Harbour

Sauzon

Maximum length: 49 ft
VHF channel: 9
Maximum draught: 6 ft

Drying harbour on the north-west coast of Belle-Île-en-Mer, at the mouth of a narrow ria opening onto the Quiberon bay.

Guide

Approach and anchoring

Approach from the NE between Pointe du Cardinal and Pointe du Vieux Château, leaving the Les Poulains reef well to the north. Entrance channel marked by green and red beacons. Harbour dries at low water, access roughly from HW minus 2h to HW plus 2h for a 1.5 m draught. VHF 9.

Practical

About 450 places on fore-and-aft trots in the ria, on buoys off the entrance, or drying alongside in the inner harbour. The buoys carry no water or electricity and cost roughly 22 to 41 euros a night by size. Showers are chargeable at about 2.30 euros and the roadstead service around 5 euros; the public toilets are in poor condition, though the private showers are clean. The harbour team helps with the buoys when on duty but can be hard to raise on VHF. Fuel at Le Palais, 3.1 NM SE. Bakery, grocery, fishmonger and several restaurants on the quay.

Ashore

The dinghy pontoon has been removed, so landing is by the old ladders, whose feet are slippery with oysters. The crêperie Les Embruns and the Abri Côtier are on the quay, and in August the village holds a port festival with concerts and fireworks fired from the breakwater. The GR 340 leaves the harbour in both directions, reaching the Pointe des Poulains and its Sarah Bernhardt fort in 4 km to the NW. Plage de Donnant, a surf beach, lies 3 km west. A daily shuttle bus runs to Le Palais.

History

Former tuna fishing port active from the 19th century, Sauzon kept its colourful houses lined along the ria after the fishery declined in the 1950s. The Pointe des Poulains lighthouse, built in 1868, guards the western approach.