The short answer
Yes, as a long full day. Essaouira is about 190 km west of Marrakech, about 2 hours 45 minutes each way by car, and a day trip gives you around four and a half hours in town for the medina, the fishing port and the sea ramparts. The town rewards an overnight if you can spare one.
In more detail
Our Essaouira day leaves at 08:30, stops at a women's argan cooperative on the way, and reaches the coast around 11:30. You have free time in the walled medina, lunch at the harbour if you want it, and a walk on the Skala ramparts, then leave at 16:00 and are back at your riad in the evening.
That is a fair taste, not the whole town. Essaouira is at its best in the soft evening light once the day visitors leave, and a night there turns a rushed visit into a proper coastal break.
If you have a free day and no plans to move on, the day trip works well. If you are heading south anyway, a one-way transfer with a night in Essaouira and onward to Agadir is often the better plan.
Good to know
- Take a windproof layer; Essaouira is breezy all year.
- Bring cash for the harbour fish lunch and the souks.
- In summer it is cooler on the coast than in Marrakech, which makes it a good hot-weather escape.