Team building in the Marrakech desert
Team building in Marrakech: a half-day or evening in the Agafay desert, 45 min from the city. Quad, buggy, camels, dinner — or a custom day priced by hand.
Team building in Marrakech works best as a half-day or an evening in the Agafay desert, 45 minutes by road from the city, where the whole group leaves from one base, rides the same tracks and ends at the same table. You can book a ready-made outing — quad, buggy, camels, dinner or a combination — or ask us to put a custom day together and price it for you.
This guide is for whoever has to organise a corporate desert day: what the formats are, how long each takes, how the group gets there, how it fits around a seminar programme, and how quotes and payment work.
Why take a team to the Agafay desert?
Because it is close, and because everything happens in one place. The base is in the Agafay desert, 45 minutes by road south-west of central Marrakech, towards Lalla Takerkoust. There is no flight and no overnight stay: a team can leave after a morning session and be back in the city for the evening, or go out for dinner and return the same night.
The ground is stone, not sand: pale folded hills, dry riverbeds and the High Atlas on the horizon. Firm tracks are what make quads and buggies work, and they stay open after rain. The Agafay desert page describes the place and every outing we run there.
One base also means one meeting point, one briefing and one guide with the group from start to finish. On the combined outings, the tracks, the camels and the dinner camp share the same ground, so there is no transfer between activities and nobody has to find a second address.
What team building activities can you do in the Marrakech desert?
Six formats, from a one-hour ride to a five-hour programme with a meal. They differ in length, in what they ask of people, and in who can take part.
| Format | Length | Who can take part |
|---|---|---|
| Quad ride | 1 h or 2 h of riding | Drivers 16+, no licence; passengers from 6 |
| Buggy drive | 1 h or 2 h of driving | Drivers 18+ with a driving licence; two seats per buggy |
| Camel walk | About 1 h, led on foot | No experience; not advised for pregnant women or back problems |
| Dinner with live music | 4 h, evening | Everyone: nothing to ride or drive |
| Quad, camel and meal | 4 h or 5 h, 4 pm (5 pm in summer) | Same rules as the quad and the camel |
| VIP pack | 4 h 15, base at 4 pm (5 pm in summer) | Quad drivers 16+; private table, music and fire show |
Quads and buggies give the day its energy. On a quad, each driver has their own machine; a buggy seats two side by side and is priced per vehicle, so a group of six takes three buggies. On both, the guide sets a pace the whole group can hold rather than the pace of its fastest rider. Quad or buggy sets the two side by side.
The camel walk is the opposite: an hour at walking pace, the animals led by a handler on foot, nothing to steer. The dinner is served under the tents at low tables, with live music during and after the meal — the evening that works when not everyone in the group wants to ride.
Combined outings put several of these into one programme. The 1-hour quad, camel and Moroccan meal runs for four hours, leaving at 4 pm (5 pm in summer), with dinner at the end; the sunset version has the same departure, with two hours of quad, and runs for five hours. Quad and dinner, or camel and dinner, make four-hour evenings.
Can we build a custom team day in the desert?
Yes: the custom-day page is made for it. On Build your own day, you tick the activities you want (each with its length), choose a meal — none, lunch, or dinner and show — and add pick-up and drop-off at your hotel. Then you give a preferred date, a preferred time (morning, afternoon or evening), the number of adults and the age of any children, and anything else we should know.
We read the request and reply by email with one price for the whole day. The page shows no price on purpose: a day put together this way is not the sum of its parts, so it is priced by hand. Sending the request books nothing, and nothing is held until you accept the price we send.
Some options are not on the booking pages at all. A private group departure, a photo pack or video are available on request: ask when you book, and we tell you what is possible for your date.
A private group is a departure reserved for your group alone: vehicles, guide and time are yours, with no other guests on the outing. It is priced by hand for your group and your date, with no minimum number of people. The camp and its tents stay shared with the other guests of the evening. Ask for it on WhatsApp, in the custom-day form or in the note when you book.
How does a group get from Marrakech to the desert?
By road, 45 minutes each way. There is no public bus to Agafay, so a group either makes its own way to the base or adds a transfer.
A return transfer from your hotel or riad can be added when you book, for a fee. It is priced per vehicle, not per person, it appears as its own line on the booking, and it is not included in the price of the activity. On a custom-day request, pick-up and drop-off at your hotel is one of the boxes to tick, and it is part of the price we send back for the day.
If your group is staying in more than one hotel, say so in the message box of the request, so that our answer takes it into account.
How does a desert half-day fit around a seminar programme?
Plan around the departure times, then around the light. The meetings stay in Marrakech — we do not run meeting rooms — and the desert takes a half-day or an evening.
- Morning out, afternoon in. The 10 am departure of a quad or buggy ride leaves the afternoon for sessions.
- Morning in, afternoon out. The 4 pm departure (5 pm in summer) of the quad, camel and meal programme ends with dinner after dark, 45 minutes from the city.
- A day of meetings, then dinner. The dinner with live music asks nothing of a tired group but the drive out.
- The VIP pack starts at the base at 4 pm (5 pm in summer); with the transfer, you leave Marrakech at 3 pm and are back around 9 pm (4 pm and 10 pm in summer).
Sunset moves by more than two hours through the year, from about half past five in winter to after half past seven in June — Agafay at sunset gives the time for each month. Spring and autumn are the most comfortable seasons; in high summer the middle of the day is hot, which is why the late departures exist. Whatever the season, the plateau gets cold once the sun is down, so tell the group to bring a warm layer.
How do quotes and payment work for a team day?
Ready-made outings show their price on their page; custom days get a price by email. Prices change, so we do not quote figures in a guide: see the page of each outing, or send a custom request.
You can book without paying anything online and pay at the base, in cash, in dirhams or foreign currency, before the start, or pay online with PayPal: a 30% deposit or the full amount. There is no card payment at the base. Cancellation is free up to 24 hours before the start, and anything you paid online is refunded; inside 24 hours, the 30% deposit is kept and anything paid on top of it is refunded; contact us and we look first at moving the group to another departure.
Tell us about vegetarian tables or allergies when you book, not on the day: requests go to the kitchen, and we confirm what can be prepared beforehand. Drinks other than tea and water are not included with the standard dinner.
Who decides who does what?
You decide the programme; we tell you what is possible. A team is rarely one kind of person, and the day works better when that is planned for.
- Who drives. Anyone 16 or over can drive a quad without a licence. Buggy drivers must be 18 or over and bring a driving licence.
- Who rides behind. Quad passengers can ride from the age of 6, with a responsible adult; a buggy passenger needs no licence.
- Who would rather not ride. The camel walk needs no experience, and the dinner asks for nothing at all. The camel is not advised for pregnant women or anyone with back problems.
- Which language. The safety briefing is given in English, French or Spanish; tell us which your group prefers.
For anything else — the size of the group, a mix of formats on the same day, a date that matters — ask us before you book, and we tell you what can be done rather than promise it.
