tore open our garbage bags every morning, but now you are gone, we salute you!
Cracking swell coming end of next week – 20ft and 16 second, love that! Check out all the videos on the surf spots pages and the homepage. We are getting in touch with our arty side and have a gallery going with Hassan our resident photographer http://www.hassaningram.com/gallery.html.
We have had a reasonable number of Germanic guests coming through and our Tudor is normally kind enough to pick up the slack for us on this one. Last week we had four lovely German ladies staying with us and true to form Tudor stepped up to the plate. My lasting memory was of leaving Tudor one on one up on the terrace at two in the morning, only to return at 8am to see them still talking and Tudor looking very sheepish. That is a lot of practicing German not to get anything at all!!!
You are probably bored of reading about beach clean ups, but we feel pretty strongly about it, we have another one booked in for mid March so please if you are staying in Taghazout at the time, join in and help us tidy up the town!
23.01.09
Hi all,
Hope you are enjoying the superb waves that are coming through at the moment!
Here's a quick update from us: We have four guys up on the terrace putting a roof over the bar. At the very least, by getting the washer and dryer out of the rain we can cut down on the overall amount of times Fatima electrocutes herself while doing the laundry. Youssef walked around for a couple of days last week with a fat upper lip; not from fighting in the streets, mind you. He was drinking a Fanta and got a little more than he bargained for when the bee that was hiding in the bottle stung Youss right on the lip. Youss has also coined his own catch phrase. Last night he took out everyone at the table during an all-camp Texas Hold-Em game. After pretending not to know if a straight was a good hand or not, bluffing and bullying his way through the night, getting wiped out and buying in for a second chance, he slipped out the door with a fistful of dirhams (800 dirham, actually!) smirking to himself and consoling us by declaring,“That’s the game, man!”
Surf Berbere also helped co-sponsor and organise the third annual Taghazout Community Beach Clean-Up and Kids’ Surf Competition which took place on The 18th of January. About 50 local kids came down along with another 50 or so adults came out for the event. Let's get Taghazout clean and keep it a beautiful place to surf some of Morocco’s finest waves.
Ta for now; massive swell knocking at the door.
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05.01.09
Welcome to 2009! So far so good here at Surf Berbere with gorgeous weather and waves galore, all points firing from Killers to KM11, the surf season in Morocco is in full swing,
Christmas and New Year’s festivities were wildly successful. Last Christmas there was a failed attempt to locate a turkey (turkey drumsticks jabbed into a chicken’s body was the best we could do) however, this year after some mildly inappropriate groping and fondling of a few birds by Yousef the victim was chosen from the souk in Agadir. Never mind that later, at Marjane (the supermarket) we found a bigger already dressed turkey for 5 quid less. Yousef’s response, “We bought Experience Turkey. Our Turkey is Mountain Turkey. Better than Marjane turkey.” He was right. Awesome Chrimbo spread with “Mountain Turkey,” mashed potatoes, roasted beetroot, traditional Moroccan salad and 2 Pavlovas for dessert. A perfect meal after 2 exceptional Christmas Day surfs at Banana Point in the morning and Mysteries in the afternoon.
Possibly due to the wind/rain storm that caused a power outage which resulted in a romantic candlelight dinner for 20 on the night before New Year’s Eve, Surf Berbere has had its first ever on site marriage proposal! Congrats to Ian and Lisa who came through with a group from Nomadic Expeditions, on their engagement. The proposal happened during a twilight walk on the beach at Taghazout. It proved to be an eventful 24 hours for Ian who took a fin to the chin on his first wave of the New Year and split himself open pretty good. Leaving a trail of blood up and down the stairs, Ian set out with Nurse Yousef to find a doctor to stitch him up. Nope. Hospitals are closed. Really? Closed? Yep! So Plan B: they head to the Pharmacie in Taghazout and the pharmacist cleaned Ian up and closed the gap on his chin with a couple of butterflies over the counter. Lisa and her hubby-to-be flew back to London the next day and a full recovery is expected. Pretty sweet deal for Ian who got a fiancé and a brand new scar all in one trip. Because we all know how chicks dig scars! Best of luck kids!
In other news this week, Gordy took down 51 beers. A new Surf Berbere record!
Video and photographic evidence of Moroccan surf perfection coming soon via Youtube and www.surfberbere.com If New Year’s Day is any indicator, this is going to be a sweet season of swell. Maybe we should all take a note from Pete’s book of New Year’s Resolutions: Work Less, Surf More! Ideally with us at Surf Berbere here in sunny Morocco!
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29.12.08
The guys have been flat out to get together our latest offering - the Surf Berbere Taghazout apartments and rental range. Basically we get loads of people looking for accommodation in Morocco, that want to know that they are getting a seaview apartment, don't want to get ripped off, and most importantly want to be within walking distance of the surf breaks, Taghazout and the surf camp. Good old Youssef and Pete have been putting this together and in the next couple of days there will be more info up on the website, but to cut a long story short we have over 50 apartments and houses in the immediate area of Taghazout and they range from €20 to €400 a night. Some are really simple - even basic, whilst others are full on luxury, with fountains, aviaries, stunning roof terraces and amazing courtyards.
The idea is that if you are in a large group, or a couple wanting a bit more privacy, it sometimes works out cheaper and easier to have a place of your own for your stay. Surf Berbere can organise your car hire/rental, tell you which of the Taghazout surf spots will be working, give you surf coaching and lessons, and then even welcome you up onto the roof terrace of the surf camp at the end of the day. We can organise airport transfers from the Agadir airport (Ryanair are doing flights from London Stanstead to Agadir Morocco from £38 return) straight to your Taghazout apartment and then Surf Berbere can take care of the rest.
