Anchorage

Anse de Peyrefite

Shelter: NW, W, SW
Seabed: rock
Anchoring: Forbidden

Small cove on the Vermilion Coast between Banyuls and Cerbère, with 8 visitor buoys laid inside the Cerbère-Banyuls marine nature reserve.

Water
Mooring buoys
Visitor buoys
Beach

Guide

Approach and anchoring

Approach from the E, keeping clear of the rocky shore on both headlands. Rocky bottom, and inside the reserve both anchoring and overnight mooring are forbidden: pick up a buoy for daytime use only, keeping clear of the marked snorkelling area, and wardens will move boats on. Shelter from NW through SW, exposed to E and S swells. Cerbère is 1.2 NM to the S and Banyuls-sur-Mer 1.7 NM to the NW.

Practical

A handful of mooring buoys managed by the reserve, free but for daytime use only, so arrive early to find one clear. Water point ashore at the underwater trail base. No fuel, no shops on site.

Ashore

Start of the Sentier sous-marin de Peyrefite, a marked snorkelling trail run by the Réserve Naturelle Marine de Cerbère-Banyuls, with a small snack kiosk on the beach. GR 10 coastal path passes above the cove, with a 2 km walk to Cerbère village and its train station.

History

The Cerbère-Banyuls reserve was created in 1974 and was the first marine reserve established in metropolitan France. It covers 650 hectares along 6.5 km of coast.