Hot air balloon in Marrakech. The ultimate adventure guide

Last Updated on March 20, 2024 by

The idea of flying on a hot air balloon with no strings attached to the land, might sound scary to someone. To me, it was the epitome of adventure. The realisation of my unexpressed desired of freedom. Therefore, when I heard that Ciel d’Afrique, a hot air balloon company in Marrakech was crossing the skies since 1990. I knew I had to secure a spot on one of their flights. In this blog, you will discover everything you need to know about booking a hot air balloon ride in Marrakech and what you can expect from this experience. We planned this magical flight during our 10 day trip to Morocco and it was one of the highlight of our trip!

This blog is divided into three different parts. The first section, gives you a little introduction about hot air balloons’ history. The second part, is part of my travel diary describing accurately our flight experience since our pick-up in Marrakech. Lastly, there is an informative section with everything technical you should know about flying with a hot air balloon and how to book your flight. You can navigate the sections you are interested from the table of contents.

The most old-fashioned way of exploring the skies. Le Globe Aérostatique

It was the year 1783 when, after several experimental years, the Montgolfier brothers decided to fly a balloon at Versailles in front of King Louis XVI of France and Queen Marie Antoinette. This flight was forever recorded as the first historic hot air balloon flight. Of course, only a sheep a duck and a rooster were allowed to fly at that time. In this regard, many historians, claim it was actually the Portuguese Bartolomeu de Gusmão to invent a flying apparatus called Passarola in 1709.

Whether this is true or not, the Montgolfier brothers still hold the record for the first human flight in a hot air balloon. This occurred shortly after their initial trial using farm animals in 1783 and marked the beginning of a new era of exploration. Indeed, as early as 1785, a French inventor called Jean-Pierre Blanchard became the first person to visit different countries in a hot air balloon. This included Germany, the Netherlands, and even the United States. Most notably, he was the first man to cross the English Channel in an aerial vessel.

Modern Balloons are slightly different from their French ancestors. The change affected in particular the material of construction. Indeed, previous balloons where built with a single-layered, fabric gas bag. Modern balloons, instead, are usually made of materials such as ripstop nylon or dacron. These materials are cut in panels and then sew together to carry the weight of the gondola. This modern type of ballon has been invented by the American Ed Yost. A successful first flight on this new balloon was completed on 22nd October, 1960.

Flying over Marrakech. An adventure guide

An early wake up

It’s 4 am in Marrakech. My phone’s alarm rings loudly and I don’t want to wake up. I still feel the booze of our late night at Jemaa el-Fna surrounded by dancers, pushy vendors and smoky mint teas. In my mind, venturing so early into the medina feels like we actually never went to sleep. BUT today I am going on a hot air balloon. So I force myself out of the bed in the darkness of my riad room.

Everything is very silent and even the numerous plants falling down the ceiling of this little jungle riad look like they are asleep. Probably, they really are. Venturing out in the Marrakech medina very early in the morning is like entering another dimension. The hundreds of shops, usually crowded with tourists are shut and silent. The lively streets filled with pastries, tagines and mint fragrance are empty and unrecognisable. Even the cats stay away from the streets. There are only a few people walking with their eyes down towards the closest mosque for their early-morning prayer. And it’s there that we are directed too.

The meeting point

Our contact, a lady named Safia, sent us a message saying that our pick-up point is at 5 am in front of the Ben Salah Mosque, a small pinkish mosque not too far from our riad. Confident that we had passed this mosque several times in the morning, finding it again shouldn’t have been a problem. Mistake.

The darkness and loss of all the landmarks that we used to guide ourselves in the morning tricked our sense of direction. With just a wrong turn, it took us only 2 minutes to become lost in a perfectly planned medieval maze of houses, closed shops, and hidden gardens. It’s 5 am. Eventually, we managed to reach the entrance of the mosque, but then we realized that no cars could actually access that point. Is the guide meeting us there?

