Is Merzouga really in the Sahara Desert?

What even is the Sahara Desert?

What’s most important is that the Sahara Desert doesn’t have set borders like countries do. Instead, the Sahara’s boundary depends on humidity, rare rainfall, landscape types, and vegetation.

Looking at the map of the Sahara, you can see that Merzouga is located on the northwest edge, exactly where the red dotted line marks the approximate limit of the Sahara Desert.

But how come Merzouga is so far away from the large sand seas of the Sahara?

There is a small geographic gap between Merzouga and Grand Erg Occidental, the closest large erg in the Sahara. But Merzouga is still very much part of the Sahara.

The dunes in Merzouga are called Erg Chebbi, and it’s not the only such area in Morocco. Erg means a sea of sand, and there is another big one called Erg Chigaga near Mhamid, also part of the Sahara.

The important thing to know is that the Sahara Desert is not just endless sand dunes, but a mix of landscapes.

Why we believe Merzouga is definitely part of the Sahara

Before coming to Merzouga, we also visited the Siwa Oasis and the White Desert in Egypt a few years earlier, both of which are part of the Sahara Desert.

However, even there, the landscape wasn’t purely endless sand dunes, but a mix of sand seas, gravel/rocky plains, salt flats, and even lakes.

Fun fact

The sand dunes in Merzouga were bigger than the ones we explored in Egypt’s Western Desert!

Also, here is what someone who explored a lot of the Sahara said on a TripAdvisor post about Merzouga not being part of the Sahara:

“If they blindfold you, drive you in the middle of the Merzouga dunes, and you open your eyes, it’s going to look like the Sahara, smell like the Sahara, and sound like the Sahara. So it probably is the Sahara!”

Someone who saw a lot of the Sahara Desert.

Final thoughts

We recommend visiting Merzouga and experiencing it firsthand, rather than reading too much into online discussions about whether it is a desert.

That’s why, whether or not you believe Merzouga is part of the Sahara Desert, it’s the most famous Moroccan location with super-high dunes.

Merzouga definitely looks like other parts of the Sahara we’ve seen.

The sand dunes are huge, and it’s like nothing else in Morocco. So calling Merzouga the gateway to the Sahara is more than justified!