Port

Dives - Cabourg - Houlgate

4.1DIVES-SUR-MER, FranceCôte Fleurie and Alabaster Coast

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Maximum length: 49 ft
VHF channel: 9
Maximum draught: 8 ft

Marina of 560 berths at the mouth of the Dives river in Calvados, serving the three seaside towns of Dives-sur-Mer, Cabourg and Houlgate on the Côte Fleurie.

Guide

Approach and anchoring

Approach from the Baie de Seine between the red and green buoys of the Dives channel, which shifts with the sandbanks and is re-surveyed each season. The channel buoys are unlit, so time the approach for daylight. Entry restricted to a window of HW minus 2h 30 to HW plus 2h. The lock into Port-Guillaume opens on the rising tide; check the gate opening hours with the harbour office. Maximum draught 2.5 metres. Strong ebb stream in the channel. VHF 9.

Practical

560 berths in the floating basin at Port-Guillaume, Dives side. Water, electricity on pontoons, diesel at the fuel berth, 27 tonne travel-lift. Showers, laundry, chandler. The visitor pontoons shoal to about 1.35 m at low water springs and boats settle into soft mud that holds them upright, so ask the office for a deeper berth if that is a concern. Reckon around 52 euros a night for a 13 m boat. Shops in Dives-sur-Mer at 600 metres, including a Lidl and a fish market; Cabourg seafront and casino at 1,5 km across the footbridge.

Ashore

Grand Hôtel de Cabourg on the promenade Marcel Proust at 1,8 km, setting of Proust's Balbec in In Search of Lost Time. Halles de Dives timber market hall from the fifteenth century at 500 metres. Houlgate belle époque villas reached by the coast road at 4 km. Plage de Cabourg sandy foreshore at 1,2 km.

History

William the Conqueror assembled his invasion fleet at the mouth of the Dives in 1066 before sailing for Hastings, a fact commemorated by the bronze plaque listing the companions of William in the Dives church. Cabourg was laid out as a resort in 1853 on a fan of radial avenues centred on the Grand Hôtel.

Key facts

Type: Harbour
Coordinates: 49.29360, -0.09823 (49°17.62'N 0°5.89'W)
Town: DIVES-SUR-MER
Country: France
Maximum draught: 8 ft
Maximum length: 49 ft
VHF channel: 9
Phone: +33 2 31 24 48 00
Boaters' rating: 4.1/5
Updated: October 15, 2026

Getting there

Dives - Cabourg - Houlgate lies at 49°17.62'N 0°5.89'W, that is 49.29360, -0.09823 in decimal degrees. Call the harbour on VHF channel 9 before entering.

Directions +33 2 31 24 48 00VHF 9