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Western Sahara coast road.....worth doing??? Western Sahara coast road.....worth doing???
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Morocco Topics specific to Morocco, including Western Sahara west of the berm
Photo by Lois Pryce, schoolkids in Algeria

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  #1  
Old 14 Sep 2013
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Western Sahara coast road.....worth doing???
Hi,
Off on a 2nd trip to Morocco in October with my husband, both riding F650GS's.
We have a few off and on road routes marked, but both like the idea of riding the coast road from Tan Tan to the Mauritanian border as well, we have almost 3 weeks when in Morocco.
Basically is it worth doing? Is it a boring straight road with not many varying views and scenery? Or is it stunning and worth the trip there and back? Or perhaps only worth going half way down?
Are there hidden deserted beaches?
Cheers
Laura
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Old 14 Sep 2013
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IMHO, for the time you have, you might want to stay and visit more of Morocco.
Go and have a romantic few days staying in the 'Petit Hotel' if you prefer modern or khaïmas if you fancy a taste of a nomadic bivouac.
Pierre's place (Fort Bou Jerif)
Ask him about the tides, check that you enjoy sand (!) and go and ride Plage Blanche always keeping an eye on the TIDE!
Try the very tasty 'Tagine de chameau aux pruneaux'
Do more, do less miles !
Plenty of (almost) deserted beaches but just when you think you are alone....
Last edited by Bertrand; 14 Sep 2013 at 18:52. Reason: keep an eye on the time and tide.
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Old 14 Sep 2013
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depends why you both like the idea of it. If you like the idea 'just because', then do it and enjoy it. You could always do a couple of days in NKT, 'just because'.

I've been up and down there a few times, and I wouldn't do it unless I was going through RIM. Past Dakhla you have the possibility of landmines (though I expect they're all cleared now, but you never know).

Dakhla is a day trip from the Canaries, so might not be full of the people you expect.

Personally, I'd take Tan Tan as the lowest end of the trip.

cheers
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Old 15 Sep 2013
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The coast road from Layounne south is about the most boring road imaginable. Long, straight, few towns, monotonous scenery. Enough scrubby plants/rocks to make it not unbroken sandy desert. It is usually a bit off the coast, often up on cliffs, so not even good views.

Personally, if I had three weeks I'd stay further north in Morocco and get out into the back blocks.
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  #5  
Old 15 Sep 2013
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I did not like the 2000 km strait road through sahara. Had very strong side wind with sand so the paint of my bike was gone at the end but if you want to go to Burkina Faso its worth going:

Ａｄｖｅｎｔ&# xff55;ｒｅｓ motorbike expedition - 2 jears around africa
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Old 15 Sep 2013
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Thanks for your comments guys, been going through Chris Scott's book and reckon we'll go as far down as Laayoune then head inland to Smara then Assa
Cheers
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Old 15 Sep 2013
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Originally Posted by Bonniebird View Post
Thanks for your comments guys, been going through Chris Scott's book and reckon we'll go as far down as Laayoune then head inland to Smara then Assa
Cheers
Very nice route, fantastic desert scenery from Smara to Assa IMO.
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Old 15 Sep 2013
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We'll be in the WS in about 4 weeks heading from Smara south before ending up in ~Boujdour off road then back north to Laayoune then off road across to Assa
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Old 21 Oct 2013
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I will strongly recommend that you make a information sheet - a "fiche" - where you write down your name, address, home country , place of birth, passport number, occupation etc and make at least 30 copies to bring with you. You will guaranteed meet a lot of police roadblocks on your route. By giving them a copy, you´ll save a lot of time at those roadblocks. If you don´t have that, you´ll have to write down all this info every time. We did this driving through Mauritania and Western Sahara two years ago, and our stops at the roadblock were only a couple of minutes. And I do agree with the others, there is not much to see between Tan Tan and Dakhla.
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Old 21 Oct 2013
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The pre prepared fiche is probably a good idea but mostly I quite enjoyed stopping and chatting with the people at the roadblocks. Not much of a conversation sometimes I admit but it's a chance to get off the bike and after a couple of sessions you know the drill.
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