Leg 30 of 97 · Passage plan · RYA Yachtmaster standard
Cassis to Porquerolles
East past the red cliffs of Cap Canaille, among the highest sea cliffs in France, round Cap Sicié and across the approaches to Toulon, to the island of Porquerolles in the Port-Cros National Park.
10:00 CEST from Cassis. Mid-morning, after the rest day at Cassis.
Arrive
About 16:17 CEST at Porquerolles. In the late afternoon, with about 4 hours 50 minutes of daylight in hand (sunset 21:06 CEST).
Tides
Range about 0.2 m: no practical effect
Wind
Mistral (west-north-west here) behind you; easterlies on the nose
Boat
35 to 38 ft sailing yacht, 1.9 m draught, 6 kn under sail, 5.5 kn under engine
Crew
Skipper and 3 crew, 2 watches of 2
Track and waypoints 1 to 5, with ports of refuge as squares.
Go or no-go
Decide at 09:00 CEST. Go only if all of these hold:
No strong easterly; a Mistral up to force 6 is fair.
Porquerolles berth confirmed, or Port-Cros buoys as the plan.
No navigation warning for military exercises off Toulon (PING).
If the weather is wrong, stay in Cassis. Bandol and Sanary are stops on the way.
Route and waypoints
Waypoints are planning positions in open water, checked against a 1:10m coastline to be at least 1 nm off land except at the harbour ends. Distances and courses are calculated from them. Plot every one on the current chart before use. Courses are true.
#
Waypoint
Latitude
Longitude
Course
Leg nm
Total nm
ETA
Notes
0
Cassis harbour
43°12.8′N
005°32.2′E
10:00 CEST
Depart.
1
Cassis approach
43°12.3′N
005°31.8′E
210°T
0.6
0.6
10:09 CEST
Out of the harbour.
2
Off Bec de l'Aigle
43°08.0′N
005°36.0′E
145°T
5.3
5.9
11:02 CEST
2 nm off La Ciotat's headland.
3
South of Cap Sicié
43°01.0′N
005°51.5′E
122°T
13.3
19.2
13:15 CEST
1.8 nm off the light (Fl(2) 6s).
4
South of Cap Cépet
43°03.0′N
005°57.0′E
064°T
4.5
23.7
14:00 CEST
1.4 nm off. Toulon military port to the north: keep clear of warships.
5
Off Giens
42°59.5′N
006°07.0′E
116°T
8.1
31.8
15:21 CEST
North-west of Porquerolles, by the Grand Ribaud light.
6
Porquerolles harbour
43°00.2′N
006°12.0′E
079°T
3.7
35.5
16:17 CEST
North side of the island. Position approximate. Check on the chart
Tides and time
Cassis · Sun 30 May · CEST (UTC+2)
HW
04:37
0.3 m
LW
11:36
0.1 m
HW
17:42
0.2 m
LW
22:53
0.1 m
From the Marseille station.
Porquerolles · Sun 30 May · CEST (UTC+2)
HW
04:59
0.4 m
LW
11:56
0.2 m
HW
17:34
0.3 m
LW
22:59
0.2 m
From the La Capte station.
Sunday 30 May 2027. Tides. The range here is 0.1 to 0.3 m: tides make no practical difference. Wind and air pressure move the sea level more than the tide does.
Porquerolles uses the La Capte station on the Giens peninsula.
Tide times are predictions made for this plan from the TICON-4 harmonic constants (DGFI-TUM) with the Neaps tide predictor, because the official 2027 tables were not yet published when it was written. Tested against the official APDL table for Leixões on 23 July 2026, the predicted times were within 8 minutes and the heights 0.1 to 0.2 m lower. Heights are above lowest astronomical tide. Check every time against the official 2027 table before sailing.
Daylight. Sunrise at Cassis 06:02 CEST. Sunset at Porquerolles 21:06 CEST.
Weather
Mistral. Blows from the west-north-west along this coast: fair, but gusty under the cliffs.
Easterly. An easterly brings swell and rain; Porquerolles harbour is open to the north-west.
Forecasts to check
Météo-France marine forecasts, meteofrance.com/meteo-marine: coastal zones Frontière espagnole to Port-Camargue, Port-Camargue to Saint-Raphaël, and Saint-Raphaël to Menton. Special bulletins (BMS côte) are issued for force 7 and above.
CROSS La Garde on VHF: regular bulletins 3 times a day, announced first on VHF 16. Special bulletins on VHF 80 every hour at 3 minutes past. Transmitters: Néoulos and Port-Vendres VHF 64, Agde 79, La Gâtasse 80, Mont Coudon (Toulon) 63, Camarat 80, Pic de l'Ours (Cannes) 64. Check the time for each transmitter in the Météo-France Guide Marine.
