The Ferry Port at Algerceras
The shortest ferry to Morocco from Spain is from Algerciras in Southern Spain near Gibraltar. It takes around 90 minutes.
There is no need to purchase tickets in advance or online, you can buy once you are at Algerciras and ready to go.
Carlos’s is where most vanlifers go and purchase their ferry tickets to Morocco. Within the vanlife community “Carlos” is famous.
Here is the link in case you need it https://maps.app.goo.gl/rEwhM5MK8LNGpBQd8?g_st=ic
It is best to go in person and for approx €280 you can get an open return ticket and he throws in a packet of biscuits and a bottle of wine!
We went and bought our tickets on Friday 22nd December and planned to get the ferry the following morning. Carlos is very helpful but doesn’t speak much English himself. He does have staff though who are also very helpful and do speak English.
We were given a timetable for the ferries and told that we needed to be at the port 1.5 hours before the ferry we wanted to get.
We were planning on getting the ferry at 11am so we arrived at the port at 9am. It was complete chaos. People and queues, cars and vans everywhere!
It was a very silly move on our part which we hadn’t thought through! It was 2 days before Christmas and a Saturday. Although Morocco is predominantly a Muslim country there are many people that work in Spain and France. They get 2 weeks off for Christmas and New Year and they all head home to see their families. Then there are the people that are going on holiday and of course other vanlifers like us. My advice, don’t get the ferry to Morocco on the last weekend before Christmas!
I have spoken to people who travelled at other times and it was definitely less chaotic. Our ferry back was not in ‘prime time’ and it very calm, quiet and relaxed in contrast. It made a huge difference.
We queued for hours without knowing what was going on! Eventually we managed to finally board a ferry at around 7pm!
The crossing is only an hour and a half but during that time you have to complete an embarkation form and queue up to hand it in. It took quite a long time, everyone has to do it, it is not the most organised queue!
After that you have to join another queue with the documents for the van! I just about had time to get a coffee as I didn’t need to stay in that queue. Sadly Dee didn’t manage to get a coffee.
We then had to queue for ages to get through customs and just as we thought we had got through we were sent to another queue to have the van x rayed!
Finally we had to get insurance for our van which was another queue, but luckily it wasn’t too long!
If you are from the UK it is unlikely your insurance will cover you in Morocco. Wherever you are from it is obviously important to check before purchasing .
At last we were in Morocco with everything in place but it was 10pm and we were exhausted! We decided to stay in the port at Tangier Med. There is a car park where you can stay and there were quite a lot of vans with the same thoughts!
Morocco does have some off grid park ups and quite a few paid car parks where you are allowed to stay overnight for the equivalent of €2-5 but it is also has a lot of camp sites which are very cheap by UK and European standards, between €8-12 . This was obviously at the time when we were there.
Fuel is cheaper in Morocco than Spain so best to wait and fill up in Morocco.
Alcohol is available only in certain supermarkets and is expensive. It is best to stock up in Spain. The locals do generally drink and we had a stock of cheap beer from Spain which we handed out as ‘tips’ and for locals to ‘watch’ the van whilst parked up. It is very welcomed so definitely worth doing if you go to Morocco.
Alcohol is rarely available in restaurants .
Asilah
Asilah is a great introduction to Morocco. It’s roughly an hour from the ferry port.
We had actually been to Morocco about 15 years before so we knew what to expect. Although we weren’t in the van we still drove around in a hire car.
This in mind I would still recommend Asilah as a good place to go to first when arriving to Tangier Med by ferry.
We decided to stay at one of the campsites at Asilah. It was a short walk to the medina and the beach.
The medina was originally built in the 15th century and there is a Portuguese influence.
There is a relaxed vibe with lots of narrow alleys, shops, cafes and a market.
We found a lovely place to have lunch. Our first tagine, well the first since we were in Morocco 15 years earlier! It was slightly outside of the ‘touristy area and it was the equivalent of a few euros!
Tagines are the traditional dish of Morocco, named after the unique ceramic or clay pot that it is cooked in. The pot has a wide shallow base and a tall cone shaped lid that helps circulate steam allowing the food to cook slowly.
Tagines typically combine meat or occasionally fish with dried fruits, nuts and a blend of Moroccan spices such as cumin, ginger, cinnamon and saffron. They usually contain potato as well. There are also vegetarian tagines often with chick peas as well as vegetables
I had a fish tagine and Dee had a chicken tagine. It was very good. We didn’t know it then but it was the best tagine we had in the whole time we were in Morocco. Mine had fish and prawns and was a little spicy, it had a really good flavour.
Our 2nd day in Asilah was in fact Xmas day. We went to the beach and I got to swim and we went out for lunch, tagine again and another fish one for me, sadly not as good as the one from the day before and slightly more expensive but we were in the “touristy” part where there was a whole street lined with different restaurants trying to get you inside.
The long hooded ‘coat’ in the last photo is called a djellaba. It is loose fitting and has a distinctive pointy hood known as a koub. Djellabas are worn by both men and women and are made from various materials to suit the season, wool in winter and cotton in summer. If you visit Morocco you will see these being worn and sold everywhere.
The last thing we did the following morning before we left Asilah was to get a local SIM card. The shop was not open for the first 2 days. We waited specifically for Maroc Telecom as we were told it was the cheapest and had unlimited data for roughly €27 a month.
We were heading to Mohammedia a bit further down the coast so our next post will start with us leaving Asilah . We hope you will join us.
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Our Life on the Road 
you certainly needed to be patient, 11 hours waiting for them to be organised enough with all the passengers waiting in the queue. But as you said your timing wasn’t all that great. Those taglines look great!
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you certainly needed to be patient, 11 hours waiting for them to be organised enough with all the passengers waiting in the queue. But as you said your timing wasn’t all that great. Those taglines look great!
LikeLike