Morocco
Mirleft
Deserted Atlantic coves beneath a ruined French fort where the surf breaks with nobody watching.
The beaches below the town are empty in a way that feels almost confrontational — no sunbeds, no parasols, no vendors, just sand, rock, and the Atlantic doing what the Atlantic does. A ruined French fort watches from the cliff above. Surf breaks peel along the headlands with nobody on them. Mirleft is what the Moroccan coast looked like before tourism arrived, and for now, it has no particular interest in changing.
Mirleft is a small town on Morocco's southern Atlantic coast, roughly 40 kilometres south of Sidi Ifni, set on cliffs above a series of sandy coves and surf breaks. A ruined French Foreign Legion fort crowns the headland. The beaches — including Plage Marabout, Plage de la Mosquée, and Imin Turga — are largely undeveloped, with different wave conditions suiting different abilities. The town itself has a growing but still modest collection of guesthouses, surf camps, and cafés. Argan oil cooperatives operate in the surrounding countryside, and the weekly souk draws farmers from the Anti-Atlas foothills.
Solo
Empty waves, a cliff path between beaches, and a slow-food scene that caters to independent travellers. Mirleft is the antidote to Morocco's busier destinations.
Couple
Secluded coves, sunset picnics on the cliffs, and the sense of having found something together that nobody else has noticed yet.
- Multiple empty beaches sit below the town, each with different wave conditions and access paths.
- A ruined French fort crowns the headland above the main beach.
- The town is developing slowly — still more guesthouses than hotels, more cats than cars.
- Surf breaks range from gentle beach breaks to powerful reef points within walking distance.
Fried fish and chips at beach cafés perched on sandstone cliffs above the empty breaks.
Argan oil cooperatives where women crack nuts by hand and pour tastings of liquid gold.
Jericoacoara
Brazil
Windswept dunes where the sun melts into the sea from a natural stone arch.
St Ives
England
Light so luminous it lured a century of painters to this harbour of turquoise shallows.
Tulpar-Köl
Kyrgyzstan
Alpine pools at 3,500 metres that mirror a 7,000-metre peak at dawn like shattered glass.
Philae Temple
Egypt
A temple rescued from rising waters, reassembled stone by stone on an island in the Nile.
Chefchaouen
Morocco
Blue-washed walls dripping with bougainvillea in a mountain medina where cats outnumber cars.
Fes el-Bali
Morocco
Nine thousand alleys where the smell of cedar, leather, and centuries of spice never fades.
Essaouira
Morocco
Atlantic gales rattle shutters on a fortified port where Hendrix once jammed with Gnawa musicians.
Erg Chebbi
Morocco
Saharan dunes taller than apartment blocks turning from gold to crimson as the sun drops.