bivouac a camp that takes in tourists for a time, in Moroccan law
Agafay camping: the budget end, simple tents and packages
This page is the budget end of a night in the Agafay Desert: the simple tents and the overnight packages. Agafay camping means a night in a camp, not a pitch for your own tent. The simple camps on Booking.com cost USD 59 to 120 per night before taxes and fees, for 14 to 15 December 2026, 2 adults. An overnight package with the transfer, dinner, a show and breakfast costs USD 53 per person or USD 52 per person on GetYourGuide. Then the month decides: in January the mean night minimum at the Marrakech station is 6°C (43°F), and a tent without a heater is cold from December to February.
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From a simple tent to a lodge, step by step
Each step up the price ladder buys something you can name: breakfast on the card, a pool, a heated pool, dinner, a lodge instead of a tent. Heating is the one thing to ask about before a winter night, and the strip beside the steps shows which months make it matter.
Package for two
-
1 Simple camp
USD 59 to 120 per night before taxes and fees
- The room for two, and little else on the card
- One name lists a restaurant, a fire show and a pool
- Breakfast on some cards
-
2 Standard tent camp
USD 86 to 187 per night before taxes and fees
- Breakfast on every card
- A heated pool named in one listing
- Free cancellation on some cards
-
3 Luxury camp or lodge
USD 166 to 533 per night before taxes and fees
- Lodges and tents in one name, a dome in another
- Heated pools named in one listing
- Dinner on two cards
Mean night minimum, by month
- Jan 6°C (43°F)
- Feb 8°C (46°F)
- Mar 10°C (50°F)
- Apr 12°C (54°F)
- May 15°C (59°F)
- Jun 18°C (64°F)
- Jul 21°C (70°F)
- Aug 21°C (70°F)
- Sep 19°C (66°F)
- Oct 16°C (61°F)
- Nov 11°C (52°F)
- Dec 7°C (45°F)
Read the chart from the left. A simple camp such as The Original Camp Agafay or We Agafay is the cheapest room, but the package line sits inside the simple and standard ranges: for about the same money as a cheap room for two, a package such as Agafay Desert Retreat, Tent, Dinner, Show & Pool adds the drive, dinner and breakfast. The room wins when you have your own transport, want to choose where you eat, or plan a second night. Every comfort level, with a month and budget filter, is in the Agafay camp chooser.
The cheapest tents on Booking.com
These are the tent camps priced no higher than the dearest simple camp for the captured December night, lowest first. Simple camps sit among standard tent camps that cost the same. Prices are Booking.com's for 14 to 15 December 2026, 2 adults, as listed on 14 November 2026; your dates will differ.
The Original Camp Agafay
USD 59 per night before taxes and fees (USD 77 in total)
The listing shows: name lists restaurant, fire show and pool
Rooms and dates: The Original Camp Agafay on Booking.com
Agafay Valley
USD 86 per night before taxes and fees (USD 109 in total)
The listing shows: breakfast included
Rooms and dates: Agafay Valley on Booking.com
The Ranch Camp
USD 109 per night before taxes and fees (USD 136 in total)
The listing shows: breakfast included; free cancellation
Rooms and dates: The Ranch Camp on Booking.com
Show the other tent camps at the same prices
We Agafay
USD 120 per night before taxes and fees (USD 152 in total)
The listing shows: breakfast included
Rooms and dates: We Agafay on Booking.com
The cheapest of them, The Original Camp, shows no breakfast on its card, so the price is the bed and nothing more. We Agafay is the dearer simple camp and shows breakfast. Between them sit tent camps one step up, most with breakfast on the card. On a room-only night, budget for the drive there and back and for dinner at the camp; the three costs together decide whether the room really is the cheapest night.
Package or room only
An overnight package is sold per person and includes the drive. A room is sold per night for two and includes, at most, breakfast. Put side by side for two people:
Overnight package
USD 106
Overnight camp package with transfer and dinner, two sharing a tent: USD 106 (about GBP 80 or EUR 96), on the most-reviewed package; the two packages run USD 104 to 106 for two across 2 packages.
