Internet in Morocco: the Atlas and the desert

Morocco is close to Europe and a world away: medinas where GPS is the only thing that gets you out, grand taxis negotiated before you climb in, and a desert where coverage genuinely ends. It is also a destination where a lot of people get a shock on their bill, because Morocco is not in the EU and most tariffs treat it as a distant zone. This guide covers how to arrive connected, where there is signal and where there is not, and which apps people use there.

Your options for getting online

Roaming with your own carrier

Morocco does not fall under European roaming rules. The usual offer is a daily pass with a few hundred megabytes, or pay per megabyte. It is the classic weekend-in-Marrakech mistake: you land, open the map and the meter starts. Check your specific tariff before boarding — and if you arrive by ferry from Spain, remember the network switch happens in the middle of the strait, not at the port.

A local SIM from Maroc Telecom, Orange or Inwi

Bought at the airport, at carrier shops and at many kiosks, with your passport, and the data packages are cheap. A good option if you are staying for weeks. The usual downsides: queueing and paperwork the moment you arrive, taking your own SIM out and keeping it safe, and a top-up process you have to work out in French or Arabic.

Travel eSIM

You buy the days you will be there, install the QR at home on wifi, and on landing in Marrakech, Fez, Tangier or Agadir the phone connects to a Moroccan carrier. Your own line stays in the phone with its data off, in case someone calls. For a one-to-three-week trip it is the most convenient option, and for a weekend break it is frankly the only one that makes sense.

Real coverage: who covers what, and where it ends

Three networks: Maroc Telecom (IAM), the incumbent and the one that reaches furthest into the countryside; Orange Maroc, very solid in the cities; and Inwi, good in urban areas. Travel eSIMs run on one of them.

Good coverage with fast 4G: Marrakech, Casablanca, Rabat, Fez, Meknes, Tangier, Tetouan, Chefchaouen, Essaouira, Agadir, Ouarzazate and the national roads linking them. The train between Tangier and Casablanca stays connected for most of the journey.

Where it weakens or vanishes, whichever carrier you are on:

• High Atlas: the Toubkal valleys, above Imlil, the upper Ourika and the mountain passes. In the villages there is intermittent signal; on the trekking routes, none.
• The desert: Merzouga and Mhamid have coverage, but camps out among the dunes depend on the nearest mast. At Erg Chigaga having nothing is normal.
• Todra and Dades gorges: fine in the villages, patchy at the bottom of the gorges.
• Southern and eastern roads towards Zagora, Tata or Figuig: long stretches between villages with no signal.
• The wild Atlantic coast between Essaouira and Sidi Ifni: good in the surf towns, weak between them.

Worth saying plainly: the eSIM latches onto a Moroccan network, it brings none of its own. Where there is no mast, no eSIM works, ours or anyone else’s. Before heading into the Atlas or the desert, download the area map and tell someone your route and when you expect to be back.

How much data you need

Morocco is travelled with maps, a translator and WhatsApp, and riad and hotel wifi tends to be acceptable in cities and weak in the desert and the mountains. What sends usage up is uploading video of the medinas and the dunes.

Type of trip	Typical use	Plan that fits
Cities and medinas: maps, messaging, some photos	300-500 MB a day	5 GB for a week
The above plus social posting daily	700 MB - 1 GB a day	10 GB for two weeks, or unlimited
Video, video calls, tethering a laptop	Over 1.5 GB a day	Unlimited by days

The figures app by app are in how much data do I need for a trip.

Installing the eSIM and landing connected

1. Compatibility: dial *#06# and look for the EID; the phone must be carrier-unlocked. List by brand on compatibility.
2. Buy for the days of the trip: validity starts with the first connection in Morocco.
3. Install at home on wifi. Name it “Morocco”.
4. Lines: your home line for calls and texts with its data off; the eSIM as mobile data with roaming on.
5. On arrival: turn off airplane mode and wait to see “IAM”, “Orange” or “INWI”. If you come by ferry, switch the eSIM on once you are in the Moroccan port, not mid-crossing.

Every menu, step by step, in how to install an eSIM.

Apps people use there

• inDrive and Heetch for taxis in Casablanca and Marrakech, depending on the city. Elsewhere, petit taxi within a city (ask for the meter or agree the price) and shared grand taxi between cities.
• Google Maps with the medinas downloaded. In Fez and Marrakech the GPS wanders between narrow alleys, so watch the visual landmarks too.
• Google Translate with French and Arabic downloaded. In the north, Spanish is understood far more than you would expect.
• ONCF for trains (including Al Boraq, the high-speed line between Tangier and Casablanca) and CTM or Supratours for long-distance buses. Both book online with a foreign card.
• WhatsApp: everything is organised here, from the riad to the desert guide. Your own number works fine.
• Payments: the dirham is a closed currency, so you change money inside the country. Card in hotels, restaurants and larger shops; cash in souks, taxis, tips and villages. Withdraw from bank ATMs and decline the machine’s offer to convert to your own currency.

Connectivity tips for Morocco

• Message the riad or camp on WhatsApp with your arrival time before leaving an area with coverage. In the desert it is the difference between being met and not.
• Download the map and your booking before getting into the 4x4 or the bus heading south.
• Guides and drivers are contacted on WhatsApp, not by phone call: it is the default channel across the country.
• Ramadan changes opening hours for shops, transport and restaurants; if you travel then, confirm everything the day before.
• Riad wifi: fine for uploading photos, mediocre for video calls. For banking, use mobile data.
• Ceuta and Melilla are Spain: EU roaming rules apply there, and a Moroccan plan does not.

Rough price

The block at the top shows today’s real price for a Morocco eSIM in the MovaSim catalogue, with the unlimited-by-days option and the cheapest by gigabytes; the Morocco page has every plan and which countries each covers. If you end up buying a local SIM in Marrakech, the coverage and app advice here works exactly the same.