We must have looked like two fish out of water, while the people crowding the entrance of the mosque were probably wondering what we were doing there. Then, a light bulb went on in my head. There’s a small square not to far from the mosque – we actually arrived there from the airport. That’s must be the meeting point (I guess the lady should have made it a little clearer). It’s 5:10 am. Will they wait for us?

Race against time

I called the only number I was given for emergencies just to say that we were on our way. A man, who was clearly sleeping, replied, saying someone would collect us from near the mosque. They could just tell us before. Talking while trying to get around a simple mosque is challenging in the darkness of Marrakech, but we managed to find the square. No white car was in sight. Did they miss us?

Luckily, after a few moments of panic, I saw a white 4×4 arriving from one of the small alleys. My panic finally subsided at the idea that I would be getting on a hot air balloon soon.

The trip

You have to know that when booking a “Marrakech hot air balloon flight,” it should be very clear in your mind that the location is just metaphorical. Indeed, any reasonable person should admit that it would be slightly challenging to fly around the maze that is Marrakech, despite the incredible view it would offer. The actual place where you will take your flight is a base camp located at about 40 minutes’ drive from Marrakech. It is a deserted area that my Google Maps named as “Bourrous,” but they pass it off as Palmeriae. Of course, your journey will start in Marrakech, probably around 5 am, with you struggling to find your meeting point. That’s part of the experience, I guess.

As soon as we boarded our car, the driver tell us we have to make a stop to collect two other people on the way. Fine, if not that the two other people took a good 15 mins to get out of their hotel. The trip took actually longer than I expected. We drove dark bumpy roads in the middle of nowhere with just a few isolated mosques in sights. We reached our camp around 6 am. At this point, my joy was really hard to contain.

The Camp

As soon as we get off the car, a young British lady welcome us with a smile on her face. Later in the morning, we learnt that she left Britain to become a hot air balloon pilot and this passion took her to fly in different skies all over the world. The sparkle in her eyes when talking about her profession, especially at that time in the morning, suddenly makes me realise that when ones deeply loves her job, it doesn’t feel like a job anymore. Even at 6 am.

She took us, and the hotel guys, for a short briefing. This included signing a disclosure policy for any responsibility and enjoying a light “pre-breakfast” before our flight. I am now able to look around and realise our surrounding. It was in this moment that I saw them.

Giant, majestic hot air balloons were being displayed and inflated on a field not far from us. With a warm tea on one of my hands and the camera in the other, I can’t take my eyes off the numerous people moving quickly around that area. All the process is actually very loud and fascinating to see at the same time.

I am already trying to guess which one of those beauties will be my balloon when our driver tell us that we can go and watch the balloons closely as we wait to depart shortly. Well, that was quick! We are soon directed to one of the biggest balloons I see, the sixteen-people one. If I learnt something about hot air balloons, is that you need a very expert pilot to fly one of those. At least one that has been in the sky for over 500 hours.

The Flight

As we approach the balloon, we soon meet Quim Boet, a pilot with over 2000 hours of experience in the skies all over the world. This should be enough to reassure any nervous flyer. Jumping inside the basket with my dress is trickier than expected, but I eventually manage to sneak in without falling (yes, with me, there is always this danger). Not without noticing our pilot’s lucky charm on one of the basket’s arms.

Ascending

Our departure is slightly slower than the other balloons that are already floating at mid air, possibly because we are on one of the biggest baskets and this needs more manoeuvres. However, this makes me appreciate even more the moment we leave the ground. I was expecting my heart to race for the excitement of being up in the air.

Instead, I am strangely calm as I was used to fly on hot air balloons the whole life, trying to pay attention to every single detail of that moment. As we slowly ascend, the ground starts looking smaller and I let my hands reaching out the air out the basket. Just to prove myself there is nothing between me and the sky. At this point, only one word rolls down in my mind: freedom. I believe all the 15 other passengers aboard the basket were thinking exactly the same thing. The silence surrounding us is almost surreal (especially because everyone was handling cameras and phones). Only the burner giving power to the balloon (and a slightly unpleasant smell of gas) reminded me I wasn’t actually floating. I was flying!