- Pickup in Marrakech and the drive back
- Welcome tea, dinner, music and a fire show
- The night in a tent, and breakfast
- The camp pool
- Drinks with alcohol, activities and the tourist tax
Room only, simple camp
USD 59 to 120 per night before taxes and fees
The simple camps on Booking.com for 14 to 15 December 2026, 2 adults.
- The night in the tent, for two
- Breakfast on some cards
- The drive: 40 to 60 minutes each way by road
- Dinner and drinks at the camp
- The tourist tax
The two package listings are Agafay Desert Retreat, Tent, Dinner, Show & Pool, run by Marrakechdesertcamp, and Agafay Desert Overnight with Dinner Show & Pool, run by Maroc Excursions. What each listing states, line by line:
| Retreat, Tent, Dinner, Show & Pool | Overnight with Dinner Show & Pool | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | USD 53 per person | USD 52 per person |
| Guest reviews | 4.8 out of 5, 7,036 reviews on 14 November 2026 | no reviews on 14 November 2026 |
| Pickup | Pickup and drop-off at the selected meeting point in Marrakech | Hotel pickup and drop-off from Marrakesh (no point list shown) |
| Tent | Overnight in a private tent or a bed in a shared tent | Overnight in a private tent with bathroom inside |
| Dinner | Harira soup, individual tagine (lemon chicken), vegetable couscous, dessert (3-course dinner) | 4-course meal |
| Evening | Live music, Moroccan dancing, Gnawa music, oriental dance, fire juggling; Campfire and live guitar | Campfire; Fire eater show; Gnaoua music and live dancing |
| Pool | Pool | Pool |
| Breakfast | Breakfast | Traditional Moroccan breakfast |
| Not included | Alcoholic drinks; Soda | Alcoholic beverages (on site); Extra activities (camel, buggy, quad, balloon) bought on site or as add-on |
| Children | Not suitable for children under 5 | no age limit stated |
| Cancellation | Free until the day before, as listed | Free until the day before; reserve now, pay later |
The first listing offers a private tent or a bed in a shared tent; the second states a private tent with the bathroom inside. If you want a bathroom of your own, that line matters more than the dinner. More packages, with camels and quads added, are on the Agafay overnight page.
How a package night runs
Both listings follow the same shape, from an afternoon pickup to a late-morning return. The listings give the start time at booking rather than on the page. Sunset comes far earlier in December than in June, so expect an earlier start in winter.
Plan for one thing on each side of the night. Before it, a warm layer and a torch in a small bag for the walk between the dinner tent and your own. After it, a slow morning: breakfast is part of the package, and the return gets you back in Marrakech before lunch, which leaves the afternoon free. What to pack for the month you go is in the Agafay packing list by month.
Pickup in Marrakech
At a meeting point or your hotel, depending on the listing.
The drive
40 to 60 minutes by road.
Welcome tea
Both listings start the camp part with tea.
Dinner
Three courses on one listing, four on the other.
Music, fire show, campfire
Gnawa music and dancing on both.
The night in the tent
The coldest hours come before dawn.
Breakfast
Included on both.
Back in Marrakech
Late morning.
When a simple camp is too cold
6°C (43°F)mean night minimum in January, Marrakech station
A simple tent is a room of canvas on open ground. On a clear winter night it holds little of the day's warmth, and Agafay sits outside the city, where no station measures the cold. The Marrakech station's means are the best guide there is: 7°C (45°F) in December, 6°C (43°F) in January and 8°C (46°F) in February. Those are averages over many nights, so some nights in each of those months are colder.
- December to February
- Cold in a simple tent without a heater. Ask the camp in writing whether the tent is heated and how many blankets there are, or book a standard tent camp or solid walls instead.
