We arrived in the harbour 2 days ago (Oct 30) to find that they have just demolished Chez Sam restaurant and what I believe was the harbourmaster’s office.

The floating pontoon is gone and there is no where safe to tie up. They are still working with forklifts and bulldozers on the rock/concrete debris right on the edge of the dock wall, so it was not safe to be anywhere near.

We left and went out and anchored in the shelter of the islands. As we had no real need to go ashore (even though it’s supposed to be a nice town), we opted for staying aboard and heading off again that night for the overnight sail to Agadir.

Authorities are very pleasant. We reached the bay by dawn, the 25 knots of NE blowing at our arrival meant no problem since the way into the Por Is very sheltered of the prevailing swell. I greatly recommend rafting by the beneteau first, and treating bismile to some beers and cigarettes. He will take good care of your boat. We took the chance and stayed in a eautiful Riad and had nice dinner at El patio. Shopping far more expensive than Rabat and safi so I would avoid. You can hire some kite or wind surf equipment at euro rates and enjoy the bay. Fuel can be arranged in cans to the boat by bismile for about 10 dirhams per liter. As always, tobacco and alcohol proved to be very helpful.

our findings from november 2013;
we arrived well before dawn and could not identify the lighthouse / leading light. It seems out of order.
anchorage has only minor swell in prevailing N/E – winds from any other direction make it untenable. We anchored in a 25kts N/E with 2.9 swell outside the approach and were perfectly sheltered.
As stated above there are two options to raft up within the harbour (both subject to same fee). Raft up to the large orange lifeboat next to Chez Sam’s restaurant or raft up to the charter sailing yacht on the pontoon (an old Beneteau First). Access to the pontoon is easier when rafted up to the charter yacht.However, we saw less than 1m of water at low tide while rafted up to the charter yacht. It’s sludge and mud so no problem when already rafted up (our draft is 2.35), but when manoeuvring in the harbour keep an eye on depth. Arriving around low tide raft up to the lifeboat (plenty of water there) for the time being or await high water anchored outside.
Harbourmaster, customs and police are pleasant and efficient but do advise them of your plans well in advance as opening hours are erratic.
We stayed, or to be precise got stranded, here for almost a week and everything felt very secure. However, the harbour is an open sewer and (very) active fishing harbour and even though Essaouira is a very attractive town in itself, the “marina” is beyond anything we have ever experienced in terms of smell, sight and sound.
The marina fee is ridiculous (240 dirham/night for a 42″ yacht) given location and services (no electricity, water on demand).
Our advise would be to anchor for a night or two to visit Essaouira, which is definitely worthwhile, but avoid the harbour when possible. No problem tying your dinghy to the pontoon or charter boat during the day.