Port des Minimes (La Rochelle, France)
| Location | Tour Richelieu light at 46 08.9 N 001 10.3 W, on the seaward side of La Rochelle, Charente-Maritime |
|---|---|
| Berths | 5,157 afloat including 400 for visitors on 64 pontoons, per the port's own Les Minimes page; Wikipedia gives about 4,700 permanent plus 400 visitors, one 2026 guide gives about 4,500 and Sea-Seek still lists about 3,300 on 48 pontoons |
| Basins | four at Les Minimes, Bout Blanc, Marillac, Lazaret and Tamaris |
| Land spaces | 78 for sport monotypes |
| History | built 1970 to 1972; the Grand Pavois boat show has been held here since 1973; a 1,100 berth extension opened in 2014 |
| Extension project | EUR 42 million excluding VAT, works June 2011 to December 2013 per the site board photographed in 2012; the funders named on it are the city, the Poitou-Charentes region, the agglomeration and the Charente-Maritime department |
| Operator | a municipal regie that became a regie of the La Rochelle agglomeration after the 2015 NOTRe law; the concession or contract terms are not published |
| Access channel | dredged to -0.8 m per the port; the page does not say whether that is a drying height, so treat it as a question for the harbour office |
| Speed limit | 3 knots in the basins and 5 knots in the channel per one 2026 guide |
| VHF | channel 9, Capitainerie des Minimes, watch kept 24 hours; telephone +33 5 46 44 41 20, option 3 |
| Fuel | 9 pumps, diesel and unleaded 98, card payment 24 hours, attendant June to August |
| Haul-out | the port lists 3 mobile lifts to 50 tonnes, a 30 tonne self-propelled crane and 2 fixed 2.5 tonne cranes at Quai Marillac; Sea-Seek and Wikipedia say 150 tonnes |
| Visitor tariff 2026 | EUR 36.00 a night in summer for 10 to 10.49 m, EUR 104.00 for 20 to 21.99 m, halved in winter, third night free |
| Boat show | Grand Pavois La Rochelle, 22 to 27 September 2026, with Japan as guest country |
A very large marina on the Atlantic side of an old harbour town
Port des Minimes is not the picturesque part of La Rochelle. That is the Vieux-Port with the two medieval towers either side of the entrance, and it is small. The Minimes is the working marina to the south west of the old town, built in 1970 to 1972 and arranged in four basins called Bout Blanc, Marillac, Lazaret and Tamaris. The port gives its position as the Tour Richelieu light at 46 08.9 N 001 10.3 W. The French Wikipedia puts it at about 15 km of pontoons on more than 70 hectares. It is also a town ashore: the campus of La Rochelle university, shops, a cinema and restaurants are beside it, and Wikipedia counts more than 10,000 students living in the Minimes district.
What it is for depends on who you are. For a cruising owner it is the obvious base for the Pertuis d'Antioche, the sheltered water between the mainland and the Ile de Re, Ile d'Aix and Ile d'Oleron. For a racing crew it is the home of the Pole France Voile and of more than a hundred nautical events a year, which is the figure the French Wikipedia article gives and the English one puts nearer 120. The Grand Pavois, a floating boat show held in the marina every September since 1973, is its best-known fixture.
Four counts of the same berths, and what the port itself says
The port's own Les Minimes page is the best single source: 5,157 afloat berths, 400 of them for visitors, on 64 pontoons, plus 78 land spaces for sport monotypes. Wikipedia is lower at about 4,700 permanent berths plus 400 for visitors in the English article and 4,700 including about 300 visitors in the French one. A 2026 boating guide, BoatCible, says about 4,500 in four basins with 300 visitor berths on six pontoons. Sea-Seek, the cruising directory, still lists about 3,300 berths on 48 pontoons in three basins and 300 for visitors, and its last updates are from 2019 to 2021, before the port's current count. A government maritime publication from the Atlantic directorate is reported to give 5,100.
The simplest reading is that the older figures predate the 2014 extension. The extension added about 1,100 berths to cut the wait for year-round moorings, and the site board photographed in 2012 gives the cost: EUR 42 million excluding VAT, works from June 2011 to December 2013, designed by the Arcadis and Urbicus group and paid for by the city, the Poitou-Charentes region, the agglomeration and the Charente-Maritime department. What nobody publishes is how many of the 5,157 are on annual contracts, how many are sub-let, and what the real turnover is on the 400 visitor berths. For an owner pricing a berth that is the number that matters, and it is not here.
