Sainte-Marguerite, Saint-Honorat and the underwater eco-museum: planning your stopovers, understanding the zones and making the most of your trip.
OpenSeaMap is a nautical chart for orientation, with buoyage and crowd-sourced information. It does not replace an up-to-date official chart or notices to mariners.
The town announces that boats from 6 to 20 m are accommodated from 1 May to 30 September. Check availability with the port of Moure Rouge.
In the ZMEL: 3 knots, anchoring prohibited; swimming, diving and fishing prohibited under order 238/2025.
Distinguish anchoring areas from channels: no stopping in a passage reserved for transit. Check the restrictions and the seabed before dropping anchor.
The 3- and 5-knot limits apply to different zones, not to a single rule across the islands.
South of Sainte-Marguerite, discovering the sculptures is planned with mask and snorkel when conditions allow.
Do not anchor in the museum zone. Arrange for the boat to stop outside the prohibited area and for suitable access.
Sources: Town of Cannes — Sainte-Anne, orders and sources detailed in the guide. The Croûton provisions do not apply to Sainte-Anne.
Six visual landmarks for planning your stopover, from the panorama of the islands to the underwater eco-museum.
Ideas for enjoying the water from the boat or the shore, without turning a regulated zone into a place for activities. The day’s conditions, the official chart and the buoyage always have the final say.
Mask, snorkel or paddleboard are prepared from an authorised stop and away from swimming zones, mooring buoys and the Sainte-Anne ZMEL. For the eco-museum, keep the boat outside the prohibited area and adapt the activity to the current, the wind and the crew’s supervision.
On the islands, an activity can only be considered after a legally arranged arrival. A beach, a quay or a buoy does not amount to permission to land or to leave the boat without a crew member.
In the Sainte-Anne ZMEL, the rules are specific: check the buoyage and the regulations before getting into the water.
After an organised landing, extend your visit to the Batéguier lagoon and its observatory. It is a stop for watching birds and discovering another side of the island, far from the usual beach-and-lunch programme. The town reports that the observatory has been renovated by the ONF (French National Forests Office). Stay on the paths and respect the peace of the site.
Trails and observatory — Town of Cannes. The lagoon is a place to visit on foot, not a destination for the boat to approach.
The Musée du Masque de fer et du Fort Royal (Man in the Iron Mask and Fort Royal Museum) completes the walk with the history of the fort and archaeological finds from land and sea. Check the opening hours and allow the time needed to return to your starting point. A visit to the museum requires a confirmed mooring or landing arrangement.
The stretch of water between Sainte-Marguerite and Saint-Honorat combines navigation, swimming and stationary boats. Check the channels and zones shown on the official annex before choosing your spot. A clear space in the channel must remain available for passage; it is not an anchoring spot.
Do not choose the shortest route by relying only on the colour of the water: use the depths on your nautical chart and take your draught into account. The guide map describes rules; it does not provide a guaranteed navigation route.
Organise your walk around the monastic heritage: the abbey church, the fortified tower, the chapels and the vineyard landscapes. The island is home to a religious community; respect the areas open to visitors and the peace of the site. Check the visiting conditions for each monument before you leave.
Bring water and suitable shoes, then take your rubbish back to the mainland, as the community asks. The La Tonnelle restaurant, a simple break or a picnic let you adapt the programme to your day. Official Saint-Honorat information.
The route, fuel consumption and return times depend on your base and the boat. Keep a fallback option if the reception or the weather do not allow the original programme.
Off Cannes, the Îles de Lérins let you combine a boat trip with discovering heritage and the marine environment. Sainte-Marguerite and Saint-Honorat are visited differently: plan your programme by distinguishing what you can admire from the boat from the visits that require landing. This guide covers the area, whatever your port of departure. The length of your trip will depend on your base, your boat and the weather.
The Fort Royal and the Musée du Masque de fer are two landmarks for a visit ashore. You can also devote part of the day to discovering the island. Before planning this stopover with your rental boat, check the reception and landing options: a landing stage served by shuttles is not necessarily accessible to private boats. Discover Sainte-Marguerite with the Town of Cannes.
Saint-Honorat is home to the Abbaye de Lérins, a fortified monastery and vineyards. This visit is prepared as a genuine stopover ashore: check the access arrangements and the island’s information before putting together your programme. The presence of a pontoon does not amount to permission to come alongside. Visit the Saint-Honorat website.
Plan lunch at the same time as your stopover. Booking a table and arranging the boat’s arrival are two separate steps. Opening times, menus and transfer arrangements change with the season; confirm them directly with the restaurant before you leave.
