What a response!

Concerning your first point, is the liability insurance still obligatory if i have maroc on my bikes green card? As to western sahara and mauritania how does insurance work there? Whilst entering into ws, and considering it's not recognised by the un, is there a boarder of some sort or not at all? For mauritania i'm assuming from what i've read i can just pull up and get the visas at the boarder.

The wild camping hotel debate had me torn in half for a couple days; ultimately i went with the wild camping option for two reasons: the first being funds; i could save a couple hundred euros which would allow me to travel more, the second being the experience and finally the third is bike safety/maintenance; i have a tent with a "centre compartment" used to shelter my klr. It gives me peace of mind and regular bike maintenance is a breeze when you're sheltered from all sides.

Health insurance is on my list but i've yet to dive into it; considering the vast amounts of information on this forum i guess it won't be a problem.

For reference, i'm based near Marseille and will take a ferry from there.

3rd party vehicle insurance is the minimum required for Morocco and the WS, either green card or locally purchased insurance will cover you. Morocco and the WS is one insurance doc.

Don’t be tempted not to bother with insurance, if you get caught they will confiscate your bike and if you are involved in an accident the it’s straight to prison for no insurance.

Wildcamping is fine outside of National Parks and not permitted on beaches. If it’s private property you need the owners permission. Recently they haven’t tightened up on camping along the coast in the WS for security issues.

Repatriation options is worth considering. I was involved in repatriating a seriously injured biker earlier in the year and we will need to deal with getting his bike out of the country over the next month.

Thanks for your help; i'll make sure to get health insurance and repatriation!

If Maroc is listed on the green card provided by your home insurance company, then that is sufficient. You won't need to purchase additional insurance when you arrive in Morocco.

The entry for 'Morocco' on your green card also covers your insurance needs in WS. There is no physical border between Morocco and WS, because Morocco (the de facto government of WS) considers WS to be part of Morocco. I think there is a road sign of some kind, that is all.

Don't discount the effect of brilliant sunshine when the outside air temperature is in the 30s and possibly 40s. Your tent will become an oven. I have no experience with camping, so I can't give you any better advice, but I strongly recommend you get advice from others who have travelled in the regions you want to visit during the months you want to visit.

Morocco (& WS) are quite heavily policed and therefore reasonably safe places to visit, but once you get into Mauritania, you are truly in the third world. Again, best to get some advice about the personal security aspects of wild camping in Mauritania from someone who has been there recently and camped there recently.

What you want to get is personal insurance coverage that covers hospitalization and, if necessary, repatriation back to your home country. It should not be difficult for you to find and purchase such insurance in France, but pay attention to the details, especially the details about repatriation. Be aware that most "out of country" travel insurance policies have a 30 day 'out of country' time limit... pay attention to this also when you are shopping for insurance.

Unless there is a ferry that operates from Marseille to Tanger Med port, it might be easier for you to ride to Barcelona and take the ferry from there to Tanger Med.

Michael

Heat is going to be challenging. I plan on travelling in the morning to avoid quite literally burning. What about connection? How much are the sim cars and how often do you get good connection. I'm adamant to document this trip so it's pretty important for me.

SIM cards a free of charge but some chancers may charge you a bit for setting them up. Data is €1 per GB and the network is generally good. Maroc Telecom is better in remote areas, the organ fe and INWI having the least coverage. In the WS signal is pretty good along the coast road and very patchy inland.

If your from Marseille you will know there’s direct ferries from GNV and Le Meridionale. Although personally I would drive to Algeciras over taking a GNV ferry again.

Leo:

One thing that you need to be aware of, in other words, to fully understand, are the rules concerning temporary importation of your moto into Morocco and the obligation you have to remove the motorcycle from Morocco when you leave the country. I'm not sure that you are familiar with what is involved, so I will try to explain it. Forgive me if you already know about this.

