French Riviera

[ksgallyrit]

My friends and I will come to Marseille from U.S. and Canada next year. We already reserved our bareboat charter sailboat and we will sail together from Marseille to Monaco and return. We will stop in Toulon, Porquerolles, St. Tropez, Cannes and Monaco.

Did you folks sail there before? Did you experience anything negative? Crime? Language barrier? Mistral wind? Overcrowd? Expensive mooring fees?

Hope to read from you soon.

Thanks,

Cpt. Troy

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Troy.

[ksgallyrit]

Originally Posted by GordMay

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Troy.

Thank you GordMay!

[2big2small]

The area you have selected is extremely crowded in July and August and very expensive al year round. If you’re going during summer I suggest you research every marina you want to stop at and make your reservations now without delay. That’s the best way to know how much you’ll be paying as well.

Mistral can happen in summer as well but usually doesn’t last that long, but it might disrupt your schedule and reservations. Sailing on a schedule is never easy. You might want to check the cancellation policies of those marinas too. Most of the time there’s very little wind though.

Since the summer is so crowded, it pays to arrive in anchorages before noon to find a spot, when the previous batch of sailors has left and before most of the next ones arrive.

It’s a beautiful area but I never linger because of the prices.

[Charlie]

There are two marinas in Cannes. One was surprisingly cheap. The other was expensive.

[ksgallyrit]

Originally Posted by 2big2small

The area you have selected is extremely crowded in July and August and very expensive al year round. If you’re going during summer I suggest you research every marina you want to stop at and make your reservations now without delay. That’s the best way to know how much you’ll be paying as well.

Mistral can happen in summer as well but usually doesn’t last that long, but it might disrupt your schedule and reservations. Sailing on a schedule is never easy. You might want to check the cancellation policies of those marinas too. Most of the time there’s very little wind though.

Since the summer is so crowded, it pays to arrive in anchorages before noon to find a spot, when the previous batch of sailors has left and before most of the next ones arrive.

It’s a beautiful area but I never linger because of the prices.

Thank you for your advices.

[ksgallyrit]

Originally Posted by Charlie

There are two marinas in Cannes. One was surprisingly cheap. The other was expensive.

Charlie, can you please give me names of both marinas? Which one is cheap? Thanks much!

[ksgallyrit]

Originally Posted by 2big2small

The area you have selected is extremely crowded in July and August and very expensive al year round. If you’re going during summer I suggest you research every marina you want to stop at and make your reservations now without delay. That’s the best way to know how much you’ll be paying as well.

Mistral can happen in summer as well but usually doesn’t last that long, but it might disrupt your schedule and reservations. Sailing on a schedule is never easy. You might want to check the cancellation policies of those marinas too. Most of the time there’s very little wind though.

Since the summer is so crowded, it pays to arrive in anchorages before noon to find a spot, when the previous batch of sailors has left and before most of the next ones arrive.

It’s a beautiful area but I never linger because of the prices.

What is about crime? Terrorist?

[sailormed]

The area you are visting is there where you find all the superyachts and hollywoodstars in the summer. So yes it is crowded, but they come here for a reason, it is realy a beautifull area. I don'y know how many days you will be cruising here (here because I am myself based in Nice near the Italian border), but there are many beautifull moorings.

Forget the harbor or Porquerolles, in August it is impossible to get a berth there, people make reservations 1 year in advance, but mooring is possible.
Do not arrive to late for a mooring, in August anchor early and you get a good place.
Marinas are expensive, but not so as in Italy where in August they nearly double the price.
Please PM me if you have specific questions.
I will myself be in Italy next summer, otherwise we could have shared a bear.

[beauris]

Originally Posted by ksgallyrit

What is about crime? Terrorist?

are you kidding me? less danger from terrorist than from a us police officer... now seriously...avoid marinas as long as you can the good anchorage are legions
i would recommend "les plus beau mouillages vue du ciel" beside the usual sailing books https://www.amazon.fr/C%C3%B4te-dAzu.../dp/2914205236

you ll see that mostly they are between marseille for the calanques and st tropez area.. porquerolles is a lovely stop.
if you have enough time forego cannes , nice and go to corsica

[Charlie]

Sorry I don't know the names. The old Marina was the inexpensive one.

[ksgallyrit]

Originally Posted by beauris

are you kidding me? less danger from terrorist than from a us police officer... now seriously...avoid marinas as long as you can the good anchorage are legions
i would recommend "les plus beau mouillages vue du ciel" beside the usual sailing books https://www.amazon.fr/C%C3%B4te-dAzu.../dp/2914205236

you ll see that mostly they are between marseille for the calanques and st tropez area.. porquerolles is a lovely stop.
if you have enough time forego cannes , nice and go to corsica

Thanks much! I appreciated your help.

[ksgallyrit]

Originally Posted by Charlie

Sorry I don't know the names. The old Marina was the inexpensive one.

Thanks much Charlie.

[ksgallyrit]

Originally Posted by sailormed

The area you are visting is there where you find all the superyachts and hollywoodstars in the summer. So yes it is crowded, but they come here for a reason, it is realy a beautifull area. I don'y know how many days you will be cruising here (here because I am myself based in Nice near the Italian border), but there are many beautifull moorings.

Forget the harbor or Porquerolles, in August it is impossible to get a berth there, people make reservations 1 year in advance, but mooring is possible.
Do not arrive to late for a mooring, in August anchor early and you get a good place.
Marinas are expensive, but not so as in Italy where in August they nearly double the price.
Please PM me if you have specific questions.
I will myself be in Italy next summer, otherwise we could have shared a bear.

I really appreciated your information. Thanks much.

[aye-aye-captain]

Hey, french guy here !

Lot of interesting replies already but I'll try to help you with my experience.

Concerning crime and terrorists, despite recent and highly publiced events, France and the south of France is safe. More military are on patrol but overall there is no sense of insecurity.

Crime on marinas are more or less inexistant but don't adventure on dangerous neighbourhood's cities such as north distric of Marseille (seriously, don't go there).

July and August are way too crowded on my opinion. It looks like the all country own a boat.

Language barrier, hmm I'm sure you've heard stories of rude french people. Well, it might be true in Paris but no one like Parisian.

Try to learn some basic words and smile when meeting someone ! We (The French) really paid attention to courtesy ! Follow those two tips and you'll meet wonderful and welcoming people.