Morocco · Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima
Where to Stay in Al Hoceïma, Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima
Al Hoceïma is a coastal city of northern Morocco, a Spanish-built town on a bay of the Mediterranean, set below the cliffs of the Rif in the Berber north.
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Where to stay in Al Hoceïma
The right area depends on your trip — here's what each neighbourhood is best for.
Choosing a room in Al Hoceïma comes down to the town itself or the shore beyond it. The streets above Quemado keep the beach, the port, and the market within a walk, and staying downtown suits anyone here for the town and its bay. The white houses climb the slope.
Boats rock in the harbour. Out along the shore and the hills, the town gives way to the cove beaches, the national park, and the Rif villages. A room out of town trades the streets for the quiet coves, the pine cliffs, and the blue Mediterranean sea.
The mountains rise close behind. Stay downtown for the beach, or out for the park and coves. Either choice leaves the centre a short run back inland.
About Al Hoceïma
Al Hoceïma is the beach town of the Moroccan Rif.
What is Al Hoceïma known for?
On a rocky Mediterranean bay below the Rif mountains, it was built by Spain as a garrison of the north, and it keeps the sheltered strand of Quemado beach in the town, the limestone cliffs and coves of its national park nearby, the Spanish islet standing offshore in the bay, and the ruins of an old Berber port along the coast. The blue bay curves below the hills. Cliffs fall to the sea.
What are the main landmarks in Al Hoceïma?
Quemado beach is the pride of Al Hoceïma. The sheltered crescent of sand below the white town, ringed by cliffs on its bay of the Mediterranean, is the heart of the resort, downtown. An islet holds a Spanish flag.
The rocky Peñón stands offshore in the bay, while the national park of cliffs and pines, the ruins of the old Nekor port, and the peaks of the Rif mark the country around Al Hoceïma.
What is the history of Al Hoceïma?
The coast of Al Hoceïma is old Berber land. Long before the town, the Rif tribes lived on these cliffs and coves, and a medieval Berber kingdom rose in the Nekor valley nearby, with a port on the shore that traded across the sea. The sea brought raiders and rulers.
Andalusians, corsairs, and Spanish garrisons held the bays of this coast in turn, and a small rocky islet in the bay was seized by Spain, which holds it to this day. The modern town is young. In the last century Spain built a garrison and harbour on the bay and named it for a general, and after independence Morocco made it the seat of the coast, renamed Al Hoceïma.
The Rif shook it once. A great quake struck the mountains in living memory and shook the town hard, yet it was rebuilt by the sea, and Al Hoceïma grew into the beach resort of the north, keeping its bay, its cliffs, and its national park. The white town looks out on the water.
Al Hoceïma keeps its bay and its cliffs on the coast of the Rif.
Where is Al Hoceïma?
Al Hoceïma lies on the north coast of Morocco, on a bay of the Mediterranean under the Rif mountains. The town sits on cliffs and slopes above a curve of sheltered beaches, where the limestone hills of the Bokoya massif drop to the sea, with a national park of pine and rock along the shore and the mountains rising steep behind. The bay lies calm below.
Cliffs guard the coves.
What is the climate of Al Hoceïma?
Al Hoceïma keeps to the Mediterranean pattern, warm and dry. Hot dry summers and mild wet winters hold along the coast, with long sunny days by the sea and soft rain in the winter months. The summer stays warm and clear.
Rain greens the hills in winter.
How do you get to Al Hoceïma?
Al Hoceïma lies on the north coast of Morocco, deep in the Rif mountains. The coast road winds to it over the passes from Nador and Tétouan, and a small airport brings summer flights to the bay. Boats work the coast.
Nador lies east along the shore.
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Updated August 2026