The Sunrise

6.35 am circa. The first rays of light mark their appearance somewhere far behind the Atlas Mountains. Our pilot rotates the balloon to give us a better view on the show. The excitement of everyone aboard is palpable. As the sky turns into a palette of a thousand colours, I feel grateful for that moment. I’ve seen many sunrises in my life, but this is certainly one of the most spectacular ones I ever seen. Almost tearing up, I hold my husband’s hand happy to share another precious moment of my life with him. Not sure what’s happening, but this flight is making me strangely emotional.

The time up in the air goes slow and fast at the same time. Without even realising it, it’s almost one hour that we are floating somewhere in the Maroccan sky. It looks like it’s time to say goodbye to that magical dimension and go back to reality.

Descent

We are moving quite far away from the place were we originally departed, passing slowly over little villages beautifully isolated in that pinkish Moroccan countryside. My mind goes to the inhabitants of those little villages who look at the sky every morning just to see all these colourful balloons flying over their houses. Who knows if they ever desired to jump on one of those flights?

With this thought in my head, I realise we have started our descent. Many fellow balloons are already on the ground, but we are still up in the sky. Maybe our pilot have the feeling we want to stay a little more? A few moment after, he announces that a bit of wind is on our way and is better for us to adopt the landing position we learnt at the briefing for a smoother landing.

For your knowledge, the “wind” landing position expects that one put himself into a squat pose, with the back straight touching the internal part of the basket, and the hands well gripped into the outer handles. Indeed, because of the gravity+wind at the moment of landing, the basket might tip into one side abruptly. This rigid position, would avoid passengers to suffer any possible injuries in case of bad landing. What they don’t tell you, is how long you need to squat! Indeed, I thought I was loosing my legs by the time we landed (in my defence, I have really bad knees!).

As expected, we almost tipped but a team of at least 5/6 people managed to avoid this happening. The landing process was handled very smoothly! We are the last ones leaving the basket. Somehow, I still can’t realise I was up in the sky a moment before.

The Breakfast

As soon as we land, our driver reaches out to us to get back in the car. We are returning to the base camp. The sun is now high in the sky, and the warm temperatures of the Moroccan summer are already hitting strongly despite it still being early morning. Once at the camp, we see a long queue. People are waiting to get their flight certificate. When we finally get ours, I feel like I have accomplished an important mission. Nevertheless, everything still looks like a dream to me. Suddenly, I am becoming aware that our adventure is over as we walk towards the lovely breakfast setting. This is the last “step” to complete before getting back to reality. I feel sad but happy at the same time.

Breakfast is lovely, providing different types of Moroccan breads, pastries and fruit. Definitely the perfect ending for this incredible adventure. Indeed, I am not sure how many places around the world provide people with a double breakfast when doing early morning flights on hot air balloons. I am truly convinced this is due to the very welcoming manners of Moroccan people. We take our time to finish breakfast, and contemplate the fact we were up in the sky less than 20 mins before.

Ending

The return trip to Marrakech looked much shorter than when we departed. When we arrive, the medina is still very quiet. It’s not even 9 am. Moroccans are a bit like Italians, they like slow mornings as much as we do. I take the chance to take a few pictures of the quiet alleys before they come alive. The sun is high above the minarets of the old town, but that day I saw it rising from the Atlas Mountains, and it was amazing.

Hot Air Balloon in Marrakech. All you need to know

In this section, you will find all you need to know about booking a hot air balloon flight in Marrakech. This include which companies are providing the service, costs and safety of the flight.

Where hot air balloons fly in Morocco?

