Marrakech
The Kik Plateau near Marrakech: What to Know Before You Go
September 4, 2026 · 7 min read
Where the Kik Plateau actually is, why it is the launch area for paragliding near Marrakech, why it is not the Agafay desert, and how travellers staying in the city get there.
Where the Kik Plateau is
The Kik Plateau — plateau du Kik in French — is the broad stretch of open high ground south-west of Marrakech, on the side of the city where the plain begins to lift towards the High Atlas. It is not a village or a monument, which is why most Marrakech guidebooks skip it: it is a landscape, an open tableland with long views in two directions.
That is exactly what makes it useful. Standing on the plateau you have the High Atlas on one side and the dry, pale country that runs towards the Agafay area on the other, with the Haouz plain and Marrakech behind you.
We deliberately do not publish an altitude figure or a driving time for the plateau. We have not verified either to a standard we would put in print, and an invented number on a page like this is how travellers end up planning a day around something that is not true.
The Kik Plateau is not the Agafay desert
This is the single most common mix-up we correct on WhatsApp. Agafay is the stony, chalk-hilled area south-west of Marrakech that camps, camel rides and desert dinners are built around. The Kik Plateau is separate high ground on the same side of the city, further towards the mountains.
You can see across towards the Agafay side from the plateau, and from the air the two read as one landscape — which is probably where the confusion starts. On the ground they are two different places, and a day that includes both is two stages with a drive between them, not one location with two names.
Why people go: this is the paragliding launch area
Almost everyone who searches for the Kik Plateau is really searching for one thing: flying. Paragliding near Marrakech is organised around this plateau because it offers what a wing needs — open slopes to launch from, room to land, and a horizon of mountains rather than city.
Our tandem flights launch here. You fly attached to a pilot in front of the harness, so no experience of your own is needed, and you are in the air for around 20 minutes depending on the wind and thermals on the day.
Flying is weather-led. The pilot reads the wind and the thermals on site and makes the call on the day; if a safe launch is not possible we move the window or cancel, and you do not pay for a flight that did not happen.
Getting there from Marrakech
There is no practical public transport to the plateau for a visitor, and no reason to arrive without a plan for the return leg. If you are flying with us, round-trip transport from your hotel or riad in Marrakech is included in the price and arranged for your booking rather than run as a shared shuttle — pickup, drive, fly, drive back.
If you are not flying and simply want to see the plateau, treat it as a drive with a driver rather than a walk-up destination, and combine it with something else on the same side of the city.
What to bring
Open ground, wind and sun. Closed shoes with grip, a windproof layer (it is noticeably cooler in the air than on the ground), sunglasses and sunscreen. If you want photographs, bring a camera or a phone with a secure strap — anything loose is a hazard on a launch slope.
Frequently asked questions
- Where is the Kik Plateau?
- It is the open high ground south-west of Marrakech, on the side of the city where the plain lifts towards the High Atlas. We do not publish an altitude or a driving time because we have not verified either.
- Is the Kik Plateau in the Agafay desert?
- No. Agafay is a separate stony area on the same side of Marrakech. You look across towards it from the plateau and from the air, but they are two different places.
- Where can you go paragliding near Marrakech?
- Flying near Marrakech is organised around the Kik Plateau, and that is where our tandem flights launch from.
- Is transport from Marrakech included?
- On our tandem paragliding flight, yes — round-trip transport from your Marrakech hotel or riad is included and arranged for your booking.
- What happens if flying conditions are unsuitable?
- We do not fly. The pilot decides on site; we either move the flight to another window or cancel it, and you do not pay for a flight that did not happen.
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