In lesser developed countries (e.g. Ukraine, Turkey, all the North African countries), tourist vehicles are temporarily admitted into the country free of duty and tax, but records are kept of the temporary importation of the vehicle and the owner is obliged by law to remove the vehicle from the country when they leave themselves - otherwise, there are significant financial penalties imposed. The reason for this is that in these countries, there are quite heavy duties and taxes imposed when residents import vehicles, and the countries want to make sure that a tourist does not sell or otherwise leave their vehicle behind when they leave the country.

If all goes well on your trip, there is nothing to worry about: you ride in, customs makes a note in your passport that you came with a vehicle, and when you ride out, customs checks to make sure you are taking your vehicle with you. Where problems arise is when for one reason or another (sickness, injury, accident, pandemic, mechanical breakdown, urgent need to return home due to family emergency) you want or need to leave the country without taking your vehicle with you.

In such cases, you will not be allowed to leave the country without paying substantial fees for import duties, taxes, and fines. Although there are some circumstances in which you may be allowed out without your vehicle (e.g. emergency medical repatriation), you will still be obliged to eventually either get the vehicle out of the country or pay the associated import duties, taxes, and fines.

Do be sure that you understand what your obligations are in this regard, and do be sure that you have a fairly large emergency supply of cash available to you in your home bank account that you can draw on via local ATMs in case things go wrong and you have to get your moto shipped out of the country by truck or other means.

To give you a perspective on what can go wrong, have a look at this post I made about problems I had in Tunisia after I evacuated from the country early in the COVID pandemic and had to leave my moto behind because all the ferry services were shut down: Tunisia - repatriating my moto after the COVID pandemic.

Michael

Paneuropean, you need to keep up with local info! What you have posted is incorrect.

Morocco stopped requiring you to leave with the vehicle many years ago. It has been well documented here. If you wish to leave without your vehicle the you need to complete the work paperwork with customs. The vehicle must leave before 180 day TVIP expires but prior to that the owner can leave freely

We assisted with the repatriation of an injured biker at the beginning of the year. His bike is still in the WS and has another 6 weeks on the TVIP. The right paperwork just needed compeleting. .

Hi Warden:

Thanks for that correction and update, I apologize for posting out of date information.

The general point that I was trying to convey to Leo remains the same, though: that a vehicle owner needs to be financially prepared to recover their vehicle from Morocco (and other countries mentioned) if for some reason they have to unexpectedly leave the country without taking their vehicle with them.

Michael

I'm interested in hearing the reasoning behind driving through spain instead of taking a ferry?

I think that what Warden was trying to say is that GNV ferries are a pretty horrible experience and that he would rather travel overland than take another GNV ferry trip.

I understand exactly why he feels this way. I took a GNV ferry from Genoa to Tanger Med 8 years ago. It was a two-day trip with a stop in Barcelona along the way. The vessel was not well maintained, there were safety violations everywhere, the food on board was "less than appealing" and very expensive, and the ferry was packed with Moroccan families (big families, with lots of kids) who were carrying enormous amounts of luggage with them.

It was, in fact, almost hilarious to look at all the cars in the lineup at Genoa waiting to board the ferry. They were jam-packed with goods inside, and the roof of almost every car was piled high with merchandise. See the photo below (my moto is the one on the right) and look at the roofs of the vehicles - they were all like that.

I paid extra for a single cabin (highest category of cabin) for myself, and I am glad I did, because the common areas of the ship were pandemonium most of the time, with kids running & screaming, people sleeping on the floor all over surrounded by their belongings, etc.

You can expect a similar demographic on the ferry from Marseilles. I do recommend you purchase a single cabin for the journey. If you have a choice of ferry companies, DO NOT choose GNV. Having said all that, I recommend that you take a ferry from France rather than riding south to the bottom of Spain. Taking the ferry will avoid a lot of wear and tear on your moto, most especially wear on the tires. It also makes sense to take a ferry from the closest point to where you live because by doing that, you won't be fatigued when you arrive in Morocco. Spain is a big country to have to ride across.

Michael

Boarding the GNV Ferry in Genoa

That was my train of thought. Nearly 4,000 kms there and back from where i am. Would be close to 4 to 5 days, there and back. Can you recommend a reputable ferry company? It would be the first time taking the ferry with my motorbike. Any important things i should know?