The surf camp prices are staying the same even though the "mighty pound" is not worth a great deal these days, so take advantage of the all inclusive surf camp package with us, chuck in the cheap flights from Dublin, Paris, London and the rest of Europe to Agadir and you are going to get some awesome waves for next to nothing. Forget the ski holiday to the alps - surf holidays in Morocco are far cheaper, and you get a tan all over! Goggle eyes become a thing of the past!
Enough of the hard sales pitch, everyone wants to hear if Youssef has ben getting more loving. Sadly all has been quiet on the Youss front, he has left the bottle alone and been working like a saint, New Years Eve may be another matter. The interesting one has been Hassan. Hass is the man that replies to all your e-mails and is the team photographer - he has been out here for a while now and recently had his girlfriend come out and stay - not just a fly by visit though - a full on month, but here is the kicker - with here best mate as well. Hass, two nice English girls, one apartment, need we say more.
This sort of behaviour is not condoned by the management and we have severely reprimanded Hassan who has been exhausted for the last three weeks, it seems others have been getting "the best out of him".
Merry Chrimbo and a Happy New Year!!!
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30.11.08
The last month has been pretty tumultuous, we said goodbye to Rob, the surf camp manager, who is chasing his sheila all the way back to Aus; the line is "Ooh I'm so love, you know what is like when she is the one!" We wish Rob all the success in the future and hope he will be back soon with his Argan Oil exploits - check out www.arganaustralia.com when the site is up.
Pete has taken over the helm and immediately found himself bombarded by a flash flood, electricity cuts, no fridges, no ovens and no internet as the power surges knocked out all of our electrics, communications and transport. At the same time the renovations in his own bedroom were underway as Tudor and himself were smashing through the window (anyone who knows Tudor, he has been waiting to use his birthday present, the sledgehammer, for quite some time now!) We are now back online, the electrics have all got surge protectors and the sun is back!
Other news we are slowly building up our collection of big wave boards and wetsuits. Hassan brought them over from Blighty, they are slightly thinner than the other wetties that we have and are perfect for the sunshine surfing. Hassan used to run a guest house back in Aourir and is a keen bodyboarder so we are no longer allowed to pour scorn on the "non-standing" fraternity. You are now all welcome! We have had a busy few weeks in November, but we still have some spare places in the first two weeks of December for any last minute surf holidays to Morocco before Chrimbo.
We have over twenty apartments, riads and villas within the taghazout region available to us and can often book them at the last minute. These are ideal for groups and families and they are all either right on the ocean front (not closer than the Surf Berbere Taghazout surf camp we are literally Hash Point) or have fantastic views of the sea.
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12.09.08
Clean Ocean Project have just launched their facebook group and it would be great if as many people could show them some support. They have helped us over the last year with our beach clean ups and we are just one of many organisations that they spend their time helping in their quest to clean up the beaches. The link to their group is clean ocean project - facebook
Ryanair have just announced that they will be doing direct flights from London to Agadir starting on the 4th of December. This is absolutely amazing news as previously it was only charter flights that got really expensive in school holidays and were really inflexible. Now you can click on the ryanair site, book whichever dates you want and just get in touch with us. The long weekend of surfing is now an absolute must. Get the Friday off work, get to the airport for 8:30am take off and then be in Agadir by 12:30pm and in the water by 1pm for an afternoon surfing. Fly back on the Sunday at 1:00pm, back in London by late afternoon and ready to go back into work on the Monday. Check out www.ryanair.com
Youssef and his love life, alas there has been no follow up action for Youss as Ramadan has kicked, and all impure thoughts are put firmly to the back of his mind. Rob has fallen head over heels in love with his ex and Tudor is claiming to be in love having been back in England just for two weeks.
That being said, I am pretty sure the new love interest of Tudor did not get the chance to have a look at our Tudes’s photos of his little septic boils. If she had – then like facebook and google when we tried to load them up on the sites – she may have rejected the entry. Apparently sitting on a cactus is not the best plan of action when drunk. Even better still, not realising that you still have all the cactus pins in your bum when you wake up the next day! – “Like a golf ball!”
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15.7.08
Stop the press:
Youssef may have got some action…….
Youssef is our lothario chef, renowned as much for his tagines as his ability to drink himself to a very happy state (sometimes unhappy). For most people that have come out it has been the two Abduls that have got the pulses racing; Abdelkadir, I have six or seven girlfriends; and Wachow I have bagged myself an English wife.
Now Youssef may be a great chef, but ladies man he is not. Weighing in at a massive 8st and a towering 5’3” he doesn’t tick too many boxes. He is missing a fair number of teeth and the ones that he does have are of the yellow variety. He doesn’t shower that frequently and Rob has likened him to Gollum. Up until recently our man Youssef had been pretty unlucky in love, often turning to alcohol to solve his worries (60 percent of the time, all of the time???).
Things changed whilst I was away, Youssef upped his game and we are pretty sure that he had an encounter that didn’t require money to change hands. Who was the lucky lady? Well first let’s paint the scene, a couple of young girls staying at the surf camp. Youssef wooing them with his culinary skills, the said girls decide to take a trip up to Essouirra for the music festival. Youssef had already booked time off work to head up there for the Gnaoua music festival (awesome by the way, sadly the same time as Glastonbury). So the team head on up together, they hit a few bars and then it all goes blank. What may or may not have happened still needs to be confirmed by both parties, but off the record uglies were bumped. I like to think this little quote from a message we received after the guest’s stay may give a little insight:
“When you go back please give Youssef a massive hug from me, he was amazing and looked after us a lot!!”
