Distances & travel times from Essaouira
Road distance, drive time, one option without a car and a day-trip verdict for 25 destinations from Essaouira, Diabat to Tangier. A ≈ marks a figure we have not checked yet. A figure without it carries its source and the date we verified it.
The table below runs to 25 rows, one per destination. Each gives the distance by road, the drive time, one option without a car and a verdict on the day trip. It covers 11 cities, 3 airports, 6 villages and 5 beaches, from Diabat to Tangier. A name shown as a link leads to that journey’s page, buses and grand taxis included.
One figure, one source, one date
A figure with ≈ in front of it is the one that circulates in guidebooks and on maps. We show it for the order of magnitude, without vouching for it. The sign comes off on the day we have driven the road, read the odometer or read the operator’s fare table. The page then shows the source and the date, under “figures checked on”.
Checking happens figure by figure, not page by page. A row can be half done: the road confirmed, the bus fare still at ≈. The kilometres are road kilometres, not map kilometres.
The “without a car” column gives one option only, the simplest. A CTM or Supratours coach for most cities, an ONCF train for Rabat, Fès and Tangier, a transfer for the airports. Then a grand taxi from Bab Doukkala for the coast, a petit taxi for Diabat. The journey’s page lists the other options where there are any. Their fares stay at ≈ for as long as the operators publish no fare table outside their booking engines.
Yes, no, long: reading the day-trip verdict
The last column answers one question: leave in the morning and sleep in Essaouira that night. Yes for 13 destinations, the villages, the beaches, Chichaoua and Safi, all within two hours’ non-stop drive by our route calculation. Long for Marrakech and Agadir: the round trip can be done, but it takes more than five hours of non-stop driving. Our advice: stay the night, or leave it. No for the seven cities beyond, from Casablanca to Tangier, where a night is unavoidable. The three airports carry no verdict: nobody spends the day there.
The journeys people ask about most
Marrakech first, with its airport, where most visitors arrive from. The choice between bus, grand taxi, car and plane is settled in Getting to Essaouira, and this page keeps the figures and their dates. Then Sidi Kaouki, the day out without a car, Imsouane for the surf, and Agadir and Casablanca for the flight home. Once you are in town, Getting around says which vehicle to take for which trip, and what it costs.
The reading direction, last. “Marrakech – Essaouira” for cities and airports, the direction of arrival. “Essaouira – Sidi Kaouki” for villages and beaches, the direction of the outing. The kilometres hold both ways, the time does not: it changes with the season and the direction. When to visit says which months fill the town, and the road with it.
This section does not say what is at the end of the road. Sidi Kaouki beach is in our neighbourhoods pages, organised excursions under activities, and swimming and wind in our beaches section. Here, only kilometres, hours and dates.
See on the map
The map loads tiles from OpenFreeMap. · Open in Google Maps
Every distance from Essaouira
| Destination | km | By car | Without a car | Day trip |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diabat | ≈ 6 | ≈ 12 min | Local taxi or bus · Petit taxi | yes |
| Ghazoua | ≈ 10 | ≈ 15 min | Local taxi or bus | yes |
| Cap Sim beach | ≈ 12 | ≈ 25 min | Local taxi or bus | yes |
| Essaouira-Mogador Airport | ≈ 16 | ≈ 25 min | Private transfer | — |
| Sidi Kaouki | ≈ 25 | ≈ 30 min | Grand taxi | yes |
| Ounagha | ≈ 27 | ≈ 30 min | Grand taxi | yes |
| Moulay Bouzerktoune | ≈ 27 | ≈ 35 min | Grand taxi | yes |
| Had Draa | ≈ 32 | ≈ 35 min | Grand taxi | yes |
| Smimou | ≈ 50 | ≈ 50 min | Grand taxi | yes |
| Tafedna beach | ≈ 65 | ≈ 1 h 15 | Grand taxi | yes |
| Tamanar | ≈ 80 | ≈ 1 h 18 | Bus · Supratours | yes |
| Imsouane | ≈ 85 | ≈ 1 h 30 | Grand taxi | yes |
| Chichaoua | ≈ 100 | ≈ 1 h 25 | Bus · Supratours | yes |
| Safi | ≈ 130 | ≈ 2 h | Bus · CTM | yes |
| Agadir | ≈ 175 | ≈ 3 h | Bus · CTM | long |
| Marrakech | ≈ 175 | ≈ 2 h 45 | Bus · CTM | long |
| Marrakech-Menara Airport | ≈ 180 | ≈ 2 h 45 | Private transfer | — |
| Agadir-Al Massira Airport | ≈ 200 | ≈ 3 h 15 | Private transfer | — |
| Taroudant | ≈ 250 | ≈ 3 h 50 | Bus · CTM, Supratours | no |
| El Jadida | ≈ 255 | ≈ 3 h 30 | Bus · CTM | no |
| Ouarzazate | ≈ 375 | ≈ 6 h | — | no |
| Casablanca | ≈ 380 | ≈ 4 h 45 | Bus · CTM | no |
| Rabat | ≈ 470 | ≈ 5 h 30 | Train · ONCF | no |
| Fez | ≈ 650 | ≈ 7 h 30 | Train · ONCF | no |
| Tangier | ≈ 710 | ≈ 8 h | Train · ONCF | no |
≈: figure [to be verified], not yet checked on site by our editors.
Nearest: Diabat (≈ 6 km), Ghazoua (≈ 10 km), Cap Sim beach (≈ 12 km). Farthest: Tangier (≈ 710 km), Fez (≈ 650 km), Rabat (≈ 470 km).
Frequently asked questions
What does the ≈ sign in front of a distance mean?
That we have not checked that figure yet. It comes from guidebooks and maps and gives the order of magnitude. Once we have driven the road or read the operator’s fare table, the sign goes and the page shows the source and the date.
Can you do Marrakech and back in a day from Essaouira?
Yes, but it is long: about 2 h 45 on the road each way without stopping, or 3 h by coach. That makes more than five hours of travelling in one day. We suggest staying the night. The choice between bus, grand taxi and car is in Getting to Essaouira.
What is the nearest destination to Essaouira?
Diabat, the village across the Oued Ksob, 5 km by road by our route calculation. Ghazoua comes next at 10 km, then Essaouira-Mogador airport at 17 km. The table is sorted from nearest to farthest.
Are the distances measured by road or as the crow flies?
By road: that is the figure in the table and in the title of each page. The straight-line distance is worked out from the coordinates and given separately, as a guide. The times are for a private car. Buses have their own time, row by row.