Does anyone have experience of Living on the Côte d'Azur or Riviera?

[MYStargazer]

Does anyone have experience of Living on the Côte d\'Azur or Riviera?

I'm looking to move there to live on my boat. I'm in Spain at the moment. I can cope with high mooring fees (my boat is less than 3 x 10 m LOA), as long as there's good security and parking, and as long as they're happy to have a liveaboard.

Is anyone doing this, or has done this? I'd be really interested to know a bit beyond what my Mediterranean Almanac is telling me...

Thanks, peeps!

 

[colvic]

Re: Does anyone have experience of Living on the Côte d\'Azur or Riviera?

Haven't been that way for two years now, but if it is like all the other French marinas they are rather full.
Over the weekend a couple of threads ended up mentioning France and a couple of the members are living there at the moment. Search the weekend postings for "we've done it" on this forum and just keep reading the postings.

 

[Anonymous]

Re: Does anyone have experience of Living on the Côte d\'Azur or Riviera?

Have a look at Cannes marina. It is pleasant, well-run, maybe less than you'd think, and very close to the town. Nice airport is near, excellent motorway and rail/bus service all along the Riviera. The shops in Cannes are very, very expensive, of course.

http://www.riviera-ports.com/Display.asp...mp;menuitem=110

 

[MYStargazer]

Re: Does anyone have experience of Living on the Côte d\'Azur or Rivier

Thanks, guys. That website is very good. And it's it English, too. Whatever happened to Gallic pride?!

The costs look almost exactly the same as Palma.

 

[Abigail]

Re: Does anyone have experience of Living on the Côte d\'Azur or Rivier

Hi - we spent last winter at Port St Louis, last summer between there and Menton and the winter in Toulon (not aboard all the time due to requirements of bank manager).

There are lots of ports but there are two issues really. One is cost, which is very variable but gets astronomic in the season (starting now through to September). The other and possibly bigger barrier is availability. It is extremely difficult tog et more than a few days at a time (if that) during the high season and it can take five years or more waiting to get a permanent berth.

However winter berths (September for 6-9 months) are easier and if you wanted to do that, wander for the summer and then return, you might find some good arrangements. We were in the Toulon Darse Veille, which will do up to 9 months at a time, not unreasonable prices, very central and accessible, but appalling ablutions block. Very few liveaboards but they didn't mind you being there at all.

If I could get a permanent berth and wanted one (which we don't) I would try for Nice as a lovely city. For convenience of shopping, I'd go for Toulon. For accessiblity etc I'd probably pick Marseille, though we have heard heavy rumours of corruption and worse around the acquisition of moorings throughout the Marseille area. Price - Toulon or Nice.

HTH

 

[charles_reed]

Re: Does anyone have experience of Living on the Côte d\'Azur or Riviera?

Don't know how deep your pocket might be, but here are few:-

A RIVIERA.
1. Fontvielle - just in Monaco. A few berths in a fairly new marina, prices expensive in Sep 2008
2. Cap d'Ail - in the French side of the border, not terribly comfortable and really only for superyachts. Didn't dare ask prices.
3. Beaulieu-s-Mer - big, established, full pricey
4. Villefranche-s-Mer. Never been able to get in here, but the cheapest of the Riviera marinas. I usually anchor in the Rade and dinghy over to the truly delightful village, a gardeners' paradise of window-boxes.
5. Nice, usually a grubby harbour, but the most likely to have room, slightly more expensive than Villefranche.

On the whole I'd rate the chances of getting a berth on the Riviera, in-season, even if pre-booked - at about 5%.

