Anchorage

Fond de Baleta

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

Anchorage of about 20 berths in the Anse de Baleta, immediately SE of Collioure on the Côte Vermeille, Pyrénées-Orientales.

Mooring buoys
Visitor buoys

Guide

Approach and anchoring

Approach from the E on sandy seabed mixed with rock patches. Avoid the rocks off Pointe de Baleta on the north shore. Sheltered from the western and southern quarters, from NW round through W and SW to S, and open to the N, NE, E and SE. One crew rode out a 15 to 20 knot southerly here with calm water inside. Holding is fair in sand and poor on rock. The tramontane still funnels down from the NW. Buoys are laid seasonally and lifted for the winter, when boats anchor on sand in about 4 metres.

Practical

A buoy runs to about 45 euros for a 7 metre boat in June. No services at the anchorage. Port de Collioure at 0.1 NM NE offers water and a handful of visitor berths managed by the capitainerie. Port-Vendres at 1 NM SE has fuel, 250 berths and all shops.

Ashore

Collioure old town at 300 m by foot around the headland, with the Château Royal and the Notre-Dame-des-Anges bell tower used as a lighthouse since 1685. Sentier du littoral runs south to Port-Vendres along the cliffs, 3 km.

History

Collioure served as the main port of the Kings of Majorca in the 13th and 14th centuries. The bay and town were painted by Matisse and Derain in the summer of 1905, marking the birth of Fauvism.