Adventure Paddle Board & Yoga Retreats for Joyful Days

Essaouira, Morocco, is on Africa's Atlantic Coast. Our partners at Sunshine Surf Retreats held their first trip here in September, with rave reviews and requests to return. We were watching their Instagram content stream through, feeling a tug at our heartstrings, wanting to explore this historic city and culture. While most of MMY's trips have been centered around the ability to paddleboard and surf, this will be more land focused, with an optional surf excursion. We will definitely be hitting the beach for a day on this trip and our exquisite accommodations have a beautiful pool to lounge and relax by each day.

Dates: September 14th-21st, 2026

Destination: Essaouira, Morocco

Accommodations: La Collines des Oliviers Estate, 20 minutes outside the vibrant city of Essaouira. Surrounded by the enchanting beauty of olive and argan trees, our sanctuary offers a tranquil escape for those seeking peace, relaxation, and rejuvenation.

About where we are going:

Essaouira is a place where warmth, beauty, and culture come together perfectly. This coastal city will awaken all five senses right on arrival. Feast your eyes on the quintessential whitewashed walls and blue shutters surrounding the city overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. The sound of Gnawa rhythms, mosque callings, and the ocean breeze moving through the Medina fills the air with life. Follow the scent of fresh spices, grilled seafood, and salty sea air as you wander the narrow streets. Taste Essaouira through its flavors like freshly-caught fish, warm bread, and sweet mint tea. Lastly, feel the delicate handwoven textiles and welcoming handshakes from the welcoming (Berber) people. Essaouira's legendary hospitality and easy going spirit will make you feel right at home.

Included for all guests:

• 8 days / 7 nights in luxury accommodations with large pool, yoga space (mats provided on-site) and many quite common areas for reading and decompressing.
• 7 breakfasts & 7 dinners prepared by an in-house private chef with ingredients such as olive oil from the house's grove, eggs from the free-range chickens on-site, and the freshest local produce.
• Guided walking tour of the Medina, a UNESCO world-heritage site recognized in 2001 for its exceptional 18th-century fortified medina (old city), a unique blend of European military architecture (like Vauban-style ramparts) and North African/Arabo-Muslim town planning, serving as a significant international trading port and multicultural hub. Essaouira is known for its arts, textiles, and musical culture.
• Traditional Gwana concert
• Group beach outing
• Moroccan cooking class
• Guided 3-hour hiking tour to Diabat
• Winery tour & tasting
• Round trip Group transportation from Essaouira airport
• Roundtrip transportation to all included activities
• Daily all levels movement & meditation by Melanie
• Free time to relax or add on additional excursions (Massages at the house anyone? Souvenir shopping, maybe horseback riding, or an extra surf lesson? We have options!)
• Desi or Delphine from Sunshine Surf Retreats as your super fun guide!

Exclusions:

• Flights
• All lunches
• Alcoholic beverages
• Travel Insurance
• Any additional tips for services (at your discretion)

About our luxurious estate accommodates and rooms:

• 8 spacious bedrooms feature private outdoor spaces with views of the olive grove, the pool and the countryside's open hills.
• Our guest rooms are equipped with king-size beds and additional single beds as well as attached bathrooms and private terraces. Three bedrooms are attached to the main house while 5 Douarias (terracotta-style homes) are nestled within the olive grove and swimming pool area.
• An array of common space for relaxing or socializing indoors and outdoors.
• Multiple dining and living areas create the perfect settings for both quiet moments and large group gatherings. Guests can enjoy a large infinity pool, a 250 meter rooftop terrace with a 360-degree panorama and a shaded outdoor platform. Additional areas such as the shaded ping pong table, pétanque, board games, TV room, and a wide selection of books will meet every desire.
• Our equipped outdoor space includes yoga mats and portable speakers

Booking, Room Availability, and Pricing: 

Please note for all of our MMY trips our preference is personal check, Zelle, Venmo to melanie-smith-20, or cash. If you need to use a credit card, we prefer that as a last resort as we will need to add a 2.5% processing fee for CC payments. 

A $700 non-refundable/non-transferable deposit is necessary to hold the bedroom space of your choosing. Once booked a terms and conditions email will be sent to you for review and signing. Rooms are first come, first serve basis. We do create a waitlist for room choices if your first choice is not available. Monthly/bimonthly & scheduled payment plans are always available to be arranged between each individual and Miss Melanie Yoga LLC. 

