The World’s Most Extraordinary Casino Destinations 2026: Africa and the Middle East

This is the sixth part of the series, and the last before Australia and New Zealand.

Only six destinations, but they cover an extreme range: South African bush, a wild shoreline, two World Heritage cities and a coral reef.

Two of them — Sun City and the Wild Coast — are resorts rather than towns, so their links go straight to the hotel instead of to a search.

Every other destination carries a search button showing every hotel we hold there.

Sun City is one of the strangest and most impressive destinations on this list: an enormous resort complex built in the South African bush, about two hours from Johannesburg, in a place where there was no obvious reason to build anything.

It holds hotels, golf courses, and the Valley of Waves — a water park with an artificial wave pool set inside a landscape of rocks and simulated tropical planting. All of it is deliberately excessive, and that is part of the appeal.

But the real reason to come is what lies beyond the fence. Sun City adjoins the Pilanesberg reserve, a large park sitting inside the crater of an extinct volcano and holding the Big Five. You can go out on safari in the morning and be back at the pool in the afternoon.

It is one of the very few places on earth where "resort with a casino" and "safari" happen on the same day. See Sun City Resort (opens in a new tab).

The Wild Coast is the stretch of shore between East London and Durban, and its name is descriptive rather than promotional. It is open to the Indian Ocean, with cliffs, bays, rivers emptying into the sea and green hills running down to the water.

It is the least touristed area on this list. There is no hotel strip and no promenade; there are villages, huts scattered across the hills, and a long coastal walking route that is among the finest in Africa.

The resort here sits directly on the shoreline, beside the mouth of the Mzamba river, and is close to the only thing of that scale in the area. That makes it a convenient base for anyone who wants the landscape without giving up comfort.

If you are after somewhere quiet and thoroughly un-urban, this is the right entry on the list. See Wild Coast Sun (opens in a new tab).

El Jadida is an Atlantic coastal town south of Casablanca, and most visitors to Morocco simply drive past it. That is a shame, because it holds something found nowhere else in the country.

Its fortified town was built by the Portuguese in the sixteenth century and is recognised as a World Heritage site. Inside it is the underground cistern — a stone hall of columns where a thin layer of water reflects the light falling through an opening in the ceiling. It is one of the most striking sights in Morocco.

Around it run long Atlantic beaches, and a large resort with golf, a spa and a casino overlooks the shore. It is a rare combination of a genuine historic site and modern leisure in the same place.

Casablanca is about ninety minutes north. Search hotels in El Jadida (opens in a new tab).

Marrakech is one of those cities it is hard to be indifferent about. The medina — the old city — is a maze of lanes, souks and riads that look from outside like blank walls and from inside like courtyards with fountains.

The central square, Jemaa el-Fnaa, changes character completely between day and night: in the morning it is a square, and in the evening it becomes a field of food stalls, storytellers and musicians. It is recognised as intangible cultural heritage.

And what most people do not expect is the backdrop. The High Atlas rises just beyond the city, and in winter it is entirely covered in snow — so you can see snow peaks from a rooftop in a desert city. They are also an hour away, with villages and valleys.

There are large hotels in Marrakech that include casinos, and in a city like this they are an entirely marginal detail. Search hotels in Marrakech (opens in a new tab).

Tangier sits exactly where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic, and from its shore you can see Spain. The strait is very narrow, and the ferry crosses it in an hour.

That position shaped its entire history. For decades in the twentieth century it was an international zone under joint administration, which drew writers, artists and spies, and left it with cafés and hotels that have histories of their own.

The city has been through a major renewal over the last decade: a new port, a rebuilt corniche, and a high-speed train connecting it to Rabat and Casablanca in two and a half hours. The old medina remains, but around it is an entirely modern city.

Large hotels in the city include casinos, alongside beaches on both seas. Search hotels in Tangier (opens in a new tab).

Sharm El Sheikh may offer the best ratio of effort to result on this list, at least from the eastern Mediterranean: a very short flight, and beneath the surface one of the finest reefs in the world.

The Red Sea is the reason. The reef begins very close to shore — in places you can walk in from the beach and be over it within minutes — and the water is clear almost all year. Even a snorkeller sees reefs full of fish.

Ras Muhammad, at the southern tip of the peninsula, is a marine national park and one of the best known dive sites in the world. To the north lies the Strait of Tiran with further reefs.

Large resorts run along the coast, some with casinos, and they are the backdrop to days spent mostly in the water. Search hotels in Sharm El Sheikh (opens in a new tab).