B EST COTE D'AZUR
1. S Laurent du Var - never been there, wouldn't go there as it's right under Nice airport flightpath, and don't know how it costs.
2. Baie des Anges - full of boats from the apartment owners in the 3 tower blocks and reputed to be the most expensive on that stretch of coast. Never tried.
3. Vauban-Antibes - huge, doesn't appear expensive until you add on all the extras for shore-power, water etc. Fingers are a bit close together and accidents with others' tails are frequent. OK if you're a resident in Antibes, you get prerfential treatment - management don't like liveaboards, they lower the tone of the place.
4. Just E of Gallice-Juan-les Pins is a little marina, unmentioned in the Pilots as it's a Co-op. Though miles out of S Juan and erratic with water and shorepower, and providing you don't draw more than 1.2m it could be the best, cheapest bet so far. It'll take days before a decision comes out of them but you can wait at anchor just outside of Port Mallet (or look at that for an alternative) no water except from the bar and defintely no power unless you're willing to tap one of the street-lights.
5. Gallice S Juan - smart, with prices to match, usually has room. Long walk to town, but approach through park quite pretty. I prefer to bike.
6. Vieux-Port-S Juan a definite possibility here - I don't particularly like the town - prices, out-of-season very reasonable.
7. There's an anchorage between the two Iles de Lerin, remarkably sheltered and good holding, but overflows during the day from Cannes. Not a place though to leave a yacht, but the monastery S Honorat has a good restaurant, very reasonably priced.
The little harbour on the island is delightful, but I had to lift the keel as there's only about 0.8m inside.
8. Port de Cannes - usually room, not too expensive (except during The Week), but the town epitomises all that is ghastly about the S of France, tawdry, expensive and awful food. I always give it a wide berth and head across the other side of the bay to:-
9. Mandelieu-la-Napoule, entrance by the public beach under the Clews' castle, always room, reasonably priced (except for the marina wi-fi), all mod-cons and some amusingly droll marineros (one of whom is ex-Legionnaire). Free wi-fi at O'Sullivans, if you can hear yourself think, good shopping in the village and my favourite along the Cote d'Azur.
10. Agay is a useful place to anchor, open to the S, but otherwise sheltered on reasonable holding.
11. Port de S Lucia - S Raphael, never been there myself but have heard good reports, big, plenty of room, well-run.
12. Vieux Port S Raphael, anarchic mooring (push your way in and be prepared to argue), water and occasional shorepower, reasonable prices, but always very, very crowded. Right in the middle of town, great place.
Fréjus, S Aygulf and Férréol are places I haven't used, reputed to be expensive, but I have heard that
13. S Pierre-sur-Mer-les-Issambardes is very reasonably priced, no shops, tree-girt and a long walk to civilisation.
14. Ste Maxime - again one I've not frequented, prices similar to others along this bit of coast.
15. Port Grimaud/Port Cogolin. Dragged here by an architect and not my scene at all.
A manufactured apartment-with-boat construction of considerable chic and bewildering waterways. Grimaud is the more expensive of the two and both are virtually impassable in any strong wind from S or E quadrants. Rather like a warmer, more relaxed Brighton marina. Usually space somewhere here, but everything very artificial and expensive.
I avoid S Tropez and anchot in Canoubiers, remarkably sheltered even in and E, but absolutely no facilities.

For me, rather than stop at Ouest Cote d'Azur it's straight to Port Mon or, if benign Porquerolles,(duck into Hyéres Port if a mistral blows up), S Mandrier (though unchic has lots going for it and there's a good anchorage just outside the entrance) or Toulon (very grubby) but you'll definitely find something in Darse Vieille or Mourillon at a very reasonable price on haggling.

For me the most economical and enjoyable place is Vieux Port: Marseille, lots to see and do, good eating and shopping (if you avoid the tourist areas) and an enormous Maghreb population, (good if you speak Arabic but their French tends to be prone to misunderstanding) making for extremely cheap self-catering.

Hope this helps - Mediterranean France is easily the most pleasant and, if you know your way around, the cheapest place (compared to Italy which is horrid in more senses than one) and Spain, which is turning on, and biting severely, Brit liveaboards.

Having just been relieved of €30 for 2 nights with electricity in Zakinthos, where I'm using my own anchor, I'm feeling definitely nostalgic for France.

 

[charles_reed]

Re: Does anyone have experience of Living on the Côte d\'Azur or Rivier

Gallic profit-motive overcame it.

 

[Anonymous]

Re: Does anyone have experience of Living on the Côte d\'Azur or Riviera?

That's extremely useful, thanks. We will be going back along the Riviera late spring early summer and will keep that to hand. I don't agree with your opinion of Cannes -- we like it. But then these things are in the eye of they beholder....and I do agree with you about Grimaud/Cogolin.

While you have given an excellent answer to the OP's original question, there is still the question of what effect the recession is going to have on boat spaces - if any. Unless boats are taken out of the water then there is still going to be a shortage of space. With the high cost of keeping a boat in service and a very poor market for selling, something is going to have to happen.....what?

 

[MYStargazer]

Re: Does anyone have experience of Living on the Côte d\'Azur or Rivier

Thanks so much for taking the time to share your thoughts. It's really, really appreciated. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[charles_reed]

Re: Does anyone have experience of Living on the Côte d\'Azur or Riviera?

Your guess is as good as mine.

For what it's worth, as most people pay in advance, I doubt we'll see much change until the autumn of 2009, when people will take boats out of commission and try and store them ashore if they can't sell.

My impression, last autumn, was that in France the marina operators had seen the writing on the wall and were bringing prices down, whilst the Italians were just jacking up prices farther.
The number of Italians arriving in Kerkyra, a fortnight ago, was considerable, apparently even more than usual.

 

[Abigail]

Re: Does anyone have experience of Living on the Côte d\'Azur or Rivier

Additional comments - (i) it really, really helps to speak some French - to haggle, disucss, show you've made the effort, and (ii) an agent/guardien can be well worth it eg to get access to moorings and/or private marinas. We have just hauled out in Port Pin-Rolland which we couldn't do without an agent. Alternatively see if you can join an association and get into a private marina/moorings.

you don't say if you're off sailing for the summer months, because that will give you far more options.

 

[Mrnotming]

Re: Does anyone have experience of Living on the Côte d\'Azur or Riviera?

Thanks Charles_Reed for all the info, most useful as we are hoping to be there late June /July launching from Fos area.May not go too far this year as we seem to need to do less than last year and look after the boat instead!Good sailing in the meantime to all.