Please note that your trip will need to be paid in full no later than August 12, 2026.

2 Double Rooms w/ 1 king bed & 1 single bed = $ 4100.00 per person. 

1 Triple Room w/1 king bed, 2 single beds = $3800.00 per person.

4 Private King Rooms = $4300.00 per person for solo & $4100 per person for shared bed. (Currently sold out)

Getting to Essaouira from the East Coast:

There are no direct flights to Essaouira airport. In order to arrive on the 14th of September, the best option would be flying from Newark Airport to Madrid Spain, arriving no later than September 13th so that you can fly from Madrid to Essaouira on a 12pm flight arriving by early afternoon. This flight is 2 hours and 10 minutes. You’ll find a link below with more flight information!

There are other flight options from the United States to Portugal, Italy, or Paris (but remember that the Paris airport is the busiest in the world with the most flight delays). And not all cities have flights that arrive in Essaouira on the 14th. Other options would be to fly to Casablanca or Marrakech and take ground transportation to Essaouira Airport for pick-up between 2 & 3pm on the 14th of September. Current flight prices are between $500 and $800 for a flight from the US to Madrid round trip non-stop via economy business class. The flight from Madrid to Essaouira is around $100.00.

You are absolutely welcome to add any additional days on either end of your trip in any location you wish. Just know that your official trip begins at 3pm on September 14th and will end by noon on September 21st. Myself, Desi, and Del are more than able to help with any additional travel information you may want or need, and will help you figure out your flight plan as part of our services to you.

Everyone (as long as you’re an adult) is Welcome!

This is a co-ed trip. We welcome everyone over the age of 18 (preferably over 21). Please note, we will not place men and women in a shared room space or bathroom space unless you are traveling together.

Safety and how to dress

As per Desi & Delphine: “Although we were not expected to cover up, we do encourage our lady travelers to dress modestly outside of the house or beach environments as a sign of respect for Morocco’s Muslim culture. This means covering your shoulders and legs while in the town. Bringing a light scarf and shawl is very useful. As far as safety goes, we could not have felt more at home. Everyone was so friendly and respectful!”

Time of year and Temperature while we will be there:

The climate in Essaouira, Morocco, in mid-September is typically warm, pleasant, and breezy, offering a comfortable transition from summer heat with average highs around 75-80°F (24-26°C) and cooler nights around 65-67°F (18-19°C). Thanks to the Atlantic breeze which keeps it milder than inland cities, its perfect for enjoying beaches and sightseeing with less humidity and very little rain. 

It’s ideal weather for walking the ramparts, exploring the medina, and enjoying outdoor cafes while still being comfortable for beach activities. Great for swimming, surfing, and kitesurfing.

In September, tourist numbers are also starting to decrease and are less overwhelming than peak summer. In short, mid-September offers one of the best balances of warm weather, refreshing sea breezes, and fewer crowds for visiting Essaouira. 

As with all of our trips, we will take into consideration dietary needs and restrictions per person for our private chef to ensure that folks have a well-balanced and nutritious menu of foods to choose from daily. You can expect a robust menu including and excluding meat, fish, vegetables, and allergens depending on the needs of guests. 

For these cultural adventure retreats we welcome each person to do as much or little as they like given how they feel each day. We never want you to feel pressured to participate in any activity and we do not overlap activities. The yoga and meditation provided by Melanie is meant to be for all levels with a mixture of light vinyasa yoga, restorative yoga, yin yoga, and hatha yoga, plus mindfulness meditation. Melanie will check in with each guest daily to see how they are feeling activity-wise and give options that best suit each person's practice. The movement practices are meant to be a compliment to our other daily activities. 

We are really excited to be offering this trip to our community. 

Morocco has been on the bucket list for some time. Having Delphine and Desi at the helm to help co-guide this trip with Melanie, makes us feel like this will be an unforgettable excursion for those who want to see a new part of the world and travel with some amazing and kind folks in the MMY community. 

Our previous retreat guests have scooped up six spaces before we launched this to the public. This means we only have room for 5 more people in either the double room space or triple room space. 

All final trip payments due by August 1, 2026

If you wish to book your space or have any questions, please email melanie@missmelanieyoga.com.