Two winters in Morocco and Western Sahara by van, pinned on one map you can use offline. My wild camps, the surf and the hot springs are on it. So is all the ferry, dog and paperwork stuff, already worked out.
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Choose by what you want from Morocco
Welcome to Morocco, where everything is random. You don't need a plan to have an amazing time there. So the five routes in it are loose ideas, from a month of surf to the big loop down to Dakhla. Nine months in the country taught me that around every corner there's something. The map works by choice. Pick what you're after this week. The spots for it are already pinned, with my notes on the road in, where to park and whether we stayed the night.
Morocco packing list
What I pack for a winter in Morocco, by van or not, and what I leave at home. Free, straight to your inbox.
An olive pit spit from Spain
An hour on the ferry and you find yourself in a whole new place to discover. Lots of mint tea, hustle and chaos, so kind people, wildness, surf and spectacular sunsets. And just BEing.
It's adventurous, affordable, wild, random, calm, peaceful, spacious, and for those wondering, safe. I feel safer leaving the van behind there than in Europe.
A lot of people are nervous before they go. I get it, from the outside Morocco looks like a lot. Most of that falls away once you see how it works.
Choose curiosity over fear.
A map and my best tips
Every spot I slept at, swam at, soaked in or shopped at is on the map. Each one has a note on the access road, where to park and whether you can stay the night. Next to the pins sit 28 practical tips, from the ferry to the hot springs. There are five loose route ideas too. It all lives in the Rexby app and works offline. I keep adding to it. It's two winters of figuring-out already done, so you spend your time there exploring instead of planning it.
When to go and where to start
The best months, the weeks to avoid, and how to use a map guide without tying yourself to a schedule.
The ferry and the border
Which crossing to pick, what we paid, and the paperwork that can turn an hour on the ferry into half a day.
Morocco with your dog
What it takes to get your dog in, and the trickier part of getting back into Spain.
Is Morocco safe in a van?
The question I get most, answered from two winters of wild camping, checkpoints and travelling as a woman.
Where you can sleep
Where wild camping works and where it doesn't, what campsites cost, and the unwritten rules.
What it costs
What a winter in Morocco cost us, from fuel and tolls to a bowl of bissara and the hammam.
Western Sahara and Dakhla
The long road south, where to stop on the way, kiting in Dakhla, and staying safe where the signal disappears.
Food, markets and haggling
Where the good homemade food hides, how a market works, and how to haggle without the stress.
Hot springs, surf and the outdoors
The hot springs worth the detour, the surf and kite spots, and hiking in the mountains.
Plus the visa and staying longer, your SIM card, driving and breakdowns, the scams to see coming, Ramadan, the hammam, a few words of Darija, cooking on the fire and treading lightly. Every pin is a place I've been. Where I haven't been, it isn't on the map.
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The map behind the guide
This is my own saved map. Every pin in the guide is a place I’ve been, more than 120 of them so far, and it keeps growing. Below are a couple of clips from the Morocco winters.
Suzanne van der Veeken
Nine months in Morocco, by van
I've spent two winters, nine months in total, road-tripping Morocco and Western Sahara in an old Mercedes camper, with my dog Wingo. The whole Atlantic coast down to Dakhla, the deserts, time in Guelmim and Ouazzane, and the road to the Mauritanian border, in a simple 2WD van that blended in. We wild-camped most nights. I extended my visa in Dakhla, filled the water tank at roadside points instead of buying a single plastic bottle, and lost count of the campfire tajine nights. My most recent winter there was 2025, and I'll be back this coming one, so the guide keeps growing.
I've lived nomadically for 15+ years. The van has been my base for almost seven of them, five of those with Wingo. Before that came a decade at sea, five Atlantic crossings and more than 50,000 nautical miles. Add the long trails on foot, a couple of books, and the Ayurveda I studied in Kerala, which started that first Moroccan winter.
The guide is my saved map, my notes and my photos from those winters, written up spot by spot. Prices are what we paid on my winters there between 2023 and 2025, and they say so where they appear.
I also run Ocean Nomads, a community for people who want to live a little wilder, explore a little further, and do it with good people. Some of these spots were first shared on the Ocean Nomads member map when the crew sailed into Tanger.
9
months in Morocco and Western Sahara
15
years living nomadically
7
years living in the van
50000
nautical miles at sea
Suzanne van der Veeken has been featured in print and on TV, for sailing expeditions, a rip-current rescue and a Dominica trail people said couldn't be walked
Is this for you?
