Essaouira is a city and tourist resort in Morocco, on the Atlantic coast.
The Medina of Essaouira is a UNESCO World Heritage Listed city, as an example of a late-18th century fortified town, as transferred to North Africa.
Tourism is a quite important industry, supporting a growing small-hotel "Riad" business within the traditional architecture of the old city, and small handicraft businesses such as cabinet making. The thuya wood carving is one of the typical hand crafts Essaouira has been famous for centuries.
Essaouira is also renowned for its windsurfing, with the powerful northeastern trade wind blowing almost constantly onto the protected, almost waveless, bay. Several world-class clubs rent top-notch material on a weekly basis.
The water is "fresh" year-round, and parasols tend to be used more as a protection against the wind and the blowing sand. Camel excursions are available on the beach and into the desert band in the interior.