Morocco
Legzira Beach
Terracotta sea arches framing the sunset where the Sahara meets the Atlantic.
The arches materialise through the sea mist — enormous spans of terracotta-red sandstone carved by the Atlantic into shapes that look architectural but are entirely the ocean's work. The sand underfoot is dark, littered with shells. The cliffs behind glow rust-red in the afternoon sun. At low tide, the beach stretches wide enough to feel genuinely empty, the only sounds the crash of waves and the distant hum of a generator from one of the beach shacks propped against the cliff base.
Legzira Beach sits on Morocco's southern Atlantic coast between Sidi Ifni and Mirleft, known for its dramatic natural stone arches carved from red sandstone cliffs. One of the most photographed arches collapsed in 2016, but a second arch remains, along with the striking red-cliff backdrop that makes this stretch of coastline unlike anywhere else in Morocco. The beach is accessible by a steep path from the road above, and a handful of basic restaurants and cafés operate at the cliff base. The area sees strong Atlantic swells and currents — swimming requires caution, but the visual drama is the primary draw.
Solo
The isolation and visual drama suit contemplative solo visits — walk the beach at low tide, photograph the arches, eat grilled fish, and leave with sand in your shoes and red cliffs in your memory.
Couple
Sunset through the remaining arch is one of Morocco's most photogenic moments. The remoteness adds intimacy — this is not a beach you share with hundreds.
- Natural stone arches of terracotta-red sandstone frame the Atlantic horizon.
- The beach stretches several kilometres with almost no development along its length.
- Low tide exposes rock pools and tidal flats that glow orange in the sunset.
- The Anti-Atlas hills drop straight to the sand, creating a dramatic desert-meets-ocean backdrop.
Grilled octopus and sweet potato from beach-shack restaurants propped against the red cliffs.
Fresh juice from mobile vendors working the sand at low tide.
Uoleva Island
Tonga
White sand encircles the island — a few eco-lodges, no roads, silence so deep it hums.
Maruata
Mexico
A Náhuatl fishing village on a wild Pacific cove where sea turtles nest beside your hammock.
Ono-i-Lau
Fiji
Fiji ends here: islands inside a single reef, supplied by a boat on its own schedule.
Okarito Lagoon
New Zealand
New Zealand's only white heron breeding colony nests beside a lagoon framed by glacier-capped peaks.
Aït Bouguemez Valley
Morocco
The Happy Valley — terraced barley fields and mud-brick villages sealed by winter snow.
M'Hamid El Ghizlane
Morocco
The last village before the sand sea — nomad camps on the edge of emptiness.
Sefrou
Morocco
A cherry-blossom festival town where a Jewish mellah and Berber medina share one river bank.
Imouzzer Ida Outanane
Morocco
A hidden waterfall in an argan forest where beekeepers harvest from wild cliff hives.