Al Hoceima: the turquoise bay of the Moroccan Rif

Surrounded by the Rif Mountains, Al Hoceima overlooks the Mediterranean with a turquoise bay among Morocco's least developed tourist areas.

A car remains useful for exploring the surrounding mountains.

The Al Hoceima Bay, with turquoise waters surrounded by limestone cliffs, remains one of the least developed and most unspoiled coasts of Moroccan Mediterranean.

A few minutes away, the Al Hoceima National Park, which protects part of the coast and mountains of the Rif, is home to rare species such as the Mediterranean monk seal.

Continuing inland, one crosses Berber villages in the Rif mountains, where traditional terraced farming is still practiced today.

Toward evening, the city's waterfront animates with fresh fish restaurants with views of the bay.

The Mediterranean monk seal, among the world's rarest marine mammals, still finds refuge in the protected waters of Al Hoceima National Park, one of the last strongholds of the species in the western Mediterranean, with only a few dozen individuals counted.

Al Hoceima was almost completely rebuilt following a devastating earthquake in 2004, an event that sparked renewed interest in sustainable tourism development throughout the Rif region in the decades that followed.