A Complete 5-Day Plan for Western Sahara

This five-day route suits travelers who want both faces of Western Sahara: the Spanish-built administrative capital in the north and the windy lagoon country of the south. The pace is relaxed except for one long overland day, and it runs on a flight in, a long-distance bus down the coastal N1, grand taxis and a hired car with driver for the lagoon shores. Fly into Laayoune and out of Dakhla, or reverse it, to avoid backtracking 540 kilometers.

Day 1: Laayoune and Laguna de la Playa

Start in Laayoune because it gives you the context the rest of the trip lacks. Walk the old Spanish quarter around the Spanish-era Catholic church, then watch the city switch on after sunset when families fill the squares. In the afternoon, take a grand taxi out toward the coast for Laguna de la Playa, where the Saguia el Hamra riverbed meets the Atlantic in sandbanks and shallow water that draws wading birds. It is a short, easy outing, which is the point on a day you arrived by plane.

Day 2: The N1 South to Dakhla

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This five-day route suits travelers who want both faces of Western Sahara: the Spanish-built administrative capital in the north and the windy lagoon country of the south. The pace is relaxed except for one long overland day, and it runs on a flight in, a long-distance bus down the coastal N1, grand taxis and a hired car with driver for the lagoon shores. Fly into Laayoune and out of Dakhla, or reverse it, to avoid backtracking 540 kilometers.

Day 1: Laayoune and Laguna de la Playa

Start in Laayoune because it gives you the context the rest of the trip lacks. Walk the old Spanish quarter around the Spanish-era Catholic church, then watch the city switch on after sunset when families fill the squares. In the afternoon, take a grand taxi out toward the coast for Laguna de la Playa, where the Saguia el Hamra riverbed meets the Atlantic in sandbanks and shallow water that draws wading birds. It is a short, easy outing, which is the point on a day you arrived by plane.

Day 2: The N1 South to Dakhla

This is your one long travel day: 8 to 9 hours by bus along a coast road that alternates between flat reg plain and cliffs dropping into heavy surf. Take a morning departure so you reach Dakhla before dark, eat grilled fish near the waterfront and sleep early. Nothing else is planned, deliberately.

Days 3-4: Dakhla and the Oued Ed-Dahab Lagoon

Day 3 belongs to Dakhla itself. Book a kitesurfing lesson if the wind is up (it usually is), or just eat oysters farmed in the bay, which cost a fraction of what they do in Europe. On Day 4, move out to a camp on the lagoon shore in Oued Ed-Dahab. Sleeping at the water’s edge is the reason to come this far south: the town lights disappear, the wind drops at night and the stars over the flats are sharp. Camps range from simple bungalows to full kite resorts, so pick by budget.

Day 5: Plage de El Argoub

On your last morning, have a driver take you around the head of the bay to Plage de El Argoub on the mainland shore. It faces back across the lagoon toward the Dakhla peninsula, sees a fraction of the visitors, and fishermen still beach their boats here. Return to Dakhla in the afternoon for your flight.

If you have a driver and a spare half day, ask about the sebkha of Imlili inland from Dakhla, where small fish live in pools scattered across a salt flat in the middle of the desert.