Great news! Moroccan surfers are super friendly and love to chat! Here’s some basic surf lingo you’ll need to understand the locals, chat to your instructors and enjoy meeting surfers on the beach, in the lineup, and over a post-surf mint tea!
“Yalla!”
One of the words you’ll hear the most during your surf sessions in Morocco! Yalla is Arabic for “Let’s go!” and can often be heard by Moroccan surf instructors as they encourage you to paddle hard for those big waves!
A “Right-Hander”
Morocco is famous for its firing right-hand point breaks, with Anchor Point the most well-known! A right-hand wave breaks refers to the surfers perspective. So the wave rolls from left to right (as you look towards the beach from the line-up), ie. a surfer will turn towards the right once they pop up on the wave.
K11, K12 What Does This Mean?
Lots of our local surf spots are named for their distance from Agadir in kilometres! We particularly love the beach break at k11 and the reef break at k12 (two of the rare spots that offer both left-hand and right-hand waves!), as well as k25, also known as Camel Beach (for the large camel-shaped rock as well as the large number of actual camels there!)
Are You Goofy or Regular?
This one refers to your stance on the board! A ‘goofy’ stands with their right foot nearest the front of the board and their left foot at the back (equivalent of a ’southpaw’ in boxing) – a ‘regular’ has their left foot forwards (more common!). We always encourage our beginner surfers to pick whichever stance feels most natural to them!
“The Set”
Not all waves are created equal! When watching the ocean, we normally observe a group of larger waves (known as ‘the set’) followed by a lull where the waves are smaller. We normally wait for the set to pass through before paddling out to the line-up (making it easier to pass the white water!) – then try and surf the waves in the next set as they’re bigger and have more energy! You’ll always hear our senior instructor Simo shouting “it’s coming!” as a big set approaches!
“Getting Washing Machined”
Even great surfers wipe out on the regular! Experiencing a ‘washing machine’ (where the breaking wave rolls you around underwater) is all part of the fun of surfing green waves. We always suggest relaxing your body until the wave passes and being sure to protect your head with both arms 🙂
“Getting Barrelled”
A ‘barrel’ (also called a ’tube’) is the hollow part of a breaking wave – where there is a gap between the face of the wave and the lip of the wave as it curls over – creating a tube of water surrounding you like a magical timeless zone of surfing heaven. Catching a sweet barrel is one of the ultimate surfing goals! Now go get Barrelled! 🙂
Writing Credit to Emily Crow !!! 🙂 xxx
