Morocco: cash or card? Short answer first.
Bring some euros, use your card where you can, and pull dirham from an ATM once you're here. Don't change money at Agadir airport unless you enjoy setting fire to twenty percent of it.
That's the whole guide in three sentences. If you want the details — which ATM in Tamraght has the lowest fees, which café has a working card reader, how much cash you burn through in a week, how much to tip the guy who parks your car — keep reading.
Why you can't get dirham before you fly
The dirham (MAD) is a closed currency. Illegal to take out of the country, technically illegal to bring in. Your bank in Manchester or Berlin can't order it for you. Those "we have every currency" desks at Heathrow? They don't have this one.
This freaks people out. It shouldn't. Morocco has ATMs on every other corner now, shopkeepers will take euros in a pinch, and you can land at 2am and still get cash before you reach the taxi rank. You just can't pre-plan it the way you would for Thailand or Turkey.
Practical version: land with 100–200 euros in cash as backup, and hit an ATM within your first 24 hours. That's it.
The Agadir airport exchange scam (and yes, it's a scam)
Walk out of Al Massira arrivals and you'll see two or three currency booths. Friendly guys, big signs. They will happily convert your euros to dirham.
They'll also give you a rate roughly 10–15% worse than the actual mid-market rate, and often skim a few percent in "commission" they mention after counting out your notes. On 500 euros that's 60–80 euros gone before your taxi has left the car park.
Rule of thumb: whatever Google says one euro is worth, the airport booth will offer you about 85% of that. The ATM 40 metres away will give you 98%. Guess which one to use.
There are ATMs in the arrivals hall — Attijariwafa Bank and Bank of Africa (formerly BMCE). Use those. Skip the booth entirely.
ATMs in Tamraght and Taghazout: the honest rundown
Good news, and it's recent: Tamraght is no longer the cash desert the old guides describe. There are now several ATMs right in the village — the nearest ones about a two-minute walk from our camp — so if you're staying with us, getting dirham is a non-event.
Tamraght
- The one to use: the ATM at the Africa gas station. Lowest fees in town by a clear margin — pull your cash here and don't overthink the rest. Two minutes from the camp; we'll point you straight at it when you arrive.
- A couple of bank ATMs sit near the main-road roundabout too (Attijariwafa, Bank of Africa) as backups if the gas-station one is busy. Reliable enough — just higher fees, so make them plan B.
Taghazout
- Two ATMs on the main strip, both walking distance from the fish market: Attijariwafa and Al Barid Bank.
- Al Barid tends to have lower fees and higher withdrawal limits (up to 4000 MAD sometimes), but it's also the one most likely to be out of order.
The old "hit the ATM early on a long weekend or end of the month" rule still applies in Taghazout — when those empty, they stay empty till Monday. Tamraght is much less of a gamble now with the gas-station machine, but the get-cash-before-the-holiday habit never hurts.
One warning: the Al Barid ATM in Taghazout has a reputation for holding onto foreign cards during connection timeouts. If yours gets swallowed, you're on the phone to your bank cancelling it — you're not getting it back from the machine.
Which places take card, which are cash-only
Half the country is quietly moving to card. The other half thinks card readers are a communist plot. Here's how it shakes out in a surf town.
Definitely take card
- Most surf camps and hostels (including us — you can pay your balance by card on arrival).
- Bigger restaurants along Taghazout's main road: Cafe Mouja, World of Waves, L'Auberge.
- Munga's grocery in Taghazout, sometimes.
- Surf shops selling boards and wetsuits — the pricier the item, the more likely they'll want card.
Cash-only, no exceptions
- The fish market and the fish grill guys down by the harbour.
- Taxis. Every single one.
- The bread guy, the msemen lady, the guy selling avocado juice from a cart, the man who fixes your dinged board for 100 dirham.
- Most cafés in Tamraght — with one exception: Auberge Tamraght has a Stripe reader that works about 80% of the time. Ask before you order.
- The hammam. Bring cash to the hammam. You're naked, sort it out first.
When a place says "the machine is broken," sometimes it's broken and sometimes it's just Tuesday. Don't argue. Walk to an ATM — in Tamraght that's about two minutes.
How much cash to bring (and pull out per week)
For a week in Tamraght or Taghazout, budget roughly this for daily spending outside your accommodation and surf package:
- Breakfast at a café (msemen, orange juice, mint tea): 30–50 MAD.
- Tagine or fish lunch: 60–120 MAD.
- Dinner out: 80–180 MAD.
- Grand taxi to Agadir: 15–20 MAD shared, 150 MAD for the whole car.
- A beer at a place that sells beer (see the alcohol post): 40–60 MAD.
Realistic weekly cash spend for a surfer eating lunch and dinner out: 1500–2500 MAD (roughly 140–230 euros). Bring 200 euros as buffer, withdraw about 2000 MAD when you land, and top up mid-week at the gas-station ATM.
Bring small notes if you can. Nobody has change for a 200 dirham bill at 7am when you want a coffee. And the ATMs love to spit out 200s. You'll spend your first three days trying to break them.
Tipping: what's actually expected
Tipping here is real but not aggressive. You won't get chased down the street. You will get slightly warmer service if you're consistent about it.
- Restaurants: round up, or leave 10% at nicer places. 5–20 MAD at a café.
- Taxis: round up to the nearest 10 dirham. If the driver helps with bags, another 10.
- Surf instructor: not required, appreciated. 50–100 MAD at the end of the week is generous and normal.
- The guy in the reflective vest who "helps" you park: 2–5 MAD. Yes, always. He's not official. Pay him anyway. It's the deal.
- Hammam scrub: 20–30 MAD to the woman who just dismantled your soul.
- Housekeeping: 20 MAD per day is generous.
Nobody wants euros as tips. Dirham only. Handing someone a two-euro coin they can't spend is worse than giving nothing.
Card fees, exchange rates, and the smart move
Your home bank probably charges you two things every time you use an ATM here: a foreign transaction fee (1–3%) and the ATM operator fee. The Africa gas-station ATM in Tamraght keeps that operator fee about as low as it gets locally — another reason it's the one to use. If your card also does bad exchange rates, add another 2%.
The fix: bring a card that doesn't charge foreign fees. Revolut, Wise, Monzo, N26, Bunq — all of these give you close to mid-market rates and no fee on the euro-to-dirham conversion. You'll still pay the ATM's small fee, but that's it.
Withdraw larger amounts less often. Five small withdrawals rack up five fees. One withdrawal of 2000 MAD pays one.
If the card terminal asks whether to charge you in euros or dirham, always pick dirham. The euro option uses a rate the terminal invented on the spot, and it's terrible.
FAQ
Can I use euros directly in Morocco?
In tourist areas, sometimes. A taxi driver or shop owner might take them at a rate that heavily favours them. Fine for emergencies, terrible as a strategy. Get dirham.
Is it safe to use ATMs in Tamraght at night?
Yeah, fine. Tamraght and Taghazout are quiet, low-crime places. Use common sense: main street, not a dark side alley. And since there's an ATM two minutes from the camp, you're not wandering far anyway.
Can I pay for my surf camp by card?
With us, yes, and with most camps around here. Ask before you book though — some of the smaller family-run places are still cash on arrival.
What do I do with leftover dirham when I leave?
You can't legally take much out. Spend it at the airport (there's a decent souvenir shop and a café), or change it back at the same booth you're rightly suspicious of. Better plan: run down the balance in your last two days.
Do I need to tell my bank I'm going to Morocco?
With most modern banks, no — but a quick heads-up via the app takes ten seconds. What you don't want is your card frozen after your first ATM attempt in Agadir at 1am.
