City guides
Safi — Seafood & Pottery Food Guide
Safi is a working Atlantic port that few tourists linger in, which is a shame for anyone who loves seafood and craft. It is one of the world's great sardine-fishing centres, and it is also Morocco's pottery capital — the very tagine pots and colourful ceramics sold across the country are fired in its hillside kilns. Food and craft meet here in the most literal way: the pot and what goes in it, made in the same town.
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- 20 July 2026
At a glance
- Safi is a major sardine port — the seafood is superb and cheap.
- It is Morocco's pottery capital; buy your tagine pot where it is made.
- This is honest working-port eating, free of tourist mark-ups.
Sardine capital of the coast
Safi processes a huge share of Morocco's sardines, and the fish is a way of life here. The freshest way to eat them is grilled at the port-side and market stalls — cleaned, seasoned with chermoula, grilled hot and eaten with bread. Cheap, oily, intensely flavourful sardines straight off the boats are one of the great humble pleasures of the Moroccan coast.
Beyond sardines, the day's Atlantic catch fills the fish market: bream, sole, calamari and shellfish, sold fresh and often grilled to order nearby. Eating here is honest and inexpensive, priced for local fishers and workers rather than visitors. Follow the busiest grill and let the day's catch decide your lunch.
The pottery hill
Safi's other identity is ceramic. The Colline des Potiers (Potters' Hill) is a cluster of workshops and kilns where craftsmen have thrown and fired pottery for centuries, producing the glazed tagine pots, bowls and colourful zellige-style tiles seen across Morocco. Watching a tagine base being thrown and glazed connects the vessel to the food in a way no market stall elsewhere can.
It is also the best place in the country to buy a genuine, well-made cooking tagine or a set of serving bowls, direct from the maker and at source prices. If you want to recreate Moroccan dishes at home, a pot from Safi is the authentic tool — see our cooking equipment guides for how to season and use it.
An honest working city
Safi will not charm you with polish; it is a gritty, industrial port with a compact old medina and a Portuguese-built fort above the harbour. But that lack of tourist gloss is exactly why the food is cheap, fresh and genuine. Eat at the fish market and port grills, browse the pottery hill, and take in a working slice of coastal Morocco.
The city sits on the coast road between El Jadida and Essaouira, making it an easy and rewarding stop on an Atlantic itinerary. A few hours for a sardine lunch and the potters' hill is enough to appreciate a town that quietly supplies the whole country with both its fish and its cookware.
Frequently asked questions
Is Safi worth stopping in?
For seafood and craft lovers, yes. It is one of the world's great sardine ports, so the fish is superb and cheap, and it is Morocco's pottery capital, where the tagine pots sold nationwide are made. It lacks tourist polish, but that is precisely why the food is honest and inexpensive.
Where can I eat the best sardines in Safi?
At the port-side and fish-market grills, where sardines come straight off the boats, are seasoned with chermoula and grilled hot to order. Eaten with bread, they are one of the cheapest and most flavourful meals on the Moroccan coast. Follow the busiest stall for the freshest turnover.
Should I buy a tagine pot in Safi?
Absolutely — Safi's Potters' Hill is where genuine cooking tagines are thrown and fired, so buying one here means source prices and authentic quality direct from the maker. It is the best place in Morocco to buy a real cooking pot rather than a decorative one. Ask whether a pot is glazed for cooking or purely ornamental before you buy.
How does Safi fit into a coastal trip?
It sits on the Atlantic coast road between El Jadida and Essaouira, making it an easy stop on a seafood-focused itinerary. A few hours covers a sardine lunch at the market and a visit to the potters' hill. Combine it with El Jadida's Portuguese heritage and Essaouira's port for a rounded Atlantic food route.