Port des Minimes prints its visitor tariff to the cent and does not print how deep any of its berths are.
The approach, the channel and the depth question
Sea-Seek describes the approach: the Tour Richelieu, a red octagonal light of 17 m, marks the channel, and about 200 m beyond it a west cardinal light buoy marked M leads into the Minimes marina, followed by lateral buoys to port. Leading lights on 059 degrees help: a white octagonal tower with a green top, 23 m high, at the rear and a red and white banded cylindrical light, 14 m high, in front. The capitainerie keeps a VHF watch on channel 9 around the clock. One 2026 guide puts the speed limit at 3 knots in the basins and 5 knots in the channel and mentions tidal streams up to 2 knots at springs, which is a single source and worth checking on arrival.
Depth is the one thing the port leaves vague. Its Les Minimes page says the access channel is dredged to -0.8 m and gives no depth at any berth. A figure with a minus sign can mean the channel dries at chart datum, and the same guide says the channel is open for more than 80 per cent of the time for a normal sailing yacht. Noonsite's entry, as it comes up in a search, says access is limited by the depth in the approach channel. Wikipedia gives a draught of 2 m at the Minimes and 4.5 m in the Bassin des Chalutiers; the second figure is consistent with the Cruising Association, which recommends the Chalutiers to anyone over 40 ft or drawing more than 1.5 m. That is an inference rather than a published rule, so ask the harbour office on channel 9 before you commit a deep keel to a low-water arrival. Published spring high-water heights for 2026 are about 6.0 to 6.1 m, which is a large tide, and the forum report below says berths silt.
What a night costs, and what the tariff leaves out
The 2026 visitor tariff is printed on the port's website in 23 length categories, with prices including VAT at 20 per cent. A summer night, between 1 May and 30 September, costs EUR 36.00 in the 10 to 10.49 m category and EUR 38.50 from 10.5 to 10.99 m. It is EUR 52.40 from 12 to 12.99 m, EUR 73.40 from 15 to 15.99 m, EUR 93.10 from 18 to 19.99 m, EUR 104.00 from 20 to 21.99 m and EUR 116.20 from 22 to 23.99 m. The winter rate, 1 January to 30 April and 1 October to 31 December, is exactly half. A week of seven nights for the 10 to 10.49 m category is EUR 203.70 in summer, a month is EUR 611.20, and the winter figures are half again. The tariff includes water, 1.3 kW of electricity, rubbish collection and the toilets.
The rules matter more than the table. A multihull is charged at 1.6 times the monohull category, so a 12 m catamaran pays the 12 m price times 1.6, about EUR 83.84 in summer. The category is set by length overall including fixed fittings, and if your beam is wider than the category's maximum you pay the category for your beam; the 10 to 10.49 m class, for example, allows 3.55 m. Boats of 24 m and over are priced by phone, option 3, with 5 per cent added for each metre beyond 24. The third night is free if you are charged by the day and pay in cash, it cannot be combined with a weekly or monthly rate, and it renews after seven nights away. The weekly and monthly rates do not apply during major events. An undeclared stay, leaving without paying or refusing to pay costs a EUR 50 fee on top. One secondary guide quoted EUR 34 for 10 m, which fits the 9.5 to 9.99 m category and not the 10 m one, so use the port's own grid.
Reserving, waiting and the week of the boat show
The 2026 BoatCible guide says La Rochelle is one of the few Atlantic ports where booking is not essential, thanks to the 400 visitor berths. Michael Briant's cruising guide says to park up on the visitors' pontoon and the harbour staff will come and find you to book you in, and the Cruising Association's May 2025 report on the Bassin des Chalutiers says to call the capitainerie in advance. The port's own page gives VHF 9 and the telephone number. Noonsite's entry as indexed says visitors berth on the right-hand side of the arrivals pontoon and on pontoons 1 to 7. The forum writer John_Silver, who has visited most summers for about 10 years, says he has had to wait for a gap on the visitors' pontoon or for admission to the Bassin des Chalutiers, and gives no waiting time.
The Grand Pavois changes the rules. The 2026 edition ran from 22 to 27 September, with Japan as guest country, and the sources disagree about its scale: the Ministry of the Sea expected more than 50,000 visitors, 600 exhibiting brands and 500 boats with 250 afloat, while the organiser's material and a festival listing give 70,000 visitors and about 700 boats, around 300 afloat. During the show the port adds pontoons, and the weekly and monthly rates do not apply. The dates for the 2027 edition did not turn up in the sources used here. An annual berth is a different matter: BoatCible reports a wait of about six years, which is a secondary source and not a port figure. The port does not publish a waiting list or its rules.