A Mediterranean restaurant on the island, La Guérite indicates access by shuttle boat from the Port Canto harbour office, with a special departure from Mouré Rouge during the Cannes Film Festival. To arrive with your rental boat, ask the restaurant for the meeting point, the landing options and whether a transfer from your boat is available; the shuttle from Cannes does not guarantee this service. Contact: 04 93 43 49 30. Restaurant, booking and access.
The Tourist Office presents L’Escale as a Mediterranean restaurant with a terrace and a view over the Baie de Cannes. It is an option for lunch during a visit to the island. Check the up-to-date contact details and confirm it is open; no transfer service from a private boat is confirmed in the source consulted. Official L’Escale listing.
La Tonnelle offers a waterside lunch break on the Île Saint-Honorat. Its website lets you view the menu and book. To come with your boat, have the reception and any transfer confirmed before your trip; a restaurant booking does not reserve a berth at the Port des Moines. La Tonnelle website and booking. For a simpler break, the island’s website also presents the Les Canisses snack bar and picnic areas. Island information.
The berthing order distinguishes how the pontoons are used. For pleasure boats, it designates the east side of no. 3 Sainte-Anne, except its northern end, no. 4 de la Commune, no. 5 des Lentisques and no. 8 La Guérite. No. 2, the west side of no. 3 and no. 3 bis are reserved for the professional vessels concerned. Berthing of boats for personal use is limited to six hours, with a 24-hour interval between two stays. Mooring must comply with the requirements of article 2. Check the signage, availability and local instructions before any approach: these provisions do not guarantee a berth for your boat. Berthing regulations, articles 1 and 2.
The Town of Cannes states that the Port des Moines welcomes boaters for a short stop, all year round, for a maximum of six hours per 24 hours. Contact the maritime service on 04 97 06 42 73 to check the conditions for your boat. The marina and the shuttle landing stage must not be confused. Official Port Saint-Honorat information.
For Sainte-Marguerite, check the crossings by Trans Côte d’Azur or Horizon, departing from the Quai Laubeuf area. For Saint-Honorat, the island’s website offers tickets and timetables. Check which island you are arriving at and the time of the last return before buying. At the time of consultation, the town announces the closure of the Laubeuf car park for works: plan to arrive on foot from another car park. These services are an alternative to renting and are not transfers from a boat at anchor.
South of Sainte-Marguerite, six sculptures by Jason deCaires Taylor lie at depths of between 3 and 5 metres. The town presents a discovery with mask and snorkel and specifies that the works must not be touched or brushed against. Anchoring is prohibited in the museum zone. Arrange access without taking your boat into it or anchoring there; check the buoyage and conditions before getting into the water. Official presentation of the eco-museum.
Order 36/2016 sets 5 knots in the defined channels between the islands and 3 knots in the stretch of water it delimits outside these channels. It also sets 10 knots in a delimited part of the Cannes roadstead, beyond the 300 m coastal strip. These values relate to different areas: they must not become a single limit applied to the whole archipelago. Identify the area on the chart and follow the buoyage. Municipal navigation instructions.
In the Anse Sainte-Anne, north of Sainte-Marguerite, the town announces a buoy mooring area open from 1 May to 30 September for vessels from 6 to 20 metres. Admission and conditions must be checked with the manager; the existence of the zone does not guarantee a spot. Contact given by the town: port of Moure Rouge, VHF 9, 04 93 94 37 71. The surrounding area includes anchoring bans: do not treat a free patch of water as an available anchorage. Published ZMEL conditions. The Sainte-Anne ZMEL is limited to 3 knots. Order 238/2025 notably prohibits swimming, diving and fishing there; anchoring is permanently prohibited, except in case of immediate danger. Read the ZMEL regulations.
Order 167/2024 requires direct and continuous transit in its channels: stopping, anchoring and diving are prohibited there. It also prohibits mooring to navigation buoys. Its annex distinguishes swimming, motor restrictions, anchoring and other uses. Several provisions are seasonal and the text specifies the conditions linked to the placing of the buoyage. Read the full text and recent notices before departure.
First choose your priority: discovering the islands from the sea, a visit ashore or the eco-museum. Then plan the stopping conditions, access points and the return to your base. Ask your rental company to check that this programme suits the boat booked and the forecast conditions. Distances and durations will be specified according to your port of departure; no navigation route is imposed by this guide.
Check the marine forecast and the day’s notices to mariners; confirm local restrictions and reception options; keep a margin for the return. The absence of a rule on this page means neither free navigation nor authorised anchoring. This guide helps you prepare a trip and does not replace up-to-date nautical documents.
Cannes: Vieux-Port and Pierre Canto. Confirm which fuel berth is open and the entry instructions before leaving the islands.