2-hour buggy drive in Agafay, Marrakech

This is the longer of the two buggy drives that Quad Marrakech runs in the Agafay desert: two hours at the wheel, two and a half hours at the base in all. Where the 1-hour buggy drive stays on the tracks around the base, this one heads out towards the valleys and adds a second stop. What changes is the distance covered, not the vehicle or the briefing. The page Buggy in Marrakech compares both, and the 2-hour quad ride is the option that asks for no licence.

Who runs the drive, and where does it start?

Quad Marrakech runs the drive itself, with its own guides, and you book directly with us, with no reseller in between. The meeting point is Laarissa El Mokhtar, Agafay Desert, 45 minutes by road south-west of central Marrakech. Most visitors drive or take a taxi; the meeting point is mapped on this page and repeated in your confirmation email.

Two hours at the wheel, two and a half hours at the base

The two hours in the title are driving time. Welcome and paperwork take about fifteen minutes, the briefing and the practice loop another fifteen, and the equipment is handed back at the end: two and a half hours at the base in total. Plan around the second figure, not the first.

The first leg heads out towards the valleys, with a stop after roughly an hour — long enough to get out, drink something you have brought, and look at where you are. The second turns back towards the base and includes a stop facing the Atlas range. The two hours of driving end at the base, where the equipment is handed in.

A buggy is not a quad: the vehicle and the briefing

You sit in it rather than on it. The standard buggy has two seats side by side, inside a roll cage, with a harness at each of them. Helmets are handed out and adjusted at the base before the first start. The seating is what makes the two-seat buggy the machine of choice for two people who would rather share the drive than follow each other in single file; for a family or a group, see the 4-seat option below. The briefing covers the controls, braking and spacing on the track, in English, French or Spanish, and a practice loop on flat ground beside the base comes before the route. No previous experience is expected.

Who can drive: ages and licence

The driver must be 18 or over, two years older than for a quad, and a driving licence is required to drive a buggy — which the quad does not ask for. The passenger needs no licence but must be at least 6 years old, and each booking includes at least one adult. The driver and the passenger can swap at a stop: tell the guide before you set off rather than at the stop itself, so it is planned rather than improvised.

A child under 6 cannot ride in the buggy; the 1-hour camel ride is open from age 3. A group where nobody holds a licence can choose the 2-hour quad ride: drivers from 16, no licence needed.

Option: 4-seat buggy (Can-Am 1000 cc)

For a family or a small group, the 2-hour drive can be taken in a 4-seat buggy, a Can-Am of 1000 cc: one driver and up to three passengers in the same vehicle, with no minimum number of people. It is an option of the booking, chosen in the calendar before you confirm. The booking page has two counters, one for 2-seat buggies and one for the 4-seat buggy, and you say how many of your buggies are 4-seaters: six people, for example, take one 4-seater and one 2-seater.

The rules are those of the two-seat buggy: the driver is 18 or over with a driving licence, each passenger is at least 6 years old, and each booking includes at least one adult. The option costs 50% more than the two-seat buggy, per vehicle and not per person; the exact price shows in the calendar before you book. Quad Marrakech has four 4-seat buggies per departure, shared by all bookings and by the 1-hour and 2-hour drives, so the counter stops at what is left on the departure you pick. The 1-hour buggy drive offers the same option, and Buggy in Marrakech helps you choose between two seats and four.

One price for the buggy, not for the seat

This is the part worth reading twice, because it is the opposite of how a quad is sold. The price on this page covers one two-seat buggy, with helmets, its fuel, the briefing and practice loop, the guide with the group, and third-party liability cover. Two people pay it once between them. A group of six takes three two-seat buggies, or one 4-seater and one 2-seater, and travels together. Nobody pays for a seat they leave empty, and nobody pays twice for a machine they share.

Not included: the 4-seat option, meals and drinks, tips, photographs and video taken on site, personal accident cover, and the transfer from Marrakech. The hotel transfer is an optional extra and is never included in the price. It is a separate line on your booking, for the return trip, and the pickup is one hour before the start; its fee is given on the page Buggy in Marrakech.

Times, and what to wear

Departures are fixed: 10 am, noon and 4 pm, with the afternoon one at 5 pm from 1 April to 20 September. Moroccan time is GMT all year, and Ramadan does not change the times. Closed shoes and sunglasses: a buggy raises more dust than a quad, and it travels. A warm layer if you drive late in the day, and something to drink for the stop.

Booking, paying and cancelling

You book directly with Quad Marrakech. You can book without paying anything online and pay at the base, in cash (dirhams or foreign currency), before the start, or pay online with PayPal: a 30% deposit or the full amount. Cards are not accepted at the base. Cancellation is free up to 24 hours before the start, and anything you paid online is refunded. Inside that, the 30% deposit is kept and anything paid on top of it is refunded; contact us and we will look at rescheduling.

A group that wants quads and buggies together can have both, to order only: it is not offered in the online booking, so contact the team before the outing.