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The Port-Miou calanque

small port at the gates of the Calanques

The calanque of Port-Miou is the closest calanque to Cassis. Easy to access, it allows most people to appreciate the beauty of the Calanques National Park. You will certainly pass by it if you wish to go to the Port-Pin cove, located a little further along the route.

Discover the calanque

A pretty port in the middle of nature

The calanque of Port-Miou is the closest to Cassis. Accessible on foot from the town centre in 30 minutes with the GR58-51, it is also possible to come by car and park in the Presqu’île car park (paying in summer, 10 euros a day). The calanque of Port-Miou is ideal for family walks as it is easy to access.

At the end of the peninsula you will have a magnificent view of the Cap Canaille and its ochre cliffs, and on the right the mouth of the cove, wild. A palette of blue, white and green dominates: the sea, the limestone and the pine forest.

Port-Pin, its neighbour, is only 2 km away and a 25 minute walk along the coastline: it is easy to go from one cove to the other. By forcing a little you will arrive then at the spectacular cove of En Vau in about 1 hour of walking for 3.6 km.

Its particular geology

Port-Miou winds its way inland for almost a kilometre, wedged between cliffs. It has the strange characteristic of having a small underwater spring, an exsurgence whose origin is still not well known. A small scum and a slight surface current identify the phenomenon, which also causes a very cold current of fresh water, mixed with the warmer sea water in general.

A well-sheltered port

The Port-Miou cove has served as a natural shelter for boats since antiquity and over the centuries has become a cargo port annexed to that of Cassis. At the end of the 19th century, a quarry was exploited: unlike the noble stone of Cassis, the stone of Port-Miou was only used for the manufacture of caustic soda, an ingredient in the Marseille’s soap. The quarry was closed in the early 1980s, and the cove was transformed into a light nautical base. Today it houses some 550 boats of less than 20 metres, has its own yacht club, and its harbour office. The main building of the cove, pompously named “the castle”, was occupied by the employees of the last quarry operator, then rehabilitated under the impulse of the Cassidian municipality. In addition to the harbour master’s office, it now houses the Calanques National park, and environmental associations.

Practicle informations

The Port-Pin calanque is at the heart of the Calanques National park : access is therefore regulated. Indeed, the high risk of fires during the summer due to the heat and wind can lead to the closure of the Calanques National Park. Don’t forget to consult the website of the Bouches-du-Rhône which updates the accessibility of the different forest areas of the department every evening, or the app Mes Calanques.

You can visit the calanque by boat on a mini-cruise, leaving from Cassis with the Groupement des Bateliers Cassidains, or from Marseille with the company Croisières Marseille Calanques.

For sailors, you can request permission to anchor from the Capitainerie (Phone. 0442019624)

Discover the access rules of the Calanques

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