Agadir Bay

Agadir Bay opens onto the Atlantic where the High Atlas meets the plain of the Sous. At its northern end a hill overlooks the harbour and the site of the Portuguese stronghold of Santa Cruz do Cabo de Gué. The Saadian ruler Muhammad al-Shaykh captured the fort in 1541 after a siege, and Agadir became a Moroccan port. Ships entering the bay found a gateway to the produce and commerce of the Sous valley beyond the coastal hills.