Banana Point: useful progression, not just a soft alternative
Banana and the Aourir/Tamraght belt often create a better learning week than a famous-point checklist. The value is repeatable sessions, simple movement and easier coaching logistics.
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What Banana actually offers
Banana Point sits at the northern end of Aourir beach, named for the banana plantations behind the road, and it is the most useful wave on this coast for a surfer in the middle of their development. It is a long, slow right-hander that peels over a mixed boulder and sand bottom, producing shoulder-high walls with enough push to make a section and not enough consequence to punish a bad wipeout. It is neither dramatic nor famous, which is exactly why it works: you can surf it repeatedly, make mistakes, and come out having learned something rather than having survived something.
The conditions it wants
Banana needs a proper swell to start working — roughly 1.2 m and up, and it prefers some period behind it. On a small day it is simply flat while the beach breaks a few hundred metres south are perfectly surfable, which catches out people who walk down without checking. It likes mid to high tide, because the point needs water on it, and it wants the same light-morning wind as everywhere else here. The best version is 1.2–1.8 m at ten seconds or more, mid tide pushing, before 10:00. That combination arrives regularly from October through April.
Where to sit and how it breaks
The wave starts up at the point and runs in three loose sections. The top is where the experienced regulars sit; the middle is the productive zone for an improving surfer, with a defined shoulder and a long runway; the inside reforms are where beginners and soft-tops work. Because the ride is long, the line-up spreads out and there is genuinely more room than at Hash Point or Panorama. The paddle-out is along the beach and around, not through the peak, and it is easier than it looks from the road.
Why it beats the famous points for progression
Progression comes from a high number of makeable waves, not from a small number of intimidating ones. Banana gives you a long wall to practise on, a soft enough face that a late drop does not end badly, and a crowd that is generally more mixed and less proprietorial than Anchor's. A week here with five sessions will improve most intermediate surfers more than a week of watching Anchor from the road waiting for a day they are ready for. It is also, unglamorously, the wave you can surf when everything else is too big.
Board choice and the rest of the belt
A mid-length, a hybrid or a longer shortboard suits Banana better than a high-performance small-wave board — the wave is slow and rewards a board that carries speed through the flat sections. If it is not working, Crocro is ten minutes north and breaks smaller and punchier, Devil's Rock is a further five and works on almost anything, and Tamraght beach is right there. That density of options within a short drive is the real argument for basing yourself in this belt rather than in Taghazout village.
Practicalities in Aourir
Aourir is a working village with a Wednesday market, a handful of cafés and small shops, and less tourist infrastructure than Tamraght or Taghazout. Parking near the point is on the road above the beach and is straightforward outside weekends. There is no board hire at the point itself — hire in Tamraght or Taghazout and bring it. A shared grand taxi from Tamraght is 5–10 MAD, from Taghazout 10–20. The beach is wide at low tide and the walk from the road to the water takes a couple of minutes on sand.
What to watch out for
Two things. The first is expecting Banana to be on: it is a swell-dependent point and there are weeks in summer when it does not break at all, so a trip planned entirely around it will occasionally disappoint. Check the forecast the evening before and have Devil's Rock or Tamraght beach as the alternative. The second is the crowd on a good weekend morning, when the schools and the regulars arrive together and the middle section becomes busy. Early is better here, as everywhere on this coast, and the reward for a 07:30 start is a genuinely uncrowded long right.
Local planning notes
- Banana is swell-dependent — it can be flat while the beach breaks a few hundred metres south are fine.
- Mid to high tide is the working window; the point needs water on it.
- No board hire at the point — hire in Tamraght or Taghazout and bring it.
- The Wednesday market in Aourir is worth timing a flat morning around.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Planning a whole trip around Banana in summer, when it frequently does not break.
- Sitting at the top section on a busy morning as a visitor and getting no waves.
- Bringing a high-performance small-wave board to a slow, long wall.
- Walking down at low tide and finding the point switched off.
FAQ
Is Banana Point good for beginners?
The inside reforms are, with a school. The point itself is an improver-to-intermediate wave. A genuine first-timer is better served at Devil's Rock or Tamraght beach a few minutes south.
What swell does Banana need?
About 1.2 m and up, ideally with a ten-second-plus period, at mid to high tide. Below that it is often flat while nearby beach breaks work perfectly well.
How crowded does it get?
Busy on a good weekend morning when the schools and regulars arrive together, and noticeably quiet before 08:00. Because the ride is long the line-up spreads out more than at the Taghazout points.
What board works best there?
A mid-length, hybrid or longer shortboard. The wave is slow and rewards a board that carries speed through the flatter sections rather than a high-performance small-wave shape.