Oujda and Saidia

Saidia, the resort of the eastern Mediterranean

Saidia sits on the last stretch of the Moroccan coast, in the Triffa plain: the mouth of the Moulouya borders it to the west, and the Oued Kiss, which marks the border with Algeria, to the east. It is known as "the blue pearl". Its reason for being is the beach: 14 km of white sand.

The small town, with about 10,500 inhabitants, keeps a kasbah, a square fortress about a hundred metres on each side, built on the sultan's orders in 1883. The modern resort, Mediterrania Saidia, was inaugurated in 2009 by King Mohammed VI. It brings together hotels, a marina with more than 300 berths, a small shopping medina and two 18-hole golf courses: Les Lacs, laid out around water features, and Teelal, designed near the beach in the spirit of links golf (sandy seaside courses).

In the evening, life moves to the marina, where people dine on regional specialities. Summer is the liveliest season; in July and August, a festival of gharnati music is held in Saidia.

Oujda, the border city

Oujda, some sixty kilometres inland, is the main city of the Oriental region, with just over 500,000 inhabitants and Mohammed I University. Its medina was founded in 994 by Ziri ibn Atiyya, chief of the Maghrawa tribe. The Marinid sultan Abu Yaqub Yusuf rebuilt it in 1295, with new walls and a mosque; the Marinid Great Mosque dates from that time.

You enter the medina through its monumental gates, Bab Sidi Abdelwahab to the east and Bab el Gharbi to the west. The Dar Sebti palace houses the research centre for gharnati music, a classical music of Andalusian origin, also associated with Tlemcen, on the other side of the border. Lalla Aicha park offers shade in the city centre. The regional dish is berkoukech, a large-grain couscous.

Sabaro recommends half a day. A guided tour of Oujda from Saidia, covering the medina, the gates and Dar Sebti, can be booked from €45 per person on Musement, an activity booking platform (price noted on 14 October 2026).

The border is very close, and closed. You cannot therefore cross into Algeria by road from Oujda or Saidia.

The hinterland: the Moulouya and the Beni Snassen

Saidia is also a base for exploring the hinterland, on half-day or full-day outings.

• The Moulouya river mouth, west of the resort, has been listed since 15 January 2005 as a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention (the international treaty for the protection of wetlands). It is a protected site, valued by birdwatchers for its many birds and its plant life.
• Cape Ras El Ma, also called Cap de l'Eau, juts into the sea a few kilometres from Saidia. Its cliffs drop to a wide white-sand beach, with dunes planted with eucalyptus, and a fishing village. A guided outing combining the Moulouya and the cape can be booked from €55 per person on Musement (price noted on 14 October 2026).
• The Beni Snassen mountains, near Berkane, the "citrus capital" whose oranges and clementines are known throughout Morocco. The Zegzel valley there is known for its loquats and honey.
• The Pigeon Cave at Tafoughalt is one of the great prehistoric sites of North Africa. Pierced shells, stained with red ochre and worn as ornaments, have been found there and dated to about 82,000 years ago: they are among the oldest known jewellery in the world. A guided tour of the Tafoughalt valley can be booked from €45 per person on Musement (price noted on 14 October 2026).

Further west, towards Nador, the Marchica lagoon calls for another day.

Getting there, and when

Oujda-Angads airport is 53 km from Saidia, Nador-Al Aroui airport 67 km. By road, Fez is 330.5 km and about 3 h 20 away by motorway, Al Hoceima 259 km and 4 h 15. Traffic flows well on the Fez-Oujda motorway.

The WMO (World Meteorological Organization) 1991-2020 normals for Oujda, inland, show a very hot summer, with about 14 days above 35 °C in both July and August, and a mild winter, with highs around 17 °C in January. It rains little: about 39 days of rain a year. On the coast, Saidia is more temperate, and summer is the swimming season. Sabaro recommends June and September for the beach, when the heat is less intense than in midsummer, and spring for the Beni Snassen and the Moulouya.

On 2 August 2027, Saidia is inside the path of totality of the solar eclipse: totality lasts about 4 minutes there, around 8:51 local time. In Oujda, on the edge of the path, it lasts only about a minute.