Dakhla, the new cool destination
Dakhla is the new destination of choice for the hip and happening crowds - and celebrating its new status with a festival of its own.
Surfing, kite-surfing, paragliding, quad-biking and rough-sea fishing. Dakhla is quickly becoming the real men’s paradise, where talk is about hitching your way into Mauritania rather than finding the most lavish palace restaurant.
Marrakech is for tourists, Dakhla is for travelers. But beware, French daily Le Figaro this weekend put the town on its list of cool destinations. The door to package holidays could be opened soon.
Apart from enough wind to get your kite going, Dakhla has one major unique selling point. It is one of the few places on earth where the desert almost literally touches the ocean.
The small town was a bit of an unknown entity to most people, except UN peace keepers and Moroccans who travel from all over the country to work here during the fishing season. But lately, more and more foreigners are finding their way to Dakhla.
Thanks to the early years of aviation, the town even has an airport. But its business fell last year, with only 24.459 passengers passing through its tiny terminal (most of them UN officials, we guess). The new tourists - erm, sorry - travelers will probably opt for the much more adventurous 26-hour bus ride from Marrakech.
Dakhla’s authorities are determined to get more visitors. So next weekend, the town is celebrating its first Desert & Sea Festival. There’s the usual menu of folklore and gnaoua music, mixed with kite-surfing (of course), funboarding, martial arts demonstrations and even a film festival.
Among the artists that will be performing are the Gypsy Kings and American jazz pianist Randy Weston. Recent Motorola Music Awards winners Hoba Hoba Spirit, H Kayne and Darga are also appearing.
The festival’s website will stream the entire festival, allowing us to watch the event online. Which fits perfectly with the new, cool Dakhla.
- Help the Dakhla tourist board with a new slogan that fits its hip status - post your suggestions
April 2nd, 2007 at 5:07 pm
I was in Dakhla in 2000 and it was way off the beaten track–just two hotels existed then. It was the end of the earth as such. We caught the bus up to Layoune and I think there were about 10 checkpoints along the way, and all the foreigners (myself, my travelling companion and a couple from Mauritania) had to get off the bus to copy down our passport info, often by guards who could not read English/Roman characters, so I had to write it for them!
April 8th, 2007 at 8:43 pm
Is that it? Last posting was 5 weeks ago. What now?
Kenn
May 11th, 2007 at 3:16 pm
interesting story Natalya! my friends just came back from dakhla few months ago, and their expirience was nothing like yours.. guess that shows how fast things can change sometimes..
December 10th, 2007 at 3:17 pm
Hi all!
Maybe anyone know where can i find agent in Dakhla who could organize landing permitions in airport or catering for example? or with who i should talk if we are planing to have a charter flight to Dakhla?
February 11th, 2008 at 7:52 pm
About the checkpoints :
I have traveled to south morocco very recently, and teh problems with teh checkpoints in morocco is exactly the same, so it is a huge lie to say that anything changed; there are checkpoints every ten minutes, and even if we re keen to cooperate and help for supposed terrorism and security purpose, teh truth is that the officers are really annoying; its a waste of time and it happens so often that it can ruin your holidays;
now maybe if you re using an airplane it s another story …It s sad that they make it so heavy to travel in such a beautiful country,
February 19th, 2008 at 7:33 pm
man from morocco -dakhla_ i think the broblem of chekpoint is to safe the region and is an advantage for tourist to be more proteged from those who wanted just our region damiged.its really that the way that its passed by guards is not right but is necissary