Harbour

Port de Cancale

Name: Port de Cancale
Address: Cancale, FR
Telephone: +33299897433

Cancale, FranceEmerald Coast

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Maximum length: 7 m
Maximum draught: 0.8 m

Drying tidal harbour at Cancale on the eastern shore of the Baie du Mont-Saint-Michel, in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany.

Guide

Approach and anchoring

Port dries at low water, max draught 0.8 m alongside at high water neaps. Large tidal range of the Baie du Mont-Saint-Michel, up to 13 m at springs. Approach on a rising tide, keeping clear of the oyster beds laid out on the foreshore below the harbour.

Practical

Quay berths drying on mud and sand. Fishing boats have priority. Water on the quay, no fuel. Full range of shops, bakeries, fishmongers and restaurants along the Quai Gambetta within 100 m. Port Picain lies 1.1 NM north, Saint-Malo Port Vauban 7.3 NM west.

Ashore

Oyster market on the Quai Gambetta open daily, with tasting stalls at the end of the quay. Sentier des douaniers GR 34 runs from the harbour to Pointe du Grouin, 5 km north, with cliff views over the bay. Mont-Saint-Michel visible across the bay on clear days.

History

Cancale has been an oyster-farming port since the Middle Ages. King Louis XIV is recorded as having Cancale oysters delivered to Versailles. The port was rebuilt after British raids in 1758 and 1779.