Morocco Wellness Escape: Yoga, Surf & Clean Eating Near Marrakech

The retreat is based near Marrakech, at a property with its own vegetable garden and citrus and olive groves. Most mornings follow the same shape: a zingy green juice first, then yoga and meditation, then breakfast. Breakfast might be a boiled egg on the beach staring at the ocean, or fruit salad served in a carved watermelon if you're out in the Sahara that day. From there the day opens up — a surf session on the Atlantic coast, a trip into the markets, a hike, or time back at the property. Lunch is usually a crunchy salad with Moroccan tahina dressing, or something built around whatever's in season. Afternoons often include a second yoga session, and there's time for a massage or just reading in the garden. Dinner is the main event, cooked by Ilham and the catering team under Emma's menu direction. You eat wheat- and dairy-free most of the time — buckwheat flour, almond flour, rice noodles, eggs and yoghurt instead of wheat and cream — and the produce comes from the garden or the market the same day. The olives on the table are pressed from the property's own grove. Emma makes the marmalades and jams herself when fruit is in season, and the meat and fish come from a local butcher and a fishmonger working the Atlantic coast. Surfing is a real part of the week, not a token add-on. Morocco's Atlantic coast has consistent waves and the retreat builds sessions around the conditions, so beginners can learn on gentler days and more experienced surfers get pushed further out. Yoga runs alongside it — enough to balance out the surfing, not so much that it takes over. Emma Joyston-Bechal leads on food and sourcing. She's travelled widely and built up a recipe collection along the way, and she works closely with Ilham, the chef at Riad Zamzam, and with Mitti, who manages the catering team. Her interest is in old Moroccan cooking — Berber and Jewish Moroccan recipes in particular — and in using ingredients that are organic, local and simple rather than complicated. That shows up on the plate: fresh, seasonal, and not trying too hard. What separates this from other Morocco yoga retreats is the food operation behind it. This isn't a kitchen following a generic wellness menu — it's a garden, a grove, a local butcher, a fishmonger, a chef and a menu planner who between them have been doing this long enough to know what's good that week. The wheat- and dairy-free approach is deliberate rather than restrictive; you'll still eat eggs, yoghurt and meat. And because the retreat moves between the property, the coast and the desert, you see more of Morocco than you would staying in one place.

What's included

- Accommodation near Marrakech with garden, citrus and olive groves - Daily green juice before yoga - Twice-daily yoga and meditation sessions on most days - Three meals a day, largely wheat- and dairy-free - Produce from the organic garden and local markets - First-pressed organic olive oil from the property's grove - Homemade organic jams and marmalades - Surf sessions on the Atlantic coast - Use of the property's gardens and grounds

What's not included

- Flights to and from Morocco - Airport transfers (confirm with the retreat) - Travel insurance - Personal expenses - Optional massages and spa treatments - Optional excursions not on the programme - Alcoholic drinks