The Umnya year
Morocco does not have one season.
It has four, and they do not go to the same places.
The desert is impassable in August and perfect in January. The Vallée des Roses only truly exists for three weeks in May. The Atlantic wakes up in winter. This page is not a list of our departures: it explains why they fall when they fall.
January – February · 7 departures
Winter
This is the best season in the desert, and almost nobody knows it. The days are mild, the nights cold, and the sky has a clarity you will not find at any other time of year. On the coast, January brings the biggest swell of the year to Taghazout and Essaouira, with empty line-ups. In the Anti-Atlas, the Saghro stays walkable when the Haut Atlas is closed.
Best if you are looking for: the silence of the Sahara, the Atlantic swell, winter walking, the imperial cities without the crowds.
March – May · 21 departures
Spring
The densest season, and the shortest. Toubkal is climbed on hard snow in March. In April the passes open and the grand Erg is still cool. In May the Vallée des Roses is in harvest for three weeks, Chefchaouen comes out of winter, and the Atlantic turns kitesurfable. These are the dates that go first.
Best if you are looking for: the rose harvest, the ascent of Toubkal, the blue city, kitesurfing, the women's retreats.
June · 3 departures
Summer
June is the last window before the south becomes inhospitable. We move to altitude and to water: the M'Goun valleys at 2,000 metres, and the coast at Taghazout and Essaouira, which the trade winds keep breathable while Marrakech goes past 40 degrees.
Best if you are looking for: trekking at altitude, surfing, padel on the coast, beach volleyball.
September – December · 18 departures
Autumn
The most complete season. The Atlantic is at its warmest in September, the Oualidia lagoon at its calmest. In October and November the desert becomes walkable again, the nomads come back down to the winter pastures, and the light turns long and low. December closes the year in an empty Erg.
Best if you are looking for: the lagoon and its oysters, a desert you can actually cross, walking with the nomads, Atlantic fishing, nights under the stars.
Why there is nothing in July and August.
Because it would be dishonest. Southern Morocco regularly goes past 45 degrees at the height of summer: the desert is not walkable, treks become dangerous, and active programmes lose all their meaning. Other operators sell these dates. We do not open them, and we would rather tell you here than let you find out on the ground.
You know when. Now choose where.
Thirty-five departures spread over ten months, five to eight days, eight to twenty guests, one group at a time. Every date was chosen for its landscape, not to fill a calendar.