Linguist turned chef, turned Surf Instructor, turned Entrepreneur, Rachid Amoumen is sharing his dream and his detailed wisdom, setting up one of only a handful of Surf Schools in Morocco that is built, nurtured and run by a local. Anra Surf & Yoga Morocco has been constructed from the ground up to signify change in the waters of Taghazout, Agadir and even Morocco.
Anra is a venture that is designed to support, encourage and exhibit Morocco’s local Surf culture. We’re constantly fed media from Californian surfers, Australia surfers and Surfers in Europe but Morocco is quickly making its name in the world for Surf as it develops year on year. Every season in Morocco is blisteringly hot, with the best of the surf during the European winter. It’s practically a no-brainer to travel here.
And yet, there is so much of it that is still undiscovered, “It was difficult to grow up here, there were a lot of poor families and not a lot of jobs…” Amoumen explains, “There still aren’t a lot of jobs around here but slowly, over time, you can see the change and I hope I can help and be part of that”. Rachid has grown up surfing the “Doors of Southern Morocco” as he puts it; “At 6 I used to sell doughnuts to the tourists on the beach for 10 Dirhams (1€), it’s no surprise that the surf caught my eye.”
At 12 years old he would find the best beaches for surf that day and schmooze the tourists, asking them to borrow their boards in an effort to learn anything he could with nothing but youthful confidence and determination. Eventually, he unearthed a 5’10” broken fish board left on the beach “It was pretty beaten up, I didn’t know how to repair it at the time so I just took it and didn’t stop until I could do it”.
Since the wide-eyed doughnut-wielding 6-year-old, Amoumen’s persistence has been unstoppable.
Rachid Amoumen (Left) c.2008. Now founder and Head Coach at Anra Surf & Yoga Morocco
“There is genuinely nothing like surfing, this message cannot be shared enough”. The relaxing and entertaining lifestyle on the water proves a stark contrast to the busy atmosphere and culture on land, souks, restaurants, full streets, calls to prayer and persistent construction of new developments, “There is no stress on the water, it’s the best place to focus, you can be anywhere in the world but the water will always feel like home”.
Rachid 2 years ago at Crocodile Beach
“I want to share this experience with more people, I want ‘Anra Surf and Yoga’ to provide more dream jobs for the locals here and give back to the tourists who were generous to me, who let me borrow their boards when I was 12. I want them to experience the rich culture in Morocco and witness first-hand how incredible the place really is.” Amoumen
Fully qualified by the ISA (International Surf Association) and RLSS (Royal Life Saving Society), Rachid aims not only to run Anra Surf & Yoga Morocco but to also continue coaching and sharing his passion on the ground with international travellers, surf enthusiasts, and locals growing up entranced by surfing just like him.
There is never a quiet day here in the ‘Doors of Southern Morocco’. Providing you take the opportunity to meet the locals, you will, in this writer’s opinion, come across a culture of surfers and locals that are incredibly humble, wholesome, forward-thinking, never tire of what they do, with an infallible linguistic spectrum that would make any language expert blush.
Rachid coaching Beginners at Anza Beach , and hopefully we’ll see you in the lineup at anra surf & yoga morocco camp