Every yachting culture has a home water, and the Mediterranean's is the French Riviera. This is where the modern idea of cruising was invented: the deep-draft quays, the heliports, the fuelling barges, the crew agencies, and the calendar of events that still sets the season's rhythm from the Cannes Yachting Festival to the Monaco Yacht Show. No other coastline concentrates so much yachting infrastructure in so few miles.
The marinas
Start in Antibes. Port Vauban is the largest marina in the Mediterranean, with more than 1,600 berths for yachts up to 165 metres and beyond, a dedicated superyacht basin, on-site fuelling, and a heliport. Its Billionaires' Quay hosts some of the largest yachts in the world; when long-term arrangements were made for the A01/A02 berths in 2020, the 140 metre primary berth and 70 metre secondary berth were created for a 118.8 metre hydrogen superyacht and its 68 metre support vessel, and Port Vauban became the first marina anywhere able to supply liquid hydrogen to a superyacht.
Eastward, Monaco's Port Hercule takes yachts to around 100 metres with 8 metres of draft, but high-season berths book six to twelve months ahead for Grand Prix and Yacht Show weeks. Quieter Port de Fontvieille offers 275 berths up to 30 metres. Westward, Port de Saint-Tropez holds 734 berths up to 70 metres with VIP berth zones, though high-season space is extremely limited. In Cannes, the Vieux Port (800 berths up to 145 metres) hosts the Cannes Yachting Festival, while Port Pierre Canto's 600 berths offer a calmer alternative.
On the hook
The Riviera's anchorages are as famous as its marinas, and they now come with serious rules. France has banned recreational boats over 24 metres from anchoring near the coast along roughly 50 kilometres of the Riviera, including Cap d'Antibes, Cannes, Juan-les-Pins, the Lerins Islands, and La Napoule, with fines up to EUR 150,000, seizure of the vessel, and up to a year in prison. The reason is Posidonia seagrass, the Mediterranean's great underwater meadow. Plan anchorages with the charts and the regulations, not just the guidebook photographs.
When to go
The Monaco Yacht Show closes the Riviera season in late September. Shoulder-season cruising brings quieter anchorages and easier berths; high season brings the scene, at the price of booking the key berths well ahead.
Practical notes
- Berths are genuinely scarce in high season: confirm major marina stops in writing, well ahead.
- Larger yachts increasingly anchor and tender ashore rather than berth in the smaller historic ports.
- Check current anchoring restrictions before dropping the hook: the Posidonia rules carry real penalties.
The marina circuit
The infrastructure is the story. Port de Fontvieille offers 275 berths up to 30 metres as Monaco's quieter residential alternative to Port Hercule. In Cannes, the Vieux Port has 800 berths up to 145 metres and hosts the Cannes Yachting Festival, while Port Pierre Canto's 600 berths are the calmer alternative. Port Hercule itself takes yachts to around 100 metres with 8 metres of draft, and high-season berths for Grand Prix and Yacht Show weeks book 6 to 12 months ahead.
The Riviera is the core charter ground of the western Mediterranean, and Port Vauban is described as the ideal base for charters along the full coast. One regulation to know: France has banned recreational boats over 24 metres from anchoring near the coast along roughly 50 kilometres of the Riviera, including Cap d'Antibes, Cannes, Juan-les-Pins, the Lerins Islands, and La Napoule, with fines up to EUR 150,000. The rule protects Posidonia seagrass, and it is enforced.
Photography: Frans-Banja Mulder via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0).
