Harbour

Port Racine

Name: Port Racine
Address: La Hague, FR
Telephone: +33645073019

La Hague, FranceCotentin

Maximum length: 5.2 m
Maximum draught: 80 m

Small tidal harbour at Saint-Germain-des-Vaux on the Cap de la Hague peninsula, often cited as the smallest port in France.

Guide

Approach and anchoring

Approach from the north-west along the rocky Hague coast, between Goury and Omonville-la-Rogue. The entrance is narrow and dries at low water, with a single short breakwater sheltering a basin of about half a dozen moorings. Strong tidal streams run off the Raz Blanchard just to the west, so time arrival around slack water. No lit marks, enter by daylight only.

Practical

Berths reserved mainly for local boats. Visitor space is very limited, best used as a short lunch stop for shallow-draught craft that can take the ground. No fuel, no showers. Bar-restaurant and a few houses at Saint-Germain-des-Vaux, Auderville village 2 km west. Water point on the quay.

Ashore

GR223 coastal path runs along the cliffs above the port, linking Goury lighthouse 3 km west and Port Racine to Omonville-la-Rogue 4 km east. Jardin botanique Jacques Prévert at Le Val 600 m inland, planted around the poet's last house where he lived until 1977. Nez de Jobourg cliffs, among the highest in Europe at 128 m, are 8 km south by road.

History

The port was dug out in 1813 by local fishermen and named after Francois Racine de Boisroger, a corsair captain from the Cotentin who fought the British during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars. Its size, a basin of roughly 800 square metres, earned it the tag of smallest port in France in local tourist literature.