Is Morocco Safe? 7 Tips To Stay Safe On Your Trip
Walking out of Marrakech’s airport doors at dark, all eyes were on me. I knew my first time in North Africa would take some adjusting but this was when it hit me. In an instant, I was surrounded by a swarm of angry-looking taxi drivers.
“Bonjour! Hello! Taxi!” firing at me from all directions. Every bit of research I did and all of the advice I received seemingly flew out the window once I was in the thick of it.
After some pushing and shoving amongst the drivers, I eventually chose my man – probably the nicest looking guy of the bunch, and that isn’t saying much. “How much to Kasbah?” I asked, awaiting the ultra-high price he was about to give me.
“300 dirhams”.
Generally, a local would pay only 70 MAD (10 AUD, 7 EUR) for the exact same trip! I argued for the actual price and after some yelling from him we settled for 100 MAD.
Flying along the long stretch of highway I was really questioning my choice to not book a private transfer to save money. Is Morocco safe? Five minutes later we are dodging pedestrians on the packed streets of Kasbah.
He comes to a stop and asks for the money. I only had large notes on me! So I gave him a fresh 200 dirham note and he scraped together all the change could be bothered to. A whopping 50 dirhams. Not wanting to argue any more, I wandered off with my tail in between my legs, accepting my losses.
“Welcome to Morocco”.
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Is Morocco Safe?
Is Morocco Safe? I’ll answer this one quickly. Yes and no.
Most crime against tourists in Morocco are petty (scams and pickpockets). I won’t beat around the bush, if you visit Morocco you will come across this. I was robbed in Marrakech (more on this further down).
However, it is seriously rare to be hurt as a tourist in the country.
If you are female travelling by yourself, you will have to be a bit more careful as sexual harassment and sometimes assault is prevalent.
If you are planning a trip to Morocco, you need to be prepared for a whole new level of intensity and grit. It can be scary and it is definitely not for the faint-hearted. But if you can get past the scams you will be rewarded with experiencing a beautiful part of the world.
Here are my 7 best tips to stay safe and avoid scams during your stay in Morocco:
1. Ignore, ignore, ignore.
You will come across guys who try and talk to you when you walk around. 99% of the time, this is part of an elaborate scam where they end up guiding you somewhere. After you walk with them, they will then ask you for an unreasonable amount of money for the services.
A lot of the time there are multiple men in on the scam, they all want a slice of the pie!
So if a random man comes up to and asks “where are you from?”, don’t bite. They will eventually give up and move on to their next target.
2. Don’t carry around large amounts of cash.
Morocco is a cash country. The only places that accept card payments are high-end hotels and very very rarely, nicer restaurants.
With this in mind, you need to withdraw cash from a bank if you want to get around! (As of the time of writing, Al-Barid Bank have free bank withdrawals).
Immediately after visiting the bank, take it all back to your accommodation and secure it in your locker or safe and take out what you need for the day. Then, if you do fall victim to a scam there is less for them to take.
3. Leave your valuables back at the hostel!
Pickpockets are rampant in Morocco, mainly in the cities Marrakech and Fes. If you don’t want it stolen, don’t take it out!
Obviously, some things you absolutely need, like your phone. However, there is no need to bring your passport around. Make sure you’ve got backup photocopies and photos of your passport.
Bonus tip: to stop people going through your backpack, use small combination padlocks and lock the zips together. Remember, make it as hard as possible for them.
4. Avoid quiet areas.
Morocco is known for it’s charming medinas and souks – but it is VERY easy to get lost in them. You can be walking shoulder-to-shoulder one second and then only two minutes later, you find yourself alone in a quiet alley.
You are more likely to get robbed in these areas as there is no one around. If you notice you are veering off the main streets, turn back to where the people are.
5. Respect the country’s customs.
Morocco is a conservative Muslim country. If you’re like me, from Australia – you’ll be used to walking around in thongs (flip-flops), boardies and tank tops. This is a no-go in Morocco. Whilst there is no strict dress code, cover those shoulders and legs! You are less likely to stick out like a sore thumb if you dress respectfully.
6. Don’t look rich.
Weird title. But I think it gets across the message.
