Hello all,

Does anyone know if there is still a ferry running between Agadir or Laayoune or Tafaya to the Canary Islands? It appears that services used to exist but i can't find anything online to confirm they still do.

Any help greatly appreciated!

How old are your sources? The ferry sank about 15 years ago, more or less. There was talk about reviving the service which never came to anything.

If you’ve got information that a ferry existed more recently than that, it might be worth pursuing. I’d be reluctant to get my hopes up.

G'day Markharf,

Thanks for taking the time to reply!

These are from 2023:

https://canariasacross.com/blog/dire...f-north-africa

https://theferryforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=2675

https://www.ncesc.com/how-do-you-get...anary-islands/

None seem to be particularly 'official'. So yes I have the feeling there is no service....but hope I'm wrong....

Things are moving forward with reinstating the ferry link, one condition was the old wrecked ferry was removed and that was done in 2024

Shame about the wreck removal. Made a fab background for beach photo

Thanks fellas. Which port had the wrecked ferry?

Tarfaya. Suspiciously short maiden voyage.
Did not know it had been removed.
It's still there on sat imagery, but that doesn't say much.

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Morocco Overland 4 (2025) • Trans Morocco Trail

Seems I’ve fallen behind the times once again. Ah well.

One thing puzzles me: if the ferry is not yet operating—and may never operate—why are there articles linked above which talk about ferries (plural) in the present tense, as if you can take your choice among multiple offerings?

Ahhh ok thanks Chris. Well, looks like I'll be leaving the bike behind in Maroc for a few weeks if I want to see the Canaries

Or pay villains a hefty fee for a ride on an inflatable

Sounds about as likely to ensure a safe passage as the old ferry!

the removal happened fairly fast, the wreck was there early summer but had gone when we went to Tarfaya mid November.

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This is a never-ending story, which I have been following since November 2014, when it was first published in various media that both the Spanish and Moroccan authorities announced that by the end of that year the ferry line between the Canary Islands and Morocco, specifically between Tarfaya and Puerto del Rosario (Fuerteventura), would be resumed.

Since then, every year, literally every year, it has been said that by the end of the year, and it never happens, and every year the matter is dealt with again as if it were starting from scratch.
Crazy!

But again, one more year, the authorities of both countries assured that the line would be operational at the end of 2024.

And since a lot of progress was made in the relaunching of this line in 2024 (many details were constantly provided in this regard, including the assignment of the service to a specific ferry company), that is why the wreck of the Assalama ferry, stranded off Tarfaya since 2008, was dismantled in September 2024.

But farmers and ranchers in the Canary Islands opposed it, fearing that the entry of agricultural and livestock goods from Morocco into the Canary Islands would lead to being affected by pests and diseases.

And since then, nothing has been heard about the reopening of this line.


I attach some links about all this.

1. The wreck of the ferry “Assalama” is dismantled
https://www.puentedemando.com/el-pec...a-es-historia/

2. A Moroccan swam to the Assalama a year ago and showed what its interior looked like.
https://www.atlanticohoy.com/empresa...26272_102.html

3. The Puerto del Rosario-Tarfaya line will be operational in 2024
https://www.noticiasfuerteventura.co...a-en-este-2024

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Carpe Diem

Hey Afrikiya, sounds like it's not going to happen anytime soon, or ever. Thanks for the info!

You have to ask... just how many people would use such a service on a regular basis week-in, week-out during the year, to justify the investment?

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"For sheer delight there is nothing like altitude; it gives one the thrill of adventure
and enlarges the world in which you live," Irving Mather (1892-1966)