The Agafay desert dinner package puts three things into one evening. First you ride a quad bike across the stony hills. Then you climb onto a camel as the light drops. Finally you eat at a desert camp, with live music and a show. You leave Marrakech in the afternoon, and you are back the same night.
Why the Agafay desert dinner package beats booking separately
We also sell the camel ride and the quad ride on their own. However, most visitors want both. Booking them together saves you a second transfer and a second afternoon. Moreover, the evening ends with dinner rather than a drive back on an empty stomach.
Agafay sits about 30 kilometres from Marrakech. That is roughly an hour each way. Because the drive is short, the whole package still fits into half a day.
What the evening includes
The quad ride comes first, while the sun is still up. You get a safety briefing and a practice loop before you set off. Helmets, gloves and goggles are provided. A guide then leads the route, so nobody needs experience.
Next comes the camel. The ride lasts about an hour. A handler walks alongside and leads the animal, so the pace stays slow. Consequently, first-timers manage it easily.
Then the camp. Dinner is traditional Moroccan cooking. A show runs alongside it. Meanwhile the hills turn gold, then grey, then dark. Finally we drive you back to your hotel.
What the dinner and the show involve
Dinner is standard Moroccan cooking, served at the camp. Expect the dishes you would be given in a Moroccan home. Tell us about allergies or dietary needs when you book. We then pass them on to the camp.
The show runs while you eat. There is live music, and there is local dancing. Fire spitting often features too. However, the line-up changes from night to night. So we will not promise you a fixed programme. You get whichever performers are there that evening.
Agafay is stone, not sand
Set your expectations now, because this matters. Agafay is a stony, semi-arid desert. You get dry hills, hard pale ground and the High Atlas behind. However, there are no big sand dunes here.
The golden dunes in most Morocco photographs are Erg Chebbi at Merzouga. That lies nine and a half hours south. So if the dunes are your real reason for coming, book the 3-day Merzouga tour instead. Our Agafay versus Merzouga comparison sets the two side by side.
Is Agafay desert dinner suits You?
It suits anyone with two or three days in Marrakech. Equally, it works as a first evening or a last one. Families book it often, and so do couples.
Still, one warning. You will get dusty on the quad. Therefore bring closed shoes, long sleeves and clothes you do not mind. Also leave your sunglasses in the vehicle, because they sit badly under goggles.
Want more detail first? Read our guide to the Agafay desert. Our notes on doing Agafay on a budget are worth a look too. And if you would rather do one activity than three, the camel trek and the quad biking tour are still sold on their own.
Aperçu
One evening in the Agafay desert with all three: a guided quad ride across the stony hills, about an hour on camelback at sunset, then a traditional Moroccan dinner at a desert camp with music, local dancing and often fire spitting.
Points forts
- All three in one evening: quad biking, a camel ride and dinner with a show
- A safety briefing and a practice loop before you ride — no experience needed
- Helmets, gloves and goggles provided
- About an hour on camelback, led on foot by an experienced handler
- A traditional Moroccan dinner at a desert camp
- A live show with music, local dancing and often fire spitting
- Only about an hour from Marrakech, with hotel pick-up and drop-off
- Timed for the last of the light, when the stone hills turn gold
