Most people see the finished version — the lessons, the smiling guests, the waves. They don't see what goes into building a surf school from nothing in a small village on the Moroccan Atlantic coast. This is the behind-the-scenes story of how Surf Twins Essaouira became what it is today.

How It Started

Mouhssin and Yassine Kharbouch grew up in Essaouira. Their father fished the same Atlantic waters they now teach people to surf. They started surfing as children — not because anyone introduced them to it, but because the ocean was there and the waves were too good to ignore. By their teens they were surfing every break on the Essaouira coastline. By their twenties they knew every condition, every sandbank, every season.

The idea for a surf school came slowly. Guests at local riads kept asking where to take lessons. Tour operators were sending clients to schools run by people who didn't grow up here, who didn't know the local spots, who treated the teaching as a transaction rather than a passion. Mouhssin and Yassine saw the gap. In 2017, they decided to fill it.

Building Surf Twins from Scratch

Starting a surf school with no outside funding means doing everything yourself. The first boards were second-hand. The first wetsuit rack was made from local wood. The first marketing was word of mouth — guests who'd had a great session telling their friends, who told their travel agents, who started booking more.

The certifications came next. Both brothers completed their surf instructor qualifications and IKO kitesurf certifications — not because anyone required it, but because they wanted to teach properly. The technical knowledge added to what they already knew from 20 years of surfing the same breaks every day.

What Makes Our Approach Different

Lots of surf schools in Morocco operate the same way: large groups, rushed sessions, the same beach regardless of conditions. We built Surf Twins around the opposite approach. Maximum 5 students per group — so each person gets real coaching, not just supervision. Spot selection based on daily conditions — we check swell, wind, and tide every morning and choose accordingly. Instruction by instructors who grew up here and surf here every single day — not seasonal staff who arrived last month.

The result, over seven years and 7,000+ students, is a school that gets reviewed the way we want to be reviewed. Not just "the lesson was fine" but "Mouhssin stayed in the water with me for the whole session and I actually stood up" and "Yassine took us to a spot we'd never have found ourselves."

Sidi Kaouki as a Home Base

We chose Sidi Kaouki deliberately. Essaouira's main beach is convenient but it's not the best surf spot. Sidi Kaouki — 30km south — is more consistent, less crowded, and more dramatic. The dunes behind the beach, the village, the kite-filled afternoon sky — the whole environment makes the experience better. Guests who do a lesson at Sidi Kaouki don't just learn to surf. They discover a part of Morocco most tourists never see.

What Comes Next

Seven years in, Surf Twins Essaouira offers surf lessons, kitesurf lessons, surf day trips, all-inclusive surf camps, surf and yoga retreats, and sandboarding experiences. Each new service came from guests asking for something we didn't yet offer. The sandboarding came from a guest who asked if there was anything to do on a rest day. The surf yoga camp came from a group who wanted to combine their surf week with morning yoga. We listen and we build.

The documentary we've been filming captures all of this — the early mornings, the conditions checks, the sessions that went perfectly and the ones that didn't, the guests who arrived terrified of the ocean and left booking their next surf holiday. It's the story of two brothers who turned a childhood spent in the water into a life spent sharing it.

Want to be part of it? Book a surf lesson or surf day trip with us. WhatsApp: +212 643 806 655 🤙