Best anchorages and harbours in France

Tahiti

Anchorage in the Gulf of Ajaccio, 1.3 NM east of Port Tino Rossi, sand bottom.

• Sheltered NW, N, NE, W, E

Le Palais

Visitor mooring buoy field in the roadstead off Le Palais, the main port of Belle-Île-en-Mer, Morbihan, south Brittany.

• Free
• Sheltered W, SW, S

Plage Pointe des Douaniers

Anchorage below the Pointe des Douaniers at Cap d'Ail, on the Cote d'Azur between Monaco and Eze.

• Sheltered NW, N

Port Canto - Cannes

Marina of 553 berths on the eastern side of the Cannes bay, between the Palm Beach and Pointe Croisette in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur.

Port La Nouvelle - Sud

Sand-bottomed anchorage off the beach south of Port-la-Nouvelle, on the Aude coast between Narbonne and Leucate.

• Sheltered NW, N, W

L'Estaque

A 600-berth harbour on the northern shore of Marseille bay, in the L'Estaque district at the foot of the Nerthe range.

Port du Poussaï

Small marina of 90 berths at Agay, on the Estérel coast east of Saint-Raphaël, Var.

Port Méditerranée

Marina of 58 berths at Six-Fours-les-Plages on the Var coast, between Sanary-sur-Mer and La Seyne.

Rade de Ceyreste/ Grande Plage

Anchorage off the Grande Plage of La Ciotat, in the bay shared by Ceyreste and La Ciotat on the eastern Bouches-du-Rhône coast, between the Bec de l'Aigle and the port entrance.

• Sheltered NW, N, W

Sauzon - ville

Anchorage off the village of Sauzon on the north-west coast of Belle-Île-en-Mer in Morbihan, sand bottom, just outside the drying harbour.

• Sheltered NW, N, NE, W, E, SW, S, SE

Embouchure du Rhône

Anchorage off the mouth of the Grand Rhone, at the entrance to the Golfe de Fos, in the Camargue.

• Sheltered NW, W, SW, S

Club Nautique Taussat-Cassy

Small harbour on the east shore of the Bassin d'Arcachon, at Taussat-les-Bains in the commune of Lanton, Gironde.

Kerbihan

Buoy mooring field off Kerbihan, on the west bank of the Rivière de Crac'h just below La Trinité-sur-Mer. Sand bottom.

• Sheltered SW, W, NW

Punta d Omigna

Open anchorage on rock off Punta d'Omigna, the headland closing the Gulf of Sagone to the north, 1.8 miles from Cargèse on the west coast of Corsica.

• Sheltered NW, N, NE, E, SE

Vias

Stretch of coast off Vias in Hérault where anchoring is prohibited, between Portiragnes and the mouth of the Hérault at Le Grau d'Agde.

• Sheltered NW, N, NE, W, E, SW, S, SE

warte-kai ponte de vaux

River halt on the Pont-de-Vaux canal in Ain, linking the town to the Saône via a 3 km lateral canal.

Archipel des Embiez

Small archipelago off Six-Fours-les-Plages in the Var, owned by the Paul Ricard foundation, with anchorages on the western and southern shores of the main island.

• Sheltered NE, E, SE

Banc des Portes

Sand bank anchorage inside the Fier d'Ars, the tidal lagoon on the north-west corner of Île de Ré, sheltered from NW through S.

• Sheltered NW, W, SW, S

Brigneau

Drying ria on the south coast of Finistère, commune of Moëlan-sur-Mer, between Merrien and the Bélon river.

Île Molène

Anchorage off Île Molène in the Molène archipelago, west of Le Conquet in the Iroise Sea.

• Paid
• Sheltered W, E, SW, S, SE

Marine de Bussagghia

Sand anchorage in the Golfe de Porto on the west coast of Corsica, just north of Porto-Ota, inside the UNESCO-listed Golfe de Porto zone that includes the Calanques de Piana and the Scandola reserve.

• Sheltered NW, N, NE, E, S, SE

Phare de Cordouan

Anchorage off the Cordouan lighthouse, at the mouth of the Gironde estuary in New Aquitaine. Sand bottom, shelter from NW only.

• Sheltered NW

Porraja

Sand-bottomed cove on the west side of the Gulf of Valinco in Corsica, immediately west of Propriano.

• Sheltered E, SE, S

Punta Capicciola sud

Prohibited anchoring zone south of Punta Capicciola on the south-east coast of Corsica, between Porto-Vecchio and the reserve of Cerbicale.

• Sheltered NW, N, NE

Baie Talmont

Anchorage in the Gironde estuary off Talmont-sur-Gironde, Charente-Maritime, under the cliffs that carry the Romanesque church of Sainte-Radegonde.

• Sheltered N, NE, E

L’Épine

Anchorage off the village of L'Épine on the west coast of Île de Noirmoutier, Pays de la Loire.

• Sheltered N, NE, E

Pen er Menn

Anchorage of around 102 moorings off Arradon on the north shore of the Gulf of Morbihan in Brittany.

• Paid
• Sheltered N, NE

Pointe des Chevaliers

Anchorage on the western side of the presqu'île de Giens, Var, facing the rade d'Hyères.

• Sheltered N, NE, E, SE

Roche Cardin

Anchorage on sand off Roche Cardin in the Chausey archipelago area west of Granville, sheltered only from SW winds.

• Sheltered SW

Zone mouillage du Traict

Buoy field in the Traict du Croisic tidal lagoon, just north of Le Croisic harbour, on the southern Loire-Atlantique coast.

• Sheltered N, NE, E, SW, S, SE