The Ouzoud waterfalls are the largest waterfalls in Morocco and one of the most popular day trips from Marrakech. The impressive photos I saw when I was preparing for my trip to Marrakech immediately made me want to visit the Ouzoud waterfalls.
And that’s how I ended up visiting the Ouzoud waterfalls on a 1-day trip from Marrakech. Throughout this post, you can find several tips to better plan your visit to the Ouzoud waterfalls: the best time to visit, and the best way to visit the Ouzoud waterfalls, among other tips.
Where are the Ouzoud waterfalls located?
The Ouzoud waterfalls are located about 150 km from Marrakech, in a small town – Tanaghmeilt. Although the distance from Marrakech is only 150 km, the journey between these two places takes on average about 2h30.
What is the best time of year to visit the Ouzoud waterfalls?
Without a doubt, the best time to visit the Ouzoud waterfalls is during winter. As well as having fewer tourists (however, don’t expect to be there alone, as this is a very popular place!), the waterfall generally has more water during this time of the year.
However, if you would also like to bathe in the waterfalls, then it is better to choose to visit in summer. In winter, it will probably be too cold to take a dip in the water.
How to visit the Ouzoud waterfalls?
There are 3 possible options to visit the Ouzoud waterfalls:
- Independently and by car
- Independently and by public transport / shared taxi
- Organized tour
If you choose to visit the Ouzoud waterfalls by car, you have the option to park in one of the many car parks available around the waterfalls (most of these car parks are paid for!). A quick search on Google Maps and you will find these parking options.
On the other hand, if you choose to visit the waterfalls by public transport, the trip will be much more complex. I honestly believe that this option is not very worthwhile, given the extra time it takes and considering how cheap the organized tours usually are.
However, these are the main options for visiting the Ouzoud waterfalls by public transport:
- Take a bus to Beni-Mellal and then from there a shared taxi to the waterfalls
- Shared taxi to Azilal and then another shared taxi to Ouzoud
The third and final option to visit the Ouzoud waterfalls is a guided tour from Marrakech. This is the option I ended up choosing and is undoubtedly the most practical and convenient.
Which guided tour to the Ouzoud waterfalls should I book?
Firstly, there are several companies that offer a guided tour service to the waterfalls. Although it is possible to buy the tour in the streets of Marrakech or even in the city’s main square, I recommend you do it through Get Your Guide, to make sure you aren’t caught in any of the famous scams that exist in Morocco.
💡 EXTRA TIP: Besides the guaranteed safety, by booking directly on Get Your Guide, you also have the option of free cancellation 24 hours before the activity and can check the opinions of other people who have already done the tour.
In my case, I chose to book this guided tour to the Ouzoud waterfalls. The tours are around 17€ – 30€ per person, which is not too expensive considering the duration of the activity and the distance between the waterfalls and Marrakech. However, there are other options available:
Is it necessary to bring money to the Ouzoud waterfalls?
Like many places in Marrakech, the restaurants by the Ouzoud waterfalls accept only cash. So I suggest you take some cash with you on this visit. I recommend withdrawing cash at Al Barid Bank (where you don’t pay fees) with a Revolut card.
💡 EXTRA TIP: The Revolut card allows you to save a lot of money in countries with different currencies because it does not charge the usual bank fees for transactions in other currencies. If you would like to know more about all the advantages of having a Revolut card, check out this post.
How does the guided tour to the Ouzoud waterfalls work?
Most of the tours start very early (8 am – 9 am), with pick-up from our accommodation (or a nearby agreed location). After about 2 hours of driving, a stop of about 15 minutes is made at a café/service station. And after another hour of driving, we finally arrive in the town where the waterfalls are located.
Many of the tours already include a local guide who accompanies us during the whole trip, giving some indications about the waterfalls and also the surrounding area.
In my opinion, the tour had too many people and it was sometimes difficult to hear the guide’s explanations. However, considering that the main purpose of the tour was to see the waterfalls, I didn’t mind this too much.
The trail our guide showed us started near some viewpoints of the waterfalls and then descended along a dirt track. Although the trail was uneven, I didn’t find it too difficult. However, it requires proper footwear!
After a short walk along this dirt track, we reached yet another viewpoint – for me the best of the whole visit.
We waited for a while by this viewpoint until we got on a kind of boat, which took us closer to the water. When I bought the tour, I had to select the option that included the boat ride. So always confirm which options are included in the tour you book.
Although the tour is quite short (no more than 10 minutes) I found it a funny experience, because I could observe the waterfall from another perspective. I had read online that on this ride we could get quite wet, however, that didn’t happen, and we only had a few splashes of water.
However, I visited in January on a rather cold day and perhaps for that reason the boat drivers didn’t get as close to the waterfall.
It was then time for lunch (the guide told us we had about 1 hour to do so) and we opted to have lunch in one of the several restaurants available by the waterfalls. Most restaurants have a fixed menu that includes drinks, starters, main dish, bread and tea.
In January 2023, the price was 110 MAD per person (~9.9€) – a bit higher than Marrakech standards, but still quite affordable.
As soon as lunch was over, we climbed the stairway back to the starting point. Along the stairs, in addition to restaurants and cafés, there are also several handicraft shops. If you haven’t bought your souvenir from Morocco yet, this could be a good opportunity to do so 😉.
💡 EXTRA TIP: If you are visiting the Ouzoud waterfalls independently and prefer not to walk on the dirt track, you can always access the waterfalls via this staircase. However, the route will no longer be circular as you will be going up and down the same side.
Almost at the end of the trail, we can see another of the things that brings many people to visit the Ouzoud waterfalls – the Gibraltar monkeys. Although many locals are selling food to give to the monkeys, it is not recommended to do so. Also, you should not touch them either.
As I already had the opportunity to visit these monkeys in Gibraltar, I didn’t find the experience so funny. In Gibraltar, I could see many more monkeys and, besides, they were much more daring, which immediately increased the adrenaline of the experience 😂. Anyway, I always enjoy watching these little guys playing with each other.
It was about 3 pm when we returned to the minibus that took us there. We made our way back to Marrakech, with another 10-minute stop along the way, and by 6 pm we were back in Marrakech.
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Is it worth visiting the Ouzoud waterfalls on a day trip from Marrakech?
The Ouzoud waterfalls are, without a doubt, a must on any itinerary through Morocco. However, if you are only going to visit Marrakech for just a few days, I don’t really believe it’s worth it to “lose” an entire day just to visit the Ouzoud waterfalls!
For example, knowing what I know today, and bearing in mind I was in Marrakech for 3 days, I would not have visited the waterfalls to have more time to explore Marrakech calmly.
💡 EXTRA TIP: When visiting the Ouzoud falls on a day trip from Marrakech, we will arrive at the falls almost simultaneously with the other tours. So if you’d like to avoid the crowds, try to visit the Ouzoud falls independently so you can be at the falls early in the morning.
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[…] days available on your trip to Marrakech, there are several day trips from Marrakech, such as the Ouzoud waterfalls, the port city of Essaouira or even the fortified city of […]