Yacht Charter Port Grimaud: A Complete Guide
A lagoon town of canals and painted houses, with the Gulf of Saint-Tropez a short reach away.
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Yacht Charter Port Grimaud: A Complete Guide
Port Grimaud is not an old fishing village that grew a marina. It was drawn from nothing on marshland at the head of the Gulf of Saint-Tropez by the Swiss architect François Spoerry, who began building in the 1960s and gave almost every house its own mooring. The result is a lagoon town of canals, footbridges and pastel facades, and it has been called the Venice of Provence ever since.
For a yacht charter Port Grimaud that quirk of design matters more than it sounds. You board in a sheltered basin at the back of a wide bay rather than on an exposed quay, and you are through the harbour entrance and into open water within minutes. Saint-Tropez sits across the gulf. The Îles d'Hyères and the Calanques lie west along the coast.
We have advised on charters since 2011 and we are tied to no operator. What follows is what this coast is actually like to sail, how to get here, and what a week costs once the berthing and the extras are counted rather than left off the quote.
Quick Navigation
- 1 The Venice Of Provence Why The Base Suits A Charter Week
- 2 Saint-Tropez And The Gulf The Cruising Ground On Your Doorstep
- 3 Islands And Coves Along The Coast Where A Week From Port Grimaud Goes
- 4 The Weather On This Coast What To Expect And When It Turns
- 5 Getting To Port Grimaud Airports, Transfers And Arrival Day
- 6 Who Sails And What It Costs The Honest All In Number
1.The Venice Of Provence
Why The Base Suits A Charter Week
Spoerry's idea was simple and, at the time, unusual. Instead of a marina beside a town, he built a town that is a marina. The canals are the streets, the bridges do the work of junctions, and the boats sit at the bottom of the garden. Sixty years on it has weathered into something that reads as genuinely Provençal rather than as a development.
As a charter base that layout does real work. You board inside a sheltered lagoon at the head of the gulf, so the first hour of the week goes on loading the boat rather than fending off a swell on an exposed quay. Provisioning, a chandlery and a beach are all within walking distance, which matters on a Saturday when nobody wants to hire a car.
The other advantage is position. Port Grimaud sits at the back of a broad, well sheltered bay with the open Mediterranean beyond it. You can leave late on the first afternoon and still be at anchor somewhere worth being before dinner.
2.Saint-Tropez And The Gulf
The Cruising Ground On Your Doorstep
Saint-Tropez is directly across the water and it is the reason many crews choose this base. The old port is still a working harbour behind the superyachts, and the lanes behind the quay are a good deal quieter than the front. Berths there are limited and expensive in season, so plenty of crews anchor off and go in by tender, which is also the cheaper way to do it.
Pampelonne, the long beach south of the town, is where the famous beach clubs sit. It is an open roadstead rather than a harbour, so it works as a lunch stop in settled weather and is no use at all once the wind gets into the east.
Ashore, the hill village of Grimaud is worth the short trip inland for the castle ruin and the view back down over the gulf. Our French Riviera sailing itinerary walks a full week along this coast if you want the route rather than the highlights.
3.Islands And Coves Along The Coast
Where A Week From Port Grimaud Goes
Head west and the coast opens up. The Îles d'Hyères are the obvious target: Porquerolles for its clear water and sandy northern beaches, Port-Cros for the national park and the walking and snorkelling that come with it, and Île du Levant, most of which is a military zone with a long established naturist village occupying the rest.
Further west again, beyond Toulon, the Calanques run between Marseille and Cassis. They are limestone inlets with water the colour of a swimming pool and they are the most dramatic thing on this coastline. They also sit at the far end of what a week allows, so they suit a longer charter better than a standard Saturday to Saturday.
Closer to home there is enough to fill a week without a long passage: the Baie de Cavalaire, Cap Camarat, Le Lavandou and the anchorages under the Massif des Maures. If you are still weighing this coast against the rest of the Mediterranean, that is a comparison worth making properly.
4.The Weather On This Coast
What To Expect And When It Turns
Summer here is reliable in the way the Mediterranean usually is: long settled spells, warm nights, and a sea breeze that fills in through the afternoon and drops away in the evening. On most days you sail through the middle of the day and motor at either end of it, which is worth knowing before you fall for a boat with a small engine.
The exception is the mistral, the cold north westerly that funnels down the Rhône valley and out across the Gulf of Lion. It reaches this far east with less force than it hits Marseille, but when it blows it blows hard and for days, and it is the one forecast that will change your plans. The Gulf of Saint-Tropez is well sheltered from the north west, which is another reason this base is forgiving.
Shoulder season, May and June or September, gives you warm water, fewer boats and the same coast at half the intensity. It is the better time to sail here if the school calendar allows it.
5.Getting To Port Grimaud
Airports, Transfers And Arrival Day
Three airports serve this stretch of coast. Toulon-Hyères is the nearest at roughly 65 kilometres, small and quick to clear, though the flight choice thins out either side of the summer schedule. Nice Côte d'Azur sits further along the coast but has by far the best connections from the UK and the rest of Europe, and for most crews it is the practical answer even with the longer drive.
Marseille Provence, around 160 kilometres away, is the third option and often the cheapest if you are coming from further afield or piecing together a connection.
From any of them the road in is straightforward, but the coastal stretch is slow in July and August, so allow more time than the map suggests. We arrange private transfers as part of the booking, which usually earns its keep on a Saturday when six people, their luggage and a week of provisions all have to reach the same pontoon at the same time.
6.Who Sails And What It Costs
The Honest All In Number
Start with how hands on you want to be. Sail it yourself if you hold the right certification and recent experience. Add a skipper to the same boat, which is what most crews here do and means a professional aboard, not a lesser yacht. Or take a fully crewed yacht, with a skipper and cook aboard. Operators here will want a sailing CV and your certificates, and what they accept varies by boat. Our note on what a skippered yacht charter involves covers the day to day.
On cost, the base rate is the smallest part of the conversation. Berthing is what moves the number on the Côte d'Azur, and a night alongside in Saint-Tropez in August is a different proposition from a night at anchor in the gulf. Add fuel, end cleaning, provisioning and a skipper, and two quotes for the same week sit a long way apart.
One practical point that surprises people: France does not require a formal certificate of competence to charter here, unlike Croatia or Greece where the paperwork is checked at the base. That does not mean nobody looks. The operator still wants a sailing CV and will judge whether your experience matches the boat, and if it does not, the answer is to add a skipper rather than to be turned away. It is worth being straight with us about experience early, because it changes which boats are open to you.
On price, this coast sits in the middle of the Mediterranean range. Croatia usually comes in lower for a comparable boat and week, Greece lands close to Port Grimaud, and the Caribbean in its winter season is higher than all three. Those are directional rather than fixed, because boat age, size and how far ahead you book move the number more than the country does.
That is the part we are useful for. We have advised on charters since 2011, we are tied to no operator, and we give you the honest all in cost before you book. Tell us who is coming and roughly when, and we will come back with the boats that fit.
Planning a yacht charter from Port Grimaud? Tell us who is sailing and roughly when, and we will come back with the honest all in cost.
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Christopher Lait
Chris founded Drake Academy, a sailing company that provides leadership training to businesses. Now the CEO of SailChecker.com you will find him handling many of your enquiries as he attempts to drive SailChecker.com forward as the company of choice for yacht charter and sailing by focusing on quality advice and great customer service.
