If you asked me to name the single stretch of North Brittany I would sail back to first, it would be this one. The Ile de Brehat sits at the mouth of the Trieux river like a gatekeeper, a low scatter of pink granite, pines and flowers with no cars and a Mediterranean micro-climate, and behind it the Trieux winds inland between wooded banks to the handsome little town of Lezardrieux. It is the start of the Pink Granite Coast and, to my mind, its loveliest corner. It also runs some of the strongest tides on the coast, so it is a place that rewards careful pilotage and punishes the casual.
The lie of the land
Brehat marks the eastern end of the Cote de Granit Rose. The pink granite coast is generally reckoned to begin right here at the island and run west to Trebeurden, and Brehat shows you why: the rock is the colour of weathered terracotta, piled into rounded boulders, and the whole archipelago glows in evening light.
The Trieux river runs roughly south from the sea past Lezardrieux, and the approaches to both the island and the river thread between drying rocks and beacons. This is classic Breton transit pilotage, where you keep marks in line rather than simply following a buoyed channel, and where the tide can set you sideways onto the stones if you are not watching your cross-track.
The tide here is not to be underestimated
The Brehat archipelago has one of the largest tidal ranges on the French coast, reckoned second only to the Mont Saint-Malo area. On a big coefficient the water can fall as much as fourteen metres on the seaward side in six hours, and all that volume has to find its way around the island and into the rivers. The result is strong streams, especially across the entrances to the channels and around the island itself.
That has two practical consequences. First, the streams run fast enough across the channel entrances that accurate navigation matters, and your aim should be to arrive when the stream is not at its fiercest. Local advice is to be at the entrance buoys at least an hour before high water on a first visit, working in with the last of the flood when the water is high and the rocks are covered. Second, the streams will swing an anchored boat hard, so wherever you bring up, allow for the boat to lie to the tide and turn through the swing as it changes.
Where to lie at Brehat
For boats under about ten metres there are visitor buoys at the entrance to La Corderie, the long inlet on the west side of the island. Reports vary between six and nine green visitor buoys, so do not count on a specific number being free in high season, and have a plan B. For boats over ten metres the buoys are not an option, and the alternative is to anchor off, in front of La Corderie and the Guerzido beach.
Wherever you anchor around Brehat, the holding is variable and the currents are strong. La Chambre, on the south-east side, is a pretty anchorage in settled weather, but the holding there is not brilliant and I would not leave the boat unattended in it. Be careful, too, not to foul the moorings used by the Vedettes de Brehat, the passenger ferries that run constantly to the island and have priority. My own habit at Brehat is to treat it as a settled-weather, attended anchorage only, and to retreat up the Trieux to Lezardrieux if there is any weather about.
Up the Trieux to Lezardrieux
When the wind gets up, or when you simply want the security of a pontoon, the Trieux is the answer. Lezardrieux is a busy marina a couple of miles up the river, and it is one of the favoured first landfalls from Guernsey, an easy day sail away across the bay.
The marina has tidal pontoons in the river that you can reach at any state of the tide, plus a set of pontoons behind a tidal sill that retains around two metres of water. Because the river pontoons are afloat throughout the tide, you are not tied to a lock window the way you are at Saint-Malo, though the sensible advice is to come alongside near high or low water rather than at mid-tide when the stream is running hardest past the pontoons.
Coming up the river there are speed limits to observe: three knots upriver of the Les Perdrix beacon, and five knots from the Vieille de Bodic tower lower down. The great landmark is the Pont de Lezardrieux, the suspension bridge that crosses the river, which is a listed French national monument and a fine sight as you motor under it. The town itself is a pleasant Breton village with the usual marina facilities, restaurants and enough shops for provisions, and the wooded banks of the Trieux make the trip up and down the river a pleasure in its own right.
A plan for a few days
I would give this corner three or four days rather than treating it as a quick stop. Arrive on a settled forecast, pick up a buoy or anchor off La Corderie, and spend a day walking Brehat, which you can cross on foot in under an hour and which has a famous run of gardens, a lighthouse and cafes. Take the dinghy ashore at the slip and let the island work its slow magic.
When you want a secure night, run up to Lezardrieux, lie on the pontoons, and explore the Trieux by dinghy at high water, poking into the creeks while there is water in them. The river is at its best near the top of the tide when the mudbanks are covered and the woods come right down to the water.
How it fits the wider coast
Brehat and the Trieux sit at the eastern end of the granite coast, which makes them a natural first or last stop on a tour of it. If you are working the whole region, our North Brittany cruising guide lays out the tides and the harbours from the western abers all the way to Saint-Malo, and explains why a place like this needs days rather than hours.
To the east lies Saint-Malo, the great walled city and the obvious place to change crew or leave the boat, and our Saint-Malo marina guide covers the locks and the enormous tides there. If you have arrived in Brittany from the west and want to understand the tidal gates that guard the corner towards Biscay, our Raz de Sein passage planning guide explains how to time them.
Last word
Brehat and the Trieux are the kind of place that turns a cruising visitor into a returning one. The island has no traffic and a southern softness to its light, the river offers shelter and a handsome town, and the whole thing is wrapped in some of the most striking pink granite scenery in Europe. The price of admission is respect for the tide, accurate pilotage through the rocks, and the patience to arrive at the right state of the water. Pay it, and you get one of the finest landfalls in France.