- March and November
- Cool: 10°C (50°F) and 11°C (52°F). A simple camp works with warm sleepwear and a jacket for dinner outside.
- April, May and October
- Mild nights, 12°C (54°F) in April to 16°C (61°F) in October: the easiest months for the cheapest tent.
- June to September
- Warm nights, 21°C (70°F) in July. The question turns to the day's heat, and to whether the camp has a pool and shade.
Which cheap night fits your trip
The cheapest price on the page is not always the cheapest night for you. It depends on how you get there, how many nights you stay and the month. Four common cases:
No car, one night
Take a package
The drive is the cost that catches people out. A package carries it in the price, with dinner and breakfast, so the overnight camp package with transfer and dinner, two sharing a tent, at USD 106 is the simplest sum you will find. Pick between the two listings by the tent line: a shared tent on one, a private tent with its own bathroom on the other.
Own car or driver, two nights
Book the room
With your own way there, the room price is the night. A package sells you the drive with every booking; on a stay of two nights you drive once each way. Book a simple camp that shows breakfast, ask for the dinner price when you book, and use the free day for a ride or the lake. The ways to reach the camps are on Marrakech to Agafay.
December to February
Pay one step up
In the coldest months the cheapest tent is the one most likely to leave you awake before dawn. One step up the ladder, a standard tent camp, costs USD 86 to 187 per night before taxes and fees; use the comfort filter in the camp chooser with your month and ask about the heater before you pay. Further up, the named camps side by side show where each sits on price and rating, Agafay luxury camps covers the top-end canvas, and Agafay desert hotels the stays with solid walls.
June to September
Cheap and warm
Summer nights stay warm, so the simplest tent is enough at night. The day is the hard part: ask whether the camp has shade and a pool you can use, and plan the drive for late afternoon. Day highs by month are on the Agafay weather page.
Pitching your own tent
Some travellers want the desert without a camp: their own tent, their own stove, a hill to themselves. Two official sources bear on that.
The US Department of State advises
Travellers who camp in Morocco should use guarded campgrounds and should not camp in isolated areas.
Morocco's Law 80-14 defines
A bivouac as a camp that takes in tourists for a time, either set up for a trek stage in mountains, desert or rural sites, or installed on a site reserved for it away from towns and water points, and makes running one subject to an operating authorisation.
Decree 2-23-441 states
The authorisation is requested from the local authority at least 14 days before the bivouac is set up, and the application includes the approval of the natural-spaces guide who accompanies the guests, the insurance contract and the signed specifications.
So a camp in Agafay is a business with paperwork, a guide and insurance behind it (the law in full is on the camp chooser), and the US advice points campers to guarded sites rather than open ground. The plain way to sleep under the Agafay sky is to book the cheapest camp. If you want a camp that is quieter than the show nights, ask before you book whether a show runs that evening; the package listings include one.
What the cheapest price leaves out
- Tourist tax
- Under law 47-06 the taxe de séjour is due per person per night, on top of the room or the package; children under 12 years are exempt. Each commune sets its rate, so ask the camp what it adds.
- The drive
- Included in the packages; not on any Booking.com card. Operators give 40 to 60 minutes by road from Marrakech each way. Ways to get there are on Marrakech to Agafay.
- Drinks
- Both packages list drinks with alcohol as not included, and the first lists soft drinks as extra too.
- Activities
- Camel rides, quads, buggies and balloon flights are extra on the second package, bought at the camp or added at booking.
- Dinner, room only
- Paid at the camp on a room-only night: ask for the price when you book.
Everything a trip to Agafay costs, from the drive to the tax, is set out on the Agafay cost page.
Camping questions
What is the cheapest way to spend a night in Agafay?
A simple camp on Booking.com, at USD 59 to 120 per night before taxes and fees for two adults, if you can get there yourself. Without a car, an overnight package often comes out at about the same money for two, because it includes the drive, dinner and breakfast. Compare both for your dates before you book.