Hot air balloons flight are available in Morocco. However, if you are visiting the country specifically for trying this experience, you should be aware that flights are available only in certain parts of the country. At the moment, hot air balloon flights are available only in Marrakech (in the Palmeriae area) in the Agafay Desert and Agadir (on request). Therefore, if you visit the northern part of the country (Fes, Tangier, Chefchaouen), you can’t book a hot air flight in that area.

How do I decide which company I should fly with?

There are a large number of companies offering hot air balloon flights in Marrakech. Moreover, online tour agencies (e.g. Viator, GetYourGuide) promote balloon flight tours as third-party providers. People actually book with them without knowing what company is actually providing the service. This can be slightly confusing as booking through a third party doesn’t always guarantee a great service, and the multitude of suppliers makes making a decision even more difficult. Which provider is the best? Is it safe? Which is the cheapest?

So, how do you decide which company you should fly with? While I can’t tell you which company is the best for your needs, I can explain why we decided to go with Ciel d’Afrique (paragraph below) and what criteria you should use to book your flight.

What criteria should I use to book my flight?

Each person is different and has different needs. This will largely influence your decision about which company you should book your flight with. However, there are some factors you should consider before booking. Here you will find a small list here.

• Are you afraid of heights? Check what altitude your flight will reach as this depends on the company and the type of balloon used (smaller balloons fly at lower altitudes than bigger ones)
• Are you a lazy morning person? Than maybe you should reconsider booking as you’ll need to wake up at 4 am for a hot air balloon flight. Some companies provide later flights, so you should carefully check about timings.
• Check if your hotel/riad is part of the list of pick-up available in the morning
• Do you have a limited budget? Hot air balloon flights are infamously expensive. Therefore, if you have a very limited budget you might not be able to afford one.
• Are you afraid of accidents? Check if the company has a history of accidents (even small ones).
• Is the company providing breakfast/refreshments before or after the flight?
• Is the a/r transfer to your riad/hotel included in the total cost?
• What experience has my pilot? Pilots with less than 300 hours flight experience can’t fly larger balloons. This will limit your possibility of get high in the sky. I saw a lot of other balloons from other nearby companies flying lower than us.
• What place you would like to fly? As Ciel d’Afrique is the only company flying in the Agafay Desert.

What companies provide hot air balloon flights in Morocco?

Here is a small list of hot air balloon flights providers in Morocco. Please note this list is not exhaustive and other providers might be available. The Historian Traveller is not responsible for the safety and service quality of the suppliers in the list.

• Ciel d’Afrique
• Marrakech by Air
• Marrakech by Sky
• Adventure Balloon Marrakech
• Ballooning
• Maroc Montgolfière
• Maroccan Sky Ballooning
• Atlas Montgolfière 

Why we booked with Ciel d’Afrique

I first learnt of Ciel d’Afrique from a travel newspaper I was reading a few months before our trip. The idea of flying on a hot air balloon was already in my mind, but until that moment I didn’t put in action my willingness to fly. I discussed this with Alessio and we were both excited at the idea of this adventure. So, after a careful research comparing different providers, I realised that Ciel d’Afrique was the company who was giving us more reassurance.

They have 33 years of experience in flying balloons in Morocco, with very expert pilots and a large crew. Flights are planned according to their communications with the airport tower control. They also provide breakfast and, most importantly return transport to accommodations. Moreover, they have a website with many information about the flight and the schedule for the day. They had everything we were searching for. So, I was very happy when Daniel, the company manager, provided us with a media rate for our flight.

How do I book a hot air balloon flight in Morocco?

Bookings and payments depend largely from the company you are booking with. Some companies just take the reservations and then accept payments on the day. Some others wants the payment in advance. With certain companies you can even book and pay online.

With Ciel d’Afrique we booked and confirmed via email. Safja was very kind and organised everything for us from the collection of the payment to our pick up.

We paid in cash the day before. A representative of the company came to our riad, collected the payment and gave us the receipt.

Always double check the policy in case of weather-related cancellations.

How much is a hot air balloon ride in Marrakesh?

