Slow mornings and rooftop evenings: life at the riad

Early afternoon is the quietest part of the house. It is hot outside, the morning surfers are asleep or eating, and the courtyard does what courtyards were built to do — stay cool and shaded while everything else bakes.

People read, nap, drift in and out of the kitchen, and mostly do not leave. There is no programme. That is the point.

The Atlantic does not perform on demand, and some weeks include a day or two with nothing worth paddling out for. Those tend to be the days people remember.

What usually happens instead

• A walk up the coast to Taghazout and back along the beach.
• The market in Agadir, which fills a morning easily.
• Quad biking or an argan co-operative inland, if the group wants a plan.
• Yoga on the terrace, which goes from optional to popular on flat days.
• Nothing at all, on the roof, with a book.

The roof terrace is where the day ends. It catches the last of the light, and it faces the right way for the sun going down over the water beyond the village roofs.

Dinner is often a tagine, eaten slowly and late, with everyone around one table. People compare waves, swap plans for tomorrow, and stay up later than they meant to.

The best evenings here are the ones nobody organised.

The house takes a mix: solo travellers, couples, a few friends sharing a dorm, and the occasional group taking the whole place. Most arrive not knowing anyone and leave with plans to come back together.

It is a small house, which is deliberate. You will know everyone's name by the second evening without anybody making you introduce yourself.

Come for the surf by all means. But leave a day unplanned while you are here. The house is at its best when nobody is trying to get anywhere.