Fuel, haul-out and what the yards can take
Fuel is straightforward: nine pumps with diesel and unleaded 98, an attendant from June to August and card payment around the clock. Handling is at Quai Marillac, Monday to Saturday, 8 to 12 and 14 to 18, closing at 17:00 from November to January, by appointment on site or by phone (option 1; [email protected]). The port lists three mobile lifts to a maximum of 50 tonnes, a 30 tonne self-propelled crane and two fixed electric cranes of 2.5 tonnes. Sea-Seek, in a 2019 to 2021 entry, gives a 150 tonne travel lift and three hoists of 10 to 50 tonnes, and the French Wikipedia says the yard zone lifts to 150 tonnes with about 160 specialised companies. The most likely explanation is that the 150 tonne machine belongs to a yard and not to the port, but none of the sources says so, and that is a call to make before any large boat is booked in.
There are free showers and toilets at the capitainerie, Lazaret, Bout Blanc and Quai Marillac with badge access around the clock, free Wi-Fi for port customers, used-oil and battery collection, a slipway at the capitainerie (paid), a weather bulletin posted at 8:30 each morning and ten-trip public transport tickets at 12 euros. Bicycles are free for two hours, then 6 euros an hour per bike. The port page does not mention a pump-out, although BoatCible says a self-service pump-out for black and grey water is available on dedicated pontoons. A forum member, dunedin, advises booking lift-outs early because space ashore is limited, and Nigel52 calls La Rochelle one of the best west coast bases for its many boatbuilders and travel hoists. Neither gives a price.
Getting into town, and where to eat
John_Silver puts the town at about a 15 minute walk, while stranded, who is planning a move there, points out that the walk is long from the furthest berths and plans to bring bikes. A folding bike is worth having according to dunedin, and the port lends bicycles free for two hours. The Bus de Mer, a boat between the Minimes and the Vieux-Port, takes about 20 minutes according to a January 2026 product sheet, with a separate three minute ferry across the channel to the Ville en Bois. The agglomeration has put the service out to tender: the notice values the contract at EUR 9.8 million excluding VAT and runs 95 months from 1 February 2027, so the operator, timetable and fare may change. A 2024 forum post says the airport bus takes about 15 minutes for 1.30 euros, and the railway station is a short walk from the old town.
Eating next to the basins is easier to name than to rank. Pier Cuisine Terre & Mer, at 37 avenue des Minimes, is described by a Charente-Maritime guide as having a terrace overlooking the marina and as recommending reservations, and Gault&Millau scores it 13 out of 20. L'Esquisse is at 25 bis avenue des Minimes. Octopus La Rochelle is the restaurant named in the Figaro Nautisme port guide. The Cruising Association's Nicky Barker, writing about the Chalutiers, mentions a Carrefour City about three minutes away and a Monoprix in the old town about ten minutes on foot. Bobc, on the forum, says the town is busy and open all year, which is not true of every French Atlantic marina and is the practical case for the place.
Storm, silt and what owners say
Storm Xynthia, on 28 February 2010, is the event on record. The photographs taken that day show sea water over the ground beside the Minimes marina and wrecked street furniture, and a parliamentary mission report names the Minimes among the main ports of the region affected. Yachting Monthly reported on 22 June 2010 that La Rochelle and Les Sables-d'Olonne were still turning visiting yachts away while pontoons and lock gates awaited repair; the article does not say which La Rochelle basin. An extension study by the consultancy Creocean assessed the effect of the extension on water level and agitation under Xynthia conditions, and the agglomeration has since deployed a flexible barrier at the Vieux-Port that is raised only on warnings. None of those sources says what protection the Minimes basins have now.
On the forum thread of October 2024 an owner asked whether the marina has odour and rough berths after reading an AI summary that said so. John_Silver, who has visited for 10 years, and Bobc both reported no smell, and John_Silver said no swell gets in; PlanB, passing through for a few days, noticed no smell either and remembered storm damage a few years earlier. Dunedin's warning is about silting: berths can silt up, so check the depth, and book lift-outs early. Those are four people's experience and not a survey, and the port publishes no depth or dredging programme to set against them.