NAVTEX La Garde: sources disagree on the 518 kHz station letter and times. Check them against the Admiralty List of Radio Signals. Check the pilot book
Notices to mariners (AVURNAV) are published on PING, portail.ping-info-nautique.fr, and broadcast on VHF by the signal stations.
Hazards
Toulon. France's main naval base. The military port's limits are set by an arrêté ministériel of 23 December 2016, with its own water-use rules. Keep well clear of the harbour entrance and of warships; restricted and firing zones off the coast could not be checked.
Port-Cros National Park. Its core marine zone runs 600 m from the coasts of Port-Cros and Porquerolles. The current anchoring rules at Porquerolles could not be checked; a new buoy-field plan is not expected before 2028. Check on the chart
Port-Cros, if used instead. Harbour buoys on VHF 9 (+33 4 94 01 40 72): buoys 1 to 11 up to 10 m, 12 to 42 up to 15 m. Anchoring is banned all year in the Passe de Bagaud. The Bagaud buoy field (68 buoys, 15 April to 15 October) is free by day; nights must be booked at portcros.smartwaters.com. The park advises deep-keeled boats against the buoys near the coast.
Anchoring in France. The Mediterranean maritime prefecture's general anchoring rules apply along this coast (arrêté 123/2019), with stricter rules on seagrass (posidonia) meadows mainly aimed at yachts of 20 to 45 m and over, and a limit on how long a boat may stay at anchor (arrêté 77/2025). The limit itself was not checked for this plan. Check on the chart
Ports of refuge
Port
From the route
Use it when
Notes
Cassis
Start
Within the first hour
Harbour.
Bandol
2 nm north of the route
Weather turns
Marina. Check the pilot book
Port-Cros
6 nm east of Porquerolles
No room at Porquerolles
Harbour buoys, VHF 9.
Pilotage
Leaving Cassis
Leave the harbour and head south-east past Cap Canaille and the Bec de l'Aigle.
Entering Porquerolles
From Giens, cross to the north side of the island.
Call Porquerolles harbour for a berth. VHF, phone and depths: Check the pilot book
Lights on the way
Cap Sicié
Fl(2) 6s, 47 m
Cap Cépet
Fl(3) 15s, 76 m
Grand Ribaud
Fl(4) 15s, 35 m
Porquerolles (Cap d'Arme)
Fl(2) 10s, 80 m
Communications
Port-Cros harbour
VHF 9 · +33 4 94 01 40 72
Port-Cros National Park
+33 4 94 12 82 30
CROSS weather, Mont Coudon
VHF 63
Emergency at sea (CROSS)
VHF 16, DSC 70 · telephone 196, free, 24 h
Emergency on land
112
Contingencies
Easterly rises. Stop at Bandol or Sanary.
Warship or exercise off Toulon. Follow instructions from the navy; stand off if told.
Person overboard. Shout, point, throw the danger buoy, press MOB, DSC distress alert, Mayday on 16.
Before leaving
Forecasts read and logged before the go or no-go time
French notices to mariners (PING) checked for the route
Waypoints entered and checked against the chart
Ship's log started in UTC
Crew briefing: route, watches, safety gear, MOB, fog
Porquerolles berth booked, or Port-Cros buoy
Fuel for 8 hours under engine, plus a reserve
Water, food and hot drinks for 9 hours
Lifejackets with crotch straps, jackstays rigged, harnesses
Liferaft, grab bag, flares in date, handheld VHF
Radar, AIS and navigation lights tested
Passports, boat papers and insurance aboard
Sources
Port-Cros National Park: portcros-parcnational.fr (réglementation en mer; port de Port-Cros; ZMEL de Bagaud; projet de mouillages).
Toulon military port: arrêté ministériel du 23 décembre 2016 (premar-mediterranee.gouv.fr).
Préfecture maritime de la Méditerranée, premar-mediterranee.gouv.fr (arrêtés, AVURNAV).
Lights: The Lighthouse Directory, France (ibiblio.org/lighthouse/froc.htm, frbr.htm, frvar.htm, fralp.htm).
Tides: predictions from TICON-4 harmonic constants (Hart-Davis, Dettmering and Seitz, DGFI-TUM, 2025, doi 10.17882/109129) with Neaps (openwaters.io). Check against the Instituto Hidrográfico 2027 tables.
Sunrise and sunset: calculated (NOAA method).
Lights: The Lighthouse Directory (Rowlett), ibiblio.org/lighthouse, Portugal pages revised August 2024. Cross-check with the IH List of Lights, volume I.