Port

Pomegue

2.9Marseille, FranceMarseille and the Calanques

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VHF channel: 9

Small harbour in the former military cove of Pomegues, on the southern island of the Frioul archipelago off Marseille, inside the Calanques National Park perimeter.

Guide

Approach and anchoring

Approach from the east by the channel between Ratonneau and Pomegues, which links the two islands since the causeway and Port du Frioul were built in the 1970s. Entrance is open to strong mistral gusts from the north-west that accelerate between the islands. VHF 9 for the harbour. Keep clear of the small craft moored on buoys along the cove.

Practical

Berths on pontoons, water at the quay. Limited visitor capacity, booking through the harbour office at Port du Frioul advised in summer. Shops, bakery and a few restaurants at Port du Frioul on Ratonneau at 0.1 NM north-east across the causeway.

Ashore

Hospital Caroline ruins at the northern tip of Ratonneau, former nineteenth century lazaretto, walking distance from the causeway. Chateau d'If on its separate islet at 1 NM east, made famous by Alexandre Dumas and his Count of Monte-Cristo, ferry access from Marseille. Swimming coves along both Pomegues and Ratonneau shores, inside the Calanques National Park.

History

Pomegues served as a quarantine anchorage for Marseille from the seventeenth century, with the Hopital Caroline on Ratonneau built in 1828 after the yellow fever epidemic of 1821. The islands held coastal batteries and were militarised until the French Navy released them in 1971.