Taghazout started as a fishing village and still smells like one around the harbour at dawn, but since the late sixties it has had a second life as Morocco's surf town. Travellers on the hippie trail drifted up the coast from Agadir looking for empty point breaks, and the names they gave the waves, Anchor Point and Killer Point among them, stuck. Today the village climbs a hillside above the Atlantic in tiers of whitewashed and sand-coloured houses, with surf schools and rooftop cafes in between the older family homes, and a large resort development now sits in the bay to the north.
For a rider this is where the coast road starts to behave. South of here you have spent the morning in the traffic and roundabouts of Agadir, which is a big city of nearly seven hundred thousand and the place to fill the tank properly before you leave. North of Taghazout the road bends along the cliff edge, drops to small coves, then climbs again, with the western end of the High Atlas running down to meet the ocean on your right. The surface is generally decent, but sand blows across the tarmac in places, and an Atlantic fog can sit on the cliffs until mid-morning, so the best light and the best grip come after ten.
Stop for a mint tea or a plate of grilled sardines and look at what the locals are doing rather than the tourists. The fishermen still land their catch on the beach, and in the evening the whole village drifts down to watch the swell. Beyond the village the hills fill up with argan trees, a gnarled, thorny species that grows almost nowhere else on earth, and in season you will see goats standing in the branches eating the fruit, a sight that is real and not only a postcard trick, although the ones beside the road are often there for the tips.
Plan the day around the wind. The coastal trade wind builds in the afternoon, especially in summer, and a loaded bike on an exposed headland feels it. Taghazout itself is a good place to rest, with plenty of simple guesthouses, and the sunsets over the water are good enough to justify staying a night instead of pressing on to Tamri and Essaouira.