Spearfishing in Casablanca — from Dar Bouazza to Bouznika

Casablanca is not the first city that comes to mind for spearfishing, and yet the coast around it, from Dar Bouazza to the south-west to Mohammedia and Bouznika to the north-east, can be hunted. It is open Atlantic: swell, tide, and windows to seize.

The coast, end to end

Four entry points track the sea continuously along this coast:

• Dar Bouazza, south-west of the city;
• Casablanca, the corniche and around;
• Mohammedia, to the north-east;
• Bouznika, further towards Rabat.

Long sandy beaches alternate with rocky reef flats and points that hold fish.

The tide decides the hour

This is a tidal coast: the same point is a spot at low water and nothing at all three hours later. Low water uncovers the flats and brings the drop-offs closer; high water fills the gullies. Check the times before you leave and aim for slack water. The detail is in our guide on which tide for spearfishing.

The swell decides the day

Visibility depends above all on the swell of the previous days. One metre of short swell is enough to fill the water with sand. The good days are those with a small, long swell after several calm days — not just the calm day itself. The Casablanca conditions page shows the last two days and the week ahead.

Where not to dive

• The ports of Casablanca and Mohammedia, their channels and installations. Forbidden, and dangerous: a diver in a channel is invisible.
• Supervised beaches in summer, on the corniche and elsewhere.
• The rest of the list — military zones, aquaculture farms, areas under biological rest — is in forbidden areas and species.

The authorisation

It is requested from the maritime fisheries delegation for the area where you dive — here, the one your spot depends on, Casablanca or Mohammedia. Call before you go: the documents asked for vary from one counter to another. The whole process is in the guide to the spearfishing permit.

What you meet

As along the whole Atlantic coast, white seabream on the rock and European seabass in the white water, right at the edge. Minimum sizes are in the legal sizes table: shoot above them.

Finding a club

For a first outing here, a local club is the best shortcut: it knows the coast and the counter, and it keeps you from diving alone. Our associations directory is filling up club by club; until then, the region's spearfishing groups are the best place to start.

To get equipped, our gear prices in Morocco.