Can I pitch my own tent in the Agafay Desert?
The US Department of State advises travellers who camp in Morocco to use guarded campgrounds and not to camp in isolated areas. Moroccan law treats a camp for tourists as a bivouac that needs an operating authorisation, a guide and insurance. Booking a simple camp is the plain way to sleep out in Agafay.
Do simple Agafay camps have heating?
Ask the camp: heating is the one thing to settle in writing before a winter night. In December, January and February, when the mean night minimum at the Marrakech station is 6°C (43°F) in January, ask about a heater and blankets, or choose a standard camp or a room with walls.
Is the overnight package priced per person or per tent?
Per person. The two GetYourGuide listings print USD 53 per person and USD 52 per person. A Booking.com room is priced per night for two adults, so double the package price before you compare it with a room.
Do children pay the tourist tax?
Under Moroccan law 47-06 children under 12 years are exempt from the taxe de séjour. Adults pay it per person per night, at the rate the commune sets, on top of the room or package price. Ask the camp what it adds before you pay.
Sources
- The US Department of State advises travellers who camp in Morocco to use guarded campgrounds and not to camp in isolated areas. US Department of State, Morocco country information, Safety and security (Terrorism), 13 August 2026.
- At the Marrakech station (WMO 60230), the mean daily minimum temperature in January is, per the WMO climate normals 1991 to 2020 published by NOAA NCEI: 5.9°C. WMO Climate Normals 1991-2020, station sheet MARRAKECH (WMO 60230), archived by NOAA NCEI (accession 0253808, v6.6).
- At the Marrakech station (WMO 60230), the mean daily minimum temperature in February is, per the WMO climate normals 1991 to 2020 published by NOAA NCEI: 7.6°C. WMO Climate Normals 1991-2020, station sheet MARRAKECH (WMO 60230), archived by NOAA NCEI (accession 0253808, v6.6).
- At the Marrakech station (WMO 60230), the mean daily minimum temperature in March is, per the WMO climate normals 1991 to 2020 published by NOAA NCEI: 10.3°C. WMO Climate Normals 1991-2020, station sheet MARRAKECH (WMO 60230), archived by NOAA NCEI (accession 0253808, v6.6).
- At the Marrakech station (WMO 60230), the mean daily minimum temperature in April is, per the WMO climate normals 1991 to 2020 published by NOAA NCEI: 12.4°C. WMO Climate Normals 1991-2020, station sheet MARRAKECH (WMO 60230), archived by NOAA NCEI (accession 0253808, v6.6).
- At the Marrakech station (WMO 60230), the mean daily minimum temperature in May is, per the WMO climate normals 1991 to 2020 published by NOAA NCEI: 15.2°C. WMO Climate Normals 1991-2020, station sheet MARRAKECH (WMO 60230), archived by NOAA NCEI (accession 0253808, v6.6).
- At the Marrakech station (WMO 60230), the mean daily minimum temperature in June is, per the WMO climate normals 1991 to 2020 published by NOAA NCEI: 17.9°C. WMO Climate Normals 1991-2020, station sheet MARRAKECH (WMO 60230), archived by NOAA NCEI (accession 0253808, v6.6).
- At the Marrakech station (WMO 60230), the mean daily minimum temperature in July is, per the WMO climate normals 1991 to 2020 published by NOAA NCEI: 20.6°C. WMO Climate Normals 1991-2020, station sheet MARRAKECH (WMO 60230), archived by NOAA NCEI (accession 0253808, v6.6).
- At the Marrakech station (WMO 60230), the mean daily minimum temperature in August is, per the WMO climate normals 1991 to 2020 published by NOAA NCEI: 21.1°C. WMO Climate Normals 1991-2020, station sheet MARRAKECH (WMO 60230), archived by NOAA NCEI (accession 0253808, v6.6).
