Cascades d'Ouzoud, Beni Mellal-Khenifra, Morocco

5Jordan M 5:00 PM Dec 31, 2019

MUST DO!
We arranged a trip here with our Riad. The bus picked us up and then dropped us off in the square to get on another bus. We were waiting here for some time and began to get worried but it turns out we were waiting for another couple. The bus driver was keen to fill up the bus before we left, even if that meant waiting for ~45 minutes. The ride was long but we stopped off on the way for a quick toilet stop and snacks. When we got there we found ourselves with a guide that led us through the traditional berber villages and showed us some great viewpoints. He was quite knowledgeable and I'm glad we ended up with him despite originally wanting to do it ourselves. We brought some nuts for 10dh at this point as we knew the monkeys were coming up. When we got to the bottom of the waterfall we got on the boats that cost 20dh per person and we were allowed to take turns steering the boat for great photo opps. The climb back to the top was not as bad as some prior reviews have said and there are plenty of little shops/resting points on the way. The monkeys at the top were a highlight of the trip, to see them in their natural habitat was nice but the locals, very obviously waiting for the tourists, were not. They hassled us to accept their crackers despite showing them we had already brought nuts and forcefully put it into our hands when we held out nuts for the monkeys. They then expected money and my parter felt obliged to give even though we only had 200dh notes at this point. When asked for change, he tried to only give 40dh back and was being forceful. We were not keen on paying effectively £17 for crackers we didn't even want so we called over our tour guide and he sorted it for us. There were also kids selling some sort of spices so my advice is to keep to yourself and be forceful if you don't want the hassle. We were then led to a restaurant where the price was 110dh per person as a flat fee which I personally do not believe was worth it as it was the worst tagine we had on the whole of our holiday (hardly any meat at all, mostly bone and fat and WAY too much oil) There was a few irritating parts of the trip with the hassle and food selections but the views were worth it so I feel it still deserved a 5 *rating.

570ava 5:00 PM Nov 24, 2021

A beautiful place to visit when there are few tourists
It is indeed an amazing place - sheer beauty. The problem is that it is dirty, full of irritating people and endless shops that have everything you will never want to buy. Take a walk on the cliff before going down to the viewpoint. Enjoy the monkeys but do refrain from feeding them. Walk to the small waterfalls downstream as well - where very few visitors go. All in all, it is worth spending half a day if the weather is good.