Anchorage

Crique

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

Small cove on the Cote Vermeille between Banyuls-sur-Mer and Cerbere, last stretch of rocky coast before the Spanish border in the Pyrenees-Orientales.

Guide

Approach and anchoring

Close-in anchorage on sand between rock outcrops. Sound carefully and drop on a clear sand patch. Shelter from NE and E, open to W, SW and S. The tramontane blows hard off the land and the marin from the SE builds a quick sea. Banyuls-sur-Mer 1.3 nm NW, Port de Cerbere 1.7 nm S.

Practical

Forain cove with no services. Water, fuel and provisioning at Banyuls-sur-Mer marina. Part of the Reserve naturelle marine de Cerbere-Banyuls, so check local anchoring zones on the prefecture maritime notices.

Ashore

The GR 10 and the sentier du littoral run along the cliffs between Banyuls and Cerbere. Banyuls is the home of the Banyuls AOC fortified wine, with terraced schist vineyards rising steeply from the sea. The Laboratoire Arago aquarium in Banyuls is 1.3 nm away by sea.

History

The coast was mapped in detail by the naturalist Henri de Lacaze-Duthiers, who founded the Laboratoire Arago in Banyuls in 1882 and pushed for the creation of the first marine reserve in metropolitan France, established here in 1974.