Anchorage

Plage de la Gaillarde

Shelter: NW, W, SW
Seabed: sand, rock, algae
Anchoring: Allowed

Anchorage off the Plage de la Gaillarde between Saint-Aygulf and Les Issambres, eastern Var. Mixed sand, rock and posidonia, shelter from NW to SW winds.

Beach
Seagrass

Guide

Approach and anchoring

Approach from the south, rounding the Pointe des Issambres. Watch for rocky patches drying 0,5 m close to the shore. Port Ferréol lies 0.4 NM to the south as a fallback in easterly weather.

Practical

Forain anchorage. Avoid posidonia beds, which are protected by prefectoral decree on the Var coast since 2019, and select clear sand patches. Holding good on sand, poor on weed. Exposed to the easterly swell and to the mistral in its SW reinforced form.

Ashore

Sentier du littoral runs behind the beach and links Saint-Aygulf 1.7 NM NE to Les Issambres in a 6 km coastal walk. Shops, bakeries and restaurants along the RD559 road within 300 m of the beach. Train station of Saint-Aygulf on the TER Marseille-Ventimiglia line 2 km north.

History

This stretch of the Estérel coast became a seaside resort from the late 19th century after the opening of the Paris-Lyon-Méditerranée railway through Saint-Raphaël in 1863, which opened the Var coast to bathers from the north.