الماء

This house, once a dilapidated relic of a time since the past has become a beacon of surf travel eutopia. Entering The O, you can feel a sense of stillness wash over you. It’s simple – not pristine and commercial, but totally natural yet immaculate with walnut accents and peach stone creating this visual haven. The site is almost completely open, with only bedrooms being completely enclosed. A communal eating area overlooks the bay, with a relaxed, welcoming feel. There’s no pressure to chat with other travellers, but you inevitably end up sharing stories and admiring the passing felines together.

The art of surfing is at the heart of this place, not in a foam boards and shakas way (although their renowned school ‘Alaia’ does help indoctrinate those new to the practice), but for surfers. This is perhaps not a surprise when you learn that this whole place, a vanguard of surf travel, all began with a surfboard. A bonzer of course.

‘Most relationships might start with a dinner date or a drink, maybe a party. Ours started with a surfboard’. This is Theresa, an Austrian who found herself in Morocco after a stint working in Portugal.

‘I somehow stumbled across this Instagram story of a board I had surfed once in Portugal and fallen in love with’. The poster of this story was none other than her now-husband, Hamid. A quick firing back and forth later, she met with Hamid who reunited her with the long-lost favourite. This bonzer now resides in their personal family quiver at O Surf, alongside 30 other gems they have collected and carefully curated along their journey together.

Hamid and Theresa worked in corporate surf companies for a few years, until the pandemic hit. It was then they were struck – suddenly without income or perspective, but a lot of unrealized ideas.

O Surf was born.

‘Our idea was to create a space to assemble like-minded people. Initially, we thought of it more as surf club that would allow locals and tourists to mingle, rest between surfs, and refuel. Providing access to first-class rental surfboards has been crucial to our concept from the beginning. We want experienced surfers to have somewhere they can play and experiment, and get a taste of different shapes on the blank canvas that is the Imsouane wave. What shines through at O, other than the accents of creatives who have passed through, leaving their art and influence on the walls – is, well, how Moroccan it is. The lodge is one of the oldest fisherman huts in Imsouane, and its architecture has been kept amount untouched. The patio where guests now check the waves was once the area where fisherman sorted their nets after a day’s catch, which now hosts warm sandstone tiles on which to sit and sip O’s rosemary lemonade, as well as a wetsuit rack to dry your suit between sessions.

With most surf tourism, there’s a failure to embrace the country that holds the waves. There is a sense of Western gloss over everything. O Surf is a blissful anomaly.

‘We wanted to embrace Hamid’s homeland in all areas of the place. From selling surf wax poured from pine resin in Morocco, to having an entirely Moroccan staff – something hard to find these days in Imsouane’.

It is the beautiful souls that work at O that have made it stick in my heart, and truly what an homage to their homeland this place is. You can feel the story of this place, from the footsteps of previous creatives ornamenting its walls (notably James Parry’s letter to Hamid on a cruiser deck) to the smiles that stretch across the faces of everyone who sets foot in this place.

Sadly, after my visit, I learned that Theresa, Hamid, and little Flora’s creation is threatened. Buildings constructed in the maritime domain have been sadly demolished by the Moroccan government, and O Surf fighting for their right to stay put. Moroccan bulldozing development plans to commercialize and eradicate the tradition of the area to create a Westernized hotel and shopping complex. Despite the big change happening in Imsouane now, locals are counting on tourism to remain, to help them rebuild their lost homes and businesses more sustainably.