43°33'N 7°01'E · Western Mediterranean
Cannes & the Lerins Yacht Guide
Cannes is a working event town with a yacht harbor bolted to its front porch. The Vieux Port sits directly under the Palais des Festivals, which means for two weeks in May it is the most expensive concrete in the Mediterranean, and for the rest of the year it is a well-run municipal port with surprising big-boat capacity. Port Canto, a mile east along the Croisette, took over the superyacht trade after its rebuild. Two miles offshore, the Iles de Lerins give you the anchorage that makes the whole stop work: Sainte-Marguerite's north shore is the Riviera's day-boat living room. The town itself needs no introduction and asks for none.
Season & Arrival
May through September is the season, with the Film Festival in mid-May and the Cannes Yachting Festival in mid-September as the berth-rate singularities. July and August bring the full Riviera crush and afternoon westerlies of 15 to 20 knots. Winter is mild, quiet, and one of the better Med liveaboard months-long stays going.
The Guide
Marinas
The Vieux Port holds roughly 700 berths with the Quai Max Laubeuf taking yachts to 80-plus meters stern-to in the heart of the action; depths run 4 to 7 meters and surge is minimal except in strong southerlies. Port Canto, rebuilt and repositioned as the superyacht port, runs about 550 berths with a dedicated big-boat quay to 90 meters, better security, easier truck access for events, and a 20-minute Croisette walk or 5-minute tender run to town. Normal high-summer rates for a 40-meter run several thousand euros a night; festival fortnights multiply that 3 to 5 times and sell out a year ahead through brokers and event agents. Marina availability is the entire game in May: berths at both ports during the Festival are traded like Super Bowl boxes, often bundled with event sponsorships. Shore power to 400V is standard, and both ports handle black-water pump-out. Mandelieu La Napoule and Golfe-Juan, each 3 to 4 miles away, are the relief-valve ports when Cannes is full.
Operating Data
- Vieux Port
- ~700 berths, to 80+ m at Quai Laubeuf
- Port Canto
- ~550 berths, superyacht quay to 90 m
- Festival berth premium
- 3-5x normal rates, book a year out
Operating data is updated each season. Confirm critical figures with the operator before arrival.
Captain Notes
- Festival berthing is a brokered market, not a booking; if the owner wants the boat off the Palais in May, the conversation starts the previous June and the number has a comma in it.
- Charter dynamics during event weeks invert: the boat earns more as a static venue alongside than cruising, and the AV-rigging load-in needs Port Canto's truck access.
- The Lerins channel on an August weekend is amateur hour at 6 knots; transit early or take the outside of Saint-Honorat.
- Posidonia zones around the islands are redrawn frequently; pull the current ZMEL chart each spring rather than anchoring off last season's track.
- Mistral remnants reach here as a hard westerly; Sainte-Marguerite's anchorage empties fast when it builds past 25 knots, and the Vieux Port entrance gets lumpy.
Local Red Flags
- Southerly gales make the Lerins anchorages and the Vieux Port entrance dangerous with short warning; have the Golfe-Juan bolt-hole pre-agreed.
- Festival-period pricing applies to everything, fuel trucks, florists, last-minute labor; budgets built on June numbers fail in May.
- Anchoring fines for posidonia damage now run to five figures for large yachts and enforcement is photographic; clear sand or a ball, no exceptions.
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