Plage Blanche Morocco driveable?

[Blanche]

Can you drive on Plage Blanche Morocco or is the sand too loose?
Tis winter we want to travel from Tafnidilt (near TanTan) to Foum Assaka (direction of Sidi Ifni). I know the road from Soum Assaka to Sidi Ifni is asphalt but what about the other strech from Tafnidilt to Foum Assaka? Is it driveable piste or just loose sand?

As we travel on bicycles (!) and these are the last days of our trip, the information is very inportant. Do we catch our flight our do we get stuck in the sand?

Thanks for the information!

Blanche
Traveltheworldonabicycle

[Barrie Dunbar]

On a falling tide, you can drive (not necessarily cycle) the entire 40km from end to end. You don't have to come off at the 26km mark, there's a steep exit just before the rocky point at the far end. The sand is firm in the inter-tidal zone, but getting to and from it is another matter. I'd say unless you've got loads of time (and energy) there's a good chance of missing your flight. Take care

[Blanche]

Thanxs! What do you mean by 'You don't have to come off at the 26th mark' ?
Can I stay on the cliff and so avoid the loose sand and stay at a piste? Are you a motorcyclist or a 4x4 driver? We are used to cycle rough pistes.

[Barrie Dunbar]

You would probably be better off staying up on the rocky piste and not dropping down to the beach. I've never not gone down to the beach, so check it first on Google Earth

[Blanche]

We're following this gps track. Is this the better piste strech you mean?

[Barrie Dunbar]

Hard to tell because that shows a few waypoints linked by straight lines. Quick look suggests it does go down to the beach though.

[Blanche]

A i'm sorry, this one is better
Route: Test Marokko 2011 | Bikemap.net

[Chris Scott]

It looks like the GPS route shown oddly avoids the commonly done 28km Plage Blanche section (KM112 to KM84 of Route MO1)
http://www.morocco-overland.com/routes/MO/mo1g.jpg

Is it an actual tracklog or a route that has been composed by joining dots? Maybe the latter if it's 'test 2011'.

I would say riding a bike on the wet tidal sand of the main 28km beach section would be fine and a lot more fun than the sandy/stony clifftop piste which you will have followed to get there. Get to Aoreora (KM112 checkpoint on headland) at just after high tide and wait till it goes out enough to get pedalling. To Plage Blanche road end (KM84) could be ridden in 2 hours?
And even if you can't, getting a bicycle onto the back dunes beyond the high tide mark is not so hard as it would be with a moto or a 4x4.

From Plage Blanche road end (KM84) still on the beach part way towards Foum Assaka (Oued Noun) must be the 'steep exit just before the rocky point at the far end' Barrie mentions some ~12-14km later. Haven't done that bit but all the way NE to Oued Noun looks too cliff bound, even at low tide.

From Plage Blanche KM84 I am sure inland tracks of some sort lead to Oued Noun/Foum Assaka past an old aerodrome. I looked into it once at Oued Noun with a 4x4 (p256 in the book) but nothing jumped out for me using old maps or GE. That sort of exploring is easier with a moto and with a cycle even easier IMO.

Ch

[Blanche]

Thanxs Scott!
I created the track with a free morocco gps map for motorriders from a german men. It's generally verry accurate. But maybe this track ins't.
What doe tidal sand actually mean? Is this when the water starts going back towards the see? Or when it has been a while retreated?
I just changed my tracks with a verry precise copy Route: Test Marokko 2011 | Bikemap.net