Anchorage

Plage des Arènes

3.2France

Shelter: NW, N, NE, W
Seabed: sand
Anchoring: Allowed

Open sand anchorage off the Camargue shore, just east of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, at the mouth of the Petit Rhône delta.

Pontoon
Beach

Guide

Approach and anchoring

Approach from the south in settled weather. Sand shoals extend well offshore, sound your way in to 4 to 5 m. No shelter from southerly or easterly swell. Port Gardian lies 0.1 NM NW if conditions turn.

Practical

Forain anchoring on flat sand, good holding once the anchor is set. No services on the beach itself. Water, fuel and provisioning at Port Gardian a short dinghy ride to the NW, village of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer 1.6 NM NW.

Ashore

Long Camargue beach runs uninterrupted from the mooring to the town. Fortified church of Notre-Dame-de-la-Mer, dating from the 12th century, stands on the Saintes-Maries seafront, a known pilgrimage site for the Roma community every May. Regional nature park of the Camargue starts directly inland, with salt flats, flamingos and the white horses of the delta.

History

Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer takes its name from Marys Jacobe and Salome, who according to Provençal tradition landed here from Palestine in the 1st century together with Sarah, patron saint of the Roma people.