Anchorage

Anse de l'Espalmador

Shelter: N, NE, E, SE
Seabed: sand, rock, algae
Anchoring: Allowed

Small cove on the south side of the Cap Ferrat peninsula, between Villefranche-sur-Mer and Beaulieu-sur-Mer, Alpes-Maritimes.

Pontoon
Beach
Seagrass

Guide

Approach and anchoring

Approach from the south clear of the Cap Ferrat headlands. The bottom is weed over rock and boulders with only scattered sand patches, hard to spot and slow to hook, so dragging is common in fresh winds and a trip line is wise; an old chain lies about 300 m off the Pointe de Rubé. Shelter from N through E to SE, but any southerly swell rolls in and is amplified in the bay, and gusts fall off the hills even in a light forecast. Rental buoys sit in the north and west for boats up to about 12 m, and the marked no-anchoring zones are enforced. The rade de Villefranche lies immediately NW, deep right up to the shore.

Practical

No facilities in the cove. Port de la Santé at Villefranche sits 0.5 NM NW, Port des Fourmis at Beaulieu 0.5 NM NE, both with berths, water and fuel.

Ashore

Small private piers ring the cove, so land a dinghy at the town dinghy dock in Port de la Santé at Villefranche or haul out on the pebble Plage de Grasseuil, about a mile on foot from Villefranche. Beaulieu has a large Super U and a Mr Bricolage. Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild and Villa Kerylos can both be visited, and a footpath rounds the Pointe de Saint-Hospice.