Best Anchorages in the Calanques

Calanque de Sormiou is one of the most accessible and widest of the Marseille calanques — a spectacular inlet with turquoise water, white limestone walls, and a small village of traditional fishing cottages (cabanons) at the head.

Calanque de Morgiou is narrower and wilder than Sormiou — arguably the most dramatic of the accessible Marseille calanques.

Calanque de Sugiton is one of the most popular hiking destinations from Marseille (the land trail from Luminy is 30min) and equally spectacular from the sea — narrow, intensely clear water, and wild vegetation on the cliffs.

Calanque d'En-Vau is widely regarded as the most beautiful calanque in the world — 400m vertical white limestone walls plunging into an impossibly turquoise pool, accessible from the sea only through a narrow entrance.

Calanque de Port-Miou is the most accessible of the three Cassis calanques from the sea — a long, narrow fjord-like inlet that leads to a yacht club and private marina at the inner end.

Baie de Cassis is the gateway to the Cassis calanques — a pleasant bay with the picturesque town of Cassis immediately behind, dominated by Cap Canaille (394m, the highest maritime cliff in France) to the E.

The Calanque de Marseilleveyre marks the SW gateway to the Calanques massif — a wild, rugged bay with the distinctive Île de Maïre offshore (an uninhabited island 2nm SW of Marseille).