Pointe d'Or Beach

Pointe d'Or — the Golden Point — is one of the most evocatively named surf breaks in Africa and one that more than lives up to its name. Located at the northern tip of the Dakhla peninsula where the desert's end meets the open Atlantic, the point works on northwest and west swell as waves wrap around the headland and peel in long, organised lines along the rocky point below. The combination of consistent swell exposure, offshore wind grooming from the northeast trades, and the warm Saharan light — which genuinely makes the sandstone cliffs glow gold at sunset — has made this spot a fixture in surfing's discovery of Morocco's south since the first adventurers reached Dakhla by overland vehicle in the 1990s.

The beach below the point extends southward along the western face of the peninsula — a broad expanse of ochre sand with the Saharan desert rising behind it and the horizon of the Atlantic unobstructed to the west. The northern aspect of the point creates conditions where waves peel right and left depending on the swell angle, giving both goofy and natural footed surfers their preferred direction. On large swell days the point produces longer, more powerful rides than are generally possible at the beach breaks further south; but even on smaller days the shape and organisation of the waves here rewards those who make the journey.

Beyond the wave itself, the Pointe d'Or location is simply extraordinary. The feeling of standing on a Saharan desert cliff at the edge of the Atlantic, with not another structure visible in any direction and the only sounds being wind and waves, is rare in an increasingly accessible world. Wildlife is an unexpected bonus: ospreys nest on the cliffs, dolphins are regular visitors to the point, and various seabird species patrol the cliff faces. The golden light of this latitude — 23°N, just inside the tropics — has a quality and warmth different from anything further north.