Fishing Port Casablanca — Attraction in Maghreb

Recently we took a 10 night MSC Lirica Western Mediterranean Cruise sailing from Alicante and the fifth stop was Casa Blanca.  This is a very busy working port with no attractions (industrial with shipping containers and lorries), so not the prettiest of ports. Photo ID has to be presented when leaving the port area.  The 'hop on hop off' bus service is not available in Casa Blanca, but MSC provide a city tour for 30€.  The MSC bus stops at a mosque, a shopping centre and a bazaar and you can hop on and off as often as you like.

We walked to the end of the port and it was very crowded with taxi drivers offering half and full days excursions. There were lots of police directing which way to go (easy to loose your bearings if you don't have a clear idea of where you want to go). It started to rain, so we returned to the ship without exploring Casa Blanca, which was a shame. More information on the port is available on the Google site What's in Port (cruise guide for 1200 ports).

Casa Blanca is a very large city with several beaches (Plage Paloma beach, Plage de petite Zenata beach, Tamaris beach, Plage Lalla Meryem beach, Plage Ain Diab Beach). There are lots of zoos (Sindibad Zoo, Tamaris Aquaparc, Dream village zoo and Zoo Ain Sbaa) and amusement parks including Crazy Park, Magic Forest amusement park, Parc de jeux Loupi Land, Bouskoura Waterpark and Yasmine Fun Park.

Within the city there are several lakes and parks including Lac El Oulfa lake, Arab League Park, Parc Murdoch, Anfa Park, Velodrome Park, l'Hermitage Garden and Casa Nearshore Park.  There are various shopping centres including Morocco Mall, Husa Casablanca Shopping Plaza, the old Medina market and the large indoor market Le marché solidaire (oasis).

There are a number of museums and art galleries including Villa des Arts de Casablanca, Abderrahman Slaoui Foundation Museum, Dar El Ala music museum, the Museum of Moroccan Judaism, L'Atelier 21 art gallery and Laredo Art Gallery. Other points of interest include El Hank lighthouse, the Sacred Heart Cathedral, Mohammed V Square, Mahkama of Pacha city courthouse and Hammam Ziani (baths).  Throughout the city there are lots of mosques and synagogues including Hassan II Mosque,  Ettedgui Synagogue, Eglise Notre Dame De Lourdes Catholic church, Youssef Mosque, Al-Qods Mosque and Beth-El Temple a Jewish temple with stained...

Arriving by cruise ship is misersble. There is no taxis, so one must walk 20-30 min. through the dirty industrial port before one can get a taxi or walk into the old town. For elderly persons it is not possible to leave the port without a pre-booked tour. My mother had to stay on the ship for that reason. - All taxis standing inside the cruise port only offered high priced touring services for half-day or full-day excursions but no taxi services. There are no shuttle busses.

If you are healthy and can walk longer distances best wear washable and comfortable hiking boots...

Terrible noise pollution coming from the port machines, ships horns and generators sounding like a drone or helicopter flying on top of our heads day and night. That pollution is negatively affecting a vast area of the port neighbourhood. I regret buying an apartment which is 1.5 km away...