- At the Marrakech station (WMO 60230), the mean daily minimum temperature in September is, per the WMO climate normals 1991 to 2020 published by NOAA NCEI: 18.6°C. WMO Climate Normals 1991-2020, station sheet MARRAKECH (WMO 60230), archived by NOAA NCEI (accession 0253808, v6.6).
- At the Marrakech station (WMO 60230), the mean daily minimum temperature in October is, per the WMO climate normals 1991 to 2020 published by NOAA NCEI: 15.7°C. WMO Climate Normals 1991-2020, station sheet MARRAKECH (WMO 60230), archived by NOAA NCEI (accession 0253808, v6.6).
- At the Marrakech station (WMO 60230), the mean daily minimum temperature in November is, per the WMO climate normals 1991 to 2020 published by NOAA NCEI: 10.7°C. WMO Climate Normals 1991-2020, station sheet MARRAKECH (WMO 60230), archived by NOAA NCEI (accession 0253808, v6.6).
- At the Marrakech station (WMO 60230), the mean daily minimum temperature in December is, per the WMO climate normals 1991 to 2020 published by NOAA NCEI: 7.3°C. WMO Climate Normals 1991-2020, station sheet MARRAKECH (WMO 60230), archived by NOAA NCEI (accession 0253808, v6.6).
- Under Moroccan law 47-06 (art. 71), children are exempt from the taxe de séjour below the age of 12 years. Loi n° 47-06 relative à la fiscalité des collectivités territoriales, version consolidée au 3 juillet 2025 (Ministère de la Justice, adala), 3 July 2025.
- Under Moroccan law 47-06 (art. 72), the taxe de séjour is due per person per night. Loi n° 47-06 relative à la fiscalité des collectivités territoriales, version consolidée au 3 juillet 2025 (Ministère de la Justice, adala), 3 July 2025.
- Morocco's Law 80-14 defines a bivouac as a camp receiving tourists temporarily, either set up provisionally on a trek stage in mountains, desert or rural sites, or installed on sites reserved for it away from towns and water points. Law no. 80-14 on tourist establishments and other forms of tourist accommodation, Dahir 1-15-108 of 4 Aug 2015, BO no. 6404 of 15 Oct 2015 (Ministry of Justice, adala), 4 August 2015.
- Morocco's Law 80-14 makes operating a bivouac or other alternative accommodation subject to an operating authorisation with a set of specifications (cahier des charges) authorisation required. Law no. 80-14 on tourist establishments and other forms of tourist accommodation, Dahir 1-15-108 of 4 Aug 2015, BO no. 6404 of 15 Oct 2015 (Ministry of Justice, adala), 4 August 2015.
- Decree 2-23-441 states a bivouac operating authorisation is requested from the competent local authority at least 14 days before the bivouac is set up. Decree no. 2-23-441 of 13 July 2023 applying Law 80-14, BO no. 7462 (FR) of 4 Dec 2025, pp. 3186-3195 (ministry PDF, image scan read by OCR), 13 July 2023.
- Decree 2-23-441 requires a bivouac application to include a copy of the approval of the natural-spaces guide assigned to accompany tourists, the insurance contract and the signed specifications guide approval + insurance. Decree no. 2-23-441 of 13 July 2023 applying Law 80-14, BO no. 7462 (FR) of 4 Dec 2025, pp. 3186-3195 (ministry PDF, image scan read by OCR), 13 July 2023.
- Camp prices for one night, and night cold. Booking.com search for Agafay, 2 adults, 1 room, night of 2026-12-14, prices as printed in US dollars; night cold: Marrakech (Menara) station mean daily minimum, 1991 to 2020
- Tour prices, times and the drive to Agafay. Partner listings on GetYourGuide, Viator and Klook with the date of each price, in the partner's currency; transfer times as the operators and the Moroccan National Tourist Office state them
- Headline costs. The price of the named partner listing each cost uses (the most-reviewed of its kind), with the date of each price
Photographs
- Camp tents in Agafay. Photo: Josephhassane / Wikimedia Commons, CC0