Tamri Banana Groves

Bananas need heat, water and shelter from wind, and the Tamri valley on the Atlantic coast north of Agadir has the combination - a river providing irrigation, a valley cutting back from the sea, and enough sun - so plantations run up the valley floor under plastic and in the open, and the small firm bananas grown here are sold at stalls along the coast road and in markets across Morocco under the name of the village. They are noticeably different from imported Cavendish: shorter, denser and more strongly flavoured, and they are a point of local pride. The valley also has an estuary at the coast that is a bird site, and the village is a stop between Agadir and Essaouira. Whether the water use of banana growing in an increasingly dry country is a good idea is a live argument in Morocco, and it applies here as much as anywhere.

The main sights

• Bananas at this latitude - a sheltered irrigated valley making it possible.
• A distinct fruit - short, dense and stronger in flavour than imported Cavendish.
• Roadside selling - stalls along the coast road under the village's name.
• A water question - banana growing in a drying country, argued about locally.

When to go

All year. Two hours, as a stop on the coast road.

What to expect

It is agriculture, not an attraction - there is no plantation to tour. Roadside stalls are the whole of it. The plastic tunnels are not scenic. Water use for this crop is contested.

Nearby

Imsouane is north; Agadir and Tamraght are south.