Off the coast of Essaouira, a few hundred metres from the beach, lies a small archipelago of rocky islets, the Iles Purpuraires, and they have been known for more than two thousand years. The name comes from the purple dye made from sea snails that the Phoenicians and later the Romans extracted here, and it was prized across the ancient world. The king Juba II of Mauretania is said to have run a dye works on the main island, Mogador, in the first century BC. Today the islands are a protected nature reserve, and the birds are the main residents.
The archipelago is a nesting place for Eleonora's falcon, a slim, fast raptor that breeds late in the summer to hunt the migratory songbirds passing south, and for gulls, cormorants and other seabirds. The water between the islets and the shore is a shallow channel, and on a windy day the waves break white along the reefs. The wind here is constant: the trade winds blow from the north-east for much of the year, so Essaouira has become one of the best places in Africa for windsurfing and kite-surfing, and the long beach is full of sails from spring to autumn.
The ride from Agadir to Essaouira is a pleasure in itself, about a hundred and seventy kilometres along the Atlantic coast. The road climbs over headlands, drops into fishing villages and passes through argan forest, where goats, with remarkable agility, climb into the branches of the trees to eat the fruit. The surface is generally good, with some tight bends and heavy trucks, and the wind can be strong enough to move a bike, particularly near the coast. The best seasons are spring and autumn, and the evening light on the water is lovely.
Essaouira, two and a half kilometres from the shore, is a town of seventy thousand with fuel, restaurants and hotels, so fill there. A walk along the beach at low tide, with the islets silhouetted against the setting sun, is a fine end to the ride. Camels and horses are for hire along the sand, and fishermen sell the day's catch from the harbour. Carry a windproof layer, even in summer.