Anchorage

Conche des Baleines

Shelter: E, SW, S, SE
Seabed: sand
Anchoring: Allowed

Sand-bottomed bay on the northwest tip of the Île de Ré, around 40 moorings, sheltered from E, SE, S and SW winds.

Mooring buoys
Visitor buoys
Beach

Guide

Approach and anchoring

Approach from the north keeping clear of the Plateau de Rochebonne and the Baleines reef, marked by the Phare des Baleines. Sound in on sand, holding is good. The bay is open to N and NW winds.

Practical

Around 40 mooring positions in the bay. Ars-en-Ré, Bassin de la Criée lies 2.3 NM southeast and Bassin de la Prée 2.5 NM southeast for a harbour refuge at high water.

Ashore

The Phare des Baleines, commissioned in 1854 and rising 57 m, stands at the northern end of the beach with 257 steps to the lamp room. The Forêt domaniale des Combes à l'Eau runs behind the dunes with marked cycle paths linking Les Portes-en-Ré and Ars-en-Ré, the latter listed among the Plus Beaux Villages de France.

History

The bay takes its name from the whales once regularly stranded on the shore. The current lighthouse, built in 1854 under Napoléon III, replaced an earlier tower of 1682 commissioned by Colbert and still visible beside it.