Harbour

Talais

Maximum length: 29 ft
Maximum draught: 3 ft

Tidal creek port on the Gironde estuary at Talais, on the Medoc bank north of Saint-Vivien-de-Medoc.

Guide

Approach and anchoring

Reached by a marked channel cut through the mudflats of the Gironde and followed about 2 km to the port itself. The harbour dries and boats take the ground on mud, so it suits shallow-draught or twin-keel craft, with a wooden slipway. Maximum draught 1 m at entrance, access limited to HW plus or minus 2 hours. Saint-Vivien-de-Medoc lies 3.1 NM to the SE, Port Medoc 3.4 NM to the N at the mouth of the estuary.

Practical

Small port of around twenty boats, used mainly by local fishing craft and shallow-draught yachts. Basic services with picnic tables ashore, hamlet of Talais with no supermarket, nearest shops at Soulac-sur-Mer or Saint-Vivien.

Ashore

Direct-from-producer oysters are sold at the port, and two restaurants open in summer among the fishermen's huts. Vineyards of the Medoc AOC run behind the port, with domains open for tasting along the D1215. Phare de Cordouan, the oldest working lighthouse in France, lies about 7 NM offshore and is visible from the estuary on clear days.