Hot air balloon flights are famous to be very expensive. This because balloons need a lot of maintenance and serious companies have a lot of people involved to make one single flight successful. From the driver that will pick you up at your accommodation to the team who gives radio updates while flying to the pilot. Each single flight requires a seamless team working effort behind the scenes that sometimes is not visible from tourists eyes.

Prices for a single flight range from 250$ (200 £) circa per person to 500$ (400 £) circa per person, depending on the company. Most of the flights are shared with other passengers and VIP flights (private) have a much higher price depending if they include breakfast or service aboard.

Is a hot air balloon in Marrakech worth it?

Considering our experience, yes! It is 100% worth the money spent. It’s a once in a lifetime experience and it doesn’t happen every day to fly beside the Atlas Mountains!

How long does a hot air balloon ride last?

The hot air balloon ride usually last from 40 to 60 mins. This depends on the winds that may change the duration of the flight. The whole experience (from the pick-up time to return) usually last 4-5 hours.

It is safe to fly with a hot air balloon?

Hot air balloons are considered very safe to travel. Indeed, according to the FAA’s Aviation Accident Database, hot air ballooning is the safest form of all air travel and is rarely involved in aviation crashes. Moreover, statistic demonstrate that flying on a hot air balloon is 50 time safer than driving a car.

Pilot errors are extremely rare and over 93% of the past accidents was due to wind-related conditions. Indeed, strong winds could pose potential hazards when flying with a hot air balloon. That’s why it’s important to fly with a renewed, experienced company. Trusted companies check wind conditions directly with the airport tower control (in this case Marrakech airport) and decide not to fly in case of dangerous conditions.

Weather conditions may change suddenly also during a flight. Therefore, serious companies will provide you a short training on what position to adotp to land safely in case of strong winds.

What is the best season to get on a hot air balloon?

Because hot air balloon flights are strongly influenced by weather conditions, spring and summer are usually the best seasons for flying. However, Morocco has usually a mild autumn season. Therefore, unless in case of strong winds, flying should be safe also between September and October. Winter flights are happening too, but the likelihood of cancellation is much higher compared to other seasons. Moreover, the cold weather might not be ideal to enjoy a flight.

What should I wear for a hot air balloon flight?

There is not a specific dress code to board a hot air balloon. This depends much on the season you are flying and how comfortable you are with certain clothes. As you will start your day very early (the pick-up is usually at 5 am), temperatures might be fresher than during the day. Therefore I recommend to have a light jacket or wearing layers.

We fled in June and I preferred to wear a light jacket. My husband was fine with short sleeves. However, if you are flying in colder months, some layers will be useful when going up! Moreover, you should take in account that you will need to climb the basket in order to enter inside. Therefore, you might want to wear some comfy trousers or a large dress. You can see what both me and my husband were wearing in the picture above (my hat was just for photo purposes, I didn’t wear it the whole flight).

Tips for a smoother hot air balloon flight adventure

Forecasting what your adventure might be might be difficult, but there are some tips I can give you for a smoother journey.

• Make sure to plan plan your hot air balloon flight well ahead. As you have learnt from this blog, each basket has a limited number of spaces. So you risk not finding one for your dates.
• Always double check the cancellation policy and the policy regarding weather-related cancellations. Some companies doesn’t refund your money or allow you to re-book your trip.
• Have a plan B in case your flight gets cancelled because of the weather.
• Double check your meeting point. As you read from our experience, we’ve been given a mosque as a meeting point, but the car picked-up us from a square nearby. It would be better to check in person the meeting point the day before your trip. Just to be sure
• Ensure you have all the contacts you need in case of emergency/delays.
• Check if your flight price is inclusive of transfer. Some companies charges additional fees.
• If you think you are scared of height or might panic during the flight, speak with one of the pilots or an experienced member of the staff.
• Wear comfortable clothes.
• Be relaxed and enjoy your trip!

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