It’s hard not to want to look good on your travels but you’re only making yourself a bigger target. If you walk around with a nice watch or sunglasses, this may draw more attention to you.
I noticed a lot of the guys talking to me commented on my watch. Despite it not actually being super expensive, it looks nicer.
7. Negotiate prices up front.
This goes for any service where payment is at the end (taxi drivers, actual guides etc.).
If you establish the price up front, you won’t be blown out of the water with an inflated price. A 40 dirham taxi ride can become a 200 dirham one. If you are unsure about how much things should cost, ask the staff at your accommodation.
Here is an app that you can use for currency conversion, it works offline and updates to the live rates when you connect to the internet!
How I Got Robbed
My trip to Morocco was 2 weeks into my first solo-backpacking trip. I’d previously been to the UK and Portugal in that period so this was going to be a big change. It would be my first time in North Africa and I was so excited to spend the next 3 weeks in the country.
I did an insane amount of research before my quick trip to Morocco. How to stay safe. How to get around. Where to get money? Can I drink the water? You name it, I searched it.
But research can only get you so far. When you throw yourself into the intensity of a city like Marrakech, it can be hard to follow it all.
After the craziness of the previous night arriving, I woke up with an open mind. I was ready for a fresh start. I headed out for the day and my research was immediately put to the test.
“Where are you from my friend?”
“Can I help you?”
“Where are you going?”
These are three questions no less than 15 men asked me in the first hour walking around. But so far, I was doing well. After ignoring them they would eventually leave me alone.
As it was my first day in the country, I needed to get money out from the bank. This is where I broke golden rule number 2! Instead of heading back to my hostel to leave the majority of it there, I kept it in my money belt. Stupid.
I continued walking in the blistering heat for the next 3 hours, taking photos and video with my Sony camera. I didn’t entirely feel comfortable having it out because the locals took some offence to being near it, despite not being in the shot. Still, it dangled around my neck and started making my way back to the hostel.
The Encounter
In typical Marrakech fashion, some more guys tried to guide me somewhere. I just ignored them, as I learnt eventually they would leave you alone. But these guys were different. On this occasion, they just kept walking in front of me, in the direction I was already going.
“What camera is that?” one of them asks.
Being the camera nerd that I am, I give in. “It’s a Sony A7III”.
He notices the screen was black and tells me “Oh! It’s broken?”. With my best judgment, I told him that it was broken because I dropped it earlier.
Now, my hostel was in Kasbah, which is out of the medina in a much quieter part of the city. To get there, there are multiple tight alleys to walk through. Eventually they found me in a completely isolated alley with only these guys.
F*ck’s sake.
“Now you give us a gift for guiding you”.
No! Because one, they didn’t guide me, they just walked in front of me. Two – it wasn’t the best “tour” i’ve ever been on.
This was a turning point. Because the apparent camera enthusiast gets more aggressive and yells an unsettling statement. “Give us money! Do you want to lose your face?” he yells. He places his hand on his pocket pretending there is a knife there.
Not wanting to lose my face, I reach for my money belt.
“200 dirhams”.
So, this is where my earlier mistake bit me in the arse. He notices I have a lot more than the 200 he was asking for. As i’m flicking through the currency and 200 quickly becomes “300. No, 400. 500.. 600”. Eventually he is chuffed with 700 MAD ($110 AUD) and shakes my hand.
They leave me in the alley with my “broken” camera.
Lucky. Honestly, it could’ve been much worse, the last thing I wanted was to get hurt and lose my camera.
Will I Go Back?
All in all, my experience with Marrakech is not to say this is the experience everyone gets when they travel to Morocco. But you seriously have to be careful and it can take away from experiencing the country how it should be. It takes a serious amount of energy dealing with the endless barrage of people offering you to take you places you don’t want to go.
So, if you’re wondering “Is Morocco Safe?” most of the time, you will never run into any serious problems like I did. It was right at the start of my first solo-backpacking trip and I think I had a higher expectation of how well I would deal with it all.
Will I go back? Without doubt! At the time of writing i’m 4 months into solo travel through Portugal, Spain and all of the Balkans and I can’t believe I went to Morocco straight away! I have so much more confidence and experience now and would definitely try it again, and complete my dream 3 weeks there.