- You're thinking about taking your van, and maybe your dog, to Morocco this winter. You want to know how the ferry, the paperwork and the first night actually go.
- You'd rather have someone's real wild camps and hot springs than a list of the twenty most beautiful places.
- You don't want a fixed schedule. You want choices, and the know-how to find your own spots.
- You're travelling on foot, by bus or by sail and want the same places and know-how without the van layer.
- You liked my free Morocco writing and want the map that pulls it together.
What you won't find in it
- Hotel and riad tips (I only recommend places I've stayed, and I stayed in the van)
- Places I haven't been to myself
What you will find
- My own wild camps and hot springs, and how to get to them
- The little towns and villages worth slowing down for, away from the tourist track
- The logistics and paperwork, the ferry, the visa and the dog, how it actually went for us
- What things really cost
- A living map, already more than 120 spots and still growing after you buy it
Beyond the campsite fence
Morocco opens up faster than people expect. A few weeks in and I'd found the rhythm: the food, the markets, the quiet villages. But I still park up next to people who've been there a month and never found any of it. Some of them weren't there for the first time. It's easy to miss behind a campsite fence, and none of it is hard once someone shows you how.
That's what the guide is for: eating well and local, the small towns worth your time, the uncrowded waves, the hammam, and the few words that open doors. And doing it lightly, so your winter is good for the place and its people as much as for you. And every pin is a place I've actually been. Where I haven't been, it isn't on the map. The free apps can't give you that. In almost seven years on the road I've never geotagged a spot or posted a location publicly, and I never will. Some you could piece together from the apps if you had the months to sift. The best ones are my own, the wild camps I've never posted anywhere. A few of those I keep to myself. The rest are the ones I'd hand a good friend.
The guide in your pocket
Roadtrip Morocco & Western Sahara
Two winters of logistics, already sorted. The ferry, the dog paperwork, where it's safe to sleep and what everything costs. It goes all the way south into Western Sahara, where there's almost nothing out there. I've figured out a lot of the annoying bits and made the stupid mistakes already. So you get the map and the notes. The guide lives in the Rexby app and on the web. The map works offline when you're out of signal, which is most of the south. You pay once, with no subscription. The guide stays in your account, including every spot and tip I add later.
Payment and delivery run through Rexby.
A few things you might be wondering
Do I need a van?
No. I travelled by van, so that's how the guide is written. But the base camps, the food, the hammam, the ferry and the safety tips work on foot, by bus or by sail too. The Ocean Nomads crew sailed into Tanger with an earlier version of these notes.
Does it work for a motorhome?
Yes. The ferry, the campsites, the dog logistics and most of the spots work the same in a motorhome. It was all explored with an old 2×2 slightly overloaded campervan, so no 4×4 is needed.
Is there an itinerary?
Yes, five loose route ideas. There's our loop to Dakhla and back, the loop without Dakhla, the coast down to Dakhla, a month of surf down to Plage Blanche and Agadir to Essaouira in four days. The spots are also grouped by what you want: ocean, desert, hot springs, with a dog. Morocco runs on its own rhythm. The best things we found were behind a turn we took on a whim.
How does Rexby work?
You buy once, log in on the web or in the free Rexby app, and the guide with its map is yours, offline too. Rexby handles payment and delivery.
Is it finished?
Yes. And every spot and tip I add later is included, with no second payment.
Can I bring my dog?
Yes, and you should, at least my dog loved it. Getting in is easy. Getting back into Spain needs the rabies titre test weeks ahead, the EU passport and the PIF certificate from Algeciras. The guide walks through it as it went for us.
Is Morocco safe in a van?
I feel safer leaving the van behind there than in Europe. Petty theft happens near the tourist spots, so bring things inside at night. The safety tip covers checkpoints, where wild camping is tolerated and travelling as a woman.
How current are the prices?
They're what we paid on my winters there between 2023 and 2025, and each one says so. The ferry and the dog paperwork are the two numbers to re-check before you book.
Do you offer refunds?
No, it's a digital guide you can open the moment you buy it. If you're not sure yet, start with my free Morocco posts and come back when you're booking the ferry.
Marhba to Morocco
You don't need a plan to have an amazing time there. Around every corner there's something, and if it feels like a lot at first, give it a moment and you'll find peace in the chaos.
Mostly, just BE.
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Every future update is included.
