Provence, South France
Port Miou / Calanque Miou
Not to be
used for navigation
DIRECTIONS
Approaches to the Calanque are clean and deep,
The former anchoring area has been planted with about 50+ mooring buoys, very
close to each other and to the walls on the West and East sides of the
Calanque. It is a lovely calanque with an ancient quarry used by the Romans
providing shelter on one side, and an old stone wall embedded with iron rings as a lovely
backdrop to your yacht.
DESCRIPTION
This
is a very sheltered anchorage.
Our outdated cruising pilot indicated this was an
anchorage, but there is no longer any room to anchor due to the mooring
buoys. We were instructed by the Port boat to use two mooring buoys for
the bows of our 49' yacht as well as a stern line to a ring in the wall
ashore. The price for our boat in the Spring of 2008 was €20 per
night.
The Capitanarie were friendly
and handled our stern line to shore. They also gave us 5
oilzorb pads as a gift (these sell for $5 each in West Marine!) and a small promotional dry
bag. So while we had planned to anchor for free, we did not feel
cheated.
GETTING ASHORE
As you head
further into the bay it narrows and there are literally hundreds of
local boats anchored either side of the calanque as it peters to an
end. There is a boardwalk on either side, and at the end is a small area of
the boardwalk where you can tie your dinghy.
ASHORE
There are ample
hiking opportunities to the nearby calanques and coastline. The port
maintains a small shed which might have brochures etc.
FACILITIES ASHORE
There are no facilities in the
Calanque. It is perhaps a 15 minute walk into Cassis. In April,
there was not a lot going on. We were the only boat on the overnight
moorings and it was a delightful quiet place, despite the tourist boats that
periodically come into the Calanque on their tour of the coast.
RESTAURANTS
The cruising guide mentions a restaurant
to East of the calanque. We did not explore it.
