Harbour

Aigues Mortes

4.9Aigues-Mortes, FranceLanguedoc-Roussillon

Maximum length: 59 ft
VHF channel: 9
Maximum draught: 5 ft

Inland port of 125 berths on the Canal du Rhône à Sète at Aigues-Mortes, at the foot of the medieval ramparts, in Occitanie.

Guide

Approach and anchoring

Access from the sea via the Grau-du-Roi channel then the Canal du Rhône à Sète, roughly 3 nautical miles of inland waterway. No tidal constraint once in the canal. Maximum draught 1.6 m. Air draught limited by fixed bridges on the canal, check height before entry. VHF channel 9. Visitor berths at the entrance lie bow or stern to the quay with a pick-up buoy; a move onto the inner permanent berths can be requested. The canal current makes mooring awkward, and hire boats handling it poorly are a hazard alongside.

Practical

125 berths on pontoons with water and electricity. Fuel berth on site. Sanitary block with showers. Around 25 euros a night for a 10 m boat including water and power. The capitainerie is not always quick to answer on VHF or telephone. Market on Wednesday and Sunday morning on the place Saint-Louis at 300 m from the quays.

Ashore

Ramparts of Aigues-Mortes, built by Louis IX and completed in 1300, at 200 m. Tour de Constance, former prison of Protestant women after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, inside the ramparts. Restaurants within the walls, among them the Bistrot Paiou. Salin d'Aigues-Mortes, producer of fleur de sel since the Middle Ages, at 2 km, guided tours by small train.

History

Aigues-Mortes was founded by Louis IX in the 1240s as the only royal port on the Mediterranean coast of the Kingdom of France. The king departed from here on the Seventh Crusade in 1248 and the Eighth Crusade in 1270. The town silted up from the 14th century and lost its seaport role to Sète.