Anchorage

Anse de la Garoupe

3.1FranceRiviera · Alpes-Maritimes

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Shelter: NW, W, SW, S
Seabed: sand, rock, algae
Anchoring: Allowed

Cove on the east side of Cap d'Antibes, below the Garoupe lighthouse and the sanctuary of Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Port.

Pontoon
Beach
Seagrass

Guide

Approach and anchoring

Open anchorage protected from W, SW, NW and S, exposed from the east. Anchor between the two rows of yellow buoys on clear sand in 5 to 10 metres, good holding, as the inshore sand is buoyed off and anchoring on the Posidonia is regulated within the Natura 2000 zone Baie et Cap d'Antibes. Watch for an abandoned rusty chain to one side of the entrance and an unmarked ground chain through the weed near the swimming buoys. Even without wind the bay rolls from the wash of yachts passing offshore, and the beach restaurants can be loud into the night, worst at weekends and in season.

Practical

No services on site, and landing is awkward. The beach is closed to dinghies and the beach-club tender charges for shore transfers, around 20 euros a drop and 10 euros a person for a pick-up in August, so many crews land instead at Port du Croûton 0.8 NM to the W or Port de la Salis 0.8 NM to the N, which also have water, fuel and shelter.

Ashore

Plage de la Garoupe runs along the cove. A coastal path, the Sentier de Tirepoil, links the anchorage to the Villa Eilenroc and the Cap d'Antibes gardens, about 1 NM on foot. The Phare de la Garoupe and the chapel of Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Port stand 500 m inland on the highest point of the cape, at 73 m.

History

The Garoupe chapel has served as a votive sanctuary for Mediterranean sailors since the Middle Ages. The beach became a summer destination for the American expatriate set in the 1920s around Gerald and Sara Murphy, who hosted F. Scott Fitzgerald and Pablo Picasso at the neighbouring Villa America.