Harbour

Ouistrahem

3.3Ouistreham, FranceCôte Fleurie and Alabaster Coast

Maximum length: 15 m
VHF channel: 12
Maximum draught: 2 m

Tidal harbour at the mouth of the Canal de Caen à la mer in Calvados, Normandy, combining a marina basin, a ferry terminal and the lock giving access to Caen 15 kilometres inland.

Guide

Approach and anchoring

Approach from the Baie de Seine through the buoyed channel between the piers, visible from several miles offshore. Lock opens around high water, with timings published daily by the Port de Caen-Ouistreham. VHF 12 for the lock and 74 for the marina. Strong cross tides in the approach channel at half tide. Maximum draught 2 metres inside the outer basin.

Practical

Around 10 visitor berths on pontoons in the avant-port, with the main marina of Ouistreham Riva-Bella offering 650 berths 0.4 nautical miles south. Water, electricity, diesel and petrol at the fuel pontoon. Showers, laundry, capitainerie open daily. Supermarket, bakeries and restaurants within 300 metres on Avenue de la Mer.

Ashore

Sword Beach, the easternmost of the D-Day landing beaches, runs along the seafront 500 metres north-west, with the Musée du Mur de l'Atlantique inside the former German command bunker at 400 metres. Pegasus Bridge and its memorial museum at Bénouville lie 6 km south along the canal. Caen town centre, castle and Mémorial museum reachable by bus line 1, 15 km south.

History

Ouistreham was the landing sector of the 1st Special Service Brigade under Lord Lovat on 6 June 1944, the eastern flank of Sword Beach. The sea lock and canal were built in 1857 to give Caen direct access to the sea and remain in commercial use today.

Story

French commandos of the Kieffer unit, 177 men trained in Scotland, landed at Ouistreham on D-Day morning and fought their way to the casino, the only French troops to land in France on 6 June 1944.