Ashore, access and booking
| Getting there | La Rochelle has its own airport with summer flights, and one forum member says the airport bus takes about 15 minutes for 1.30 euros each way; the station for the TGV to Paris is a short walk from the old town and the Minimes is on the sea side of the city, with city bus lines, footpaths and cycle paths between. The Bus de Mer between the Vieux-Port and the Minimes takes about 20 minutes. The operator, timetable and fare for 2027 are open: the agglomeration put the service out to tender in 2025 for 95 months from 1 February 2027. The port sells public transport tickets at the capitainerie, a ten-trip card at 12 euros. |
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| Arriving by sea and clearing in | Aim for the Tour Richelieu, a 17 m red octagonal light, and leave the west cardinal light buoy M, about 200 m beyond it, as the entrance mark. Leading lights on 059 degrees are an octagonal white tower with a green top, 23 m, at the rear and a red and white banded cylinder, 14 m, in front. Call the Capitainerie des Minimes on VHF 9, watched 24 hours, or on +33 5 46 44 41 20, option 3. One 2026 guide gives 3 knots in the basins and 5 knots in the channel, and streams of up to 2 knots at springs. The port gives the channel as dredged to -0.8 m; ask what that means for your draught and the state of the tide. |
| Reserving a berth | Reservation is not essential outside the Grand Pavois because 400 berths are set aside for visitors; call on channel 9, tie up at the visitors' pontoon and the staff book you in. For the Grand Pavois, which ran 22 to 27 September in 2026, one guide advises booking at least two weeks ahead and another says several. For 24 m and over call +33 5 46 44 41 20, option 3. An annual berth is a long wait, reported as about six years by BoatCible, which is not the port's own figure. |
| What a berth costs, 2026 tariff | Prices include 20 per cent VAT, per night. Summer 1 May to 30 September: EUR 18.10 for 6 to 6.49 m, EUR 36.00 for 10 to 10.49 m, EUR 52.40 for 12 to 12.99 m, EUR 73.40 for 15 to 15.99 m, EUR 93.10 for 18 to 19.99 m, EUR 104.00 for 20 to 21.99 m and EUR 116.20 for 22 to 23.99 m. Winter is half. Seven nights for 10 to 10.49 m: EUR 203.70 in summer; a month EUR 611.20. Multihulls pay 1.6 times; 24 m and over add 5 per cent a metre. The third night is free if paid cash by the day. |
| What is included and what is extra | The tariff includes water, 1.3 kW of electricity, rubbish and the toilets. Showers and toilets are free with a badge at the capitainerie, Lazaret, Bout Blanc and Quai Marillac. Wi-Fi is free for port customers. Bicycles are free for two hours and 6 euros an hour per bike after that. An undeclared stay or leaving without paying costs a EUR 50 fee, and unpaid fees carry 10 per cent after a formal demand. |
| Fuel and haul-out | Nine pumps with diesel and unleaded 98, card payment around the clock, attendant June to August. Quai Marillac handling: 3 mobile lifts to 50 tonnes, a 30 tonne crane, two 2.5 tonne cranes; Monday to Saturday, 8 to 12 and 14 to 18, to 17:00 from November to January; [email protected] or option 1 on the same number. Sea-Seek and Wikipedia say 150 tonnes; the port page does not. |
| Eating and drinking nearby | Pier Cuisine Terre & Mer, 37 avenue des Minimes, has a terrace over the marina and reservations are recommended; L'Esquisse is at 25 bis avenue des Minimes; Octopus La Rochelle is named in the Figaro Nautisme port guide. The old town, a 15 minute walk from the nearer berths according to a regular visitor, has the markets and the Monoprix. Opening hours and distances from each pontoon are not in the sources. |
| After dark and the fixed dates | The harbour office keeps a VHF watch around the clock, and toilets and showers are open 24 hours with a badge. The Grand Pavois is each September, and in 2026 it ran 22 to 27 September from 10:00 to 19:00, with Sunday closing at 18:00. Over a hundred nautical events fill the rest of the year, the French Wikipedia says. Weekly and monthly rates are suspended during major events, per the 2026 tariff. |
| What is NOT published | Depth at any berth, and whether the -0.8 m channel figure is a drying height. The waiting list for annual contracts. How many of the 5,157 berths are annual, and the occupancy of the 400 visitor berths. The terms of the regie's contract. The 2027 Grand Pavois dates. The Bus de Mer fare and the operator after 1 February 2027. Whether the 150 tonne lift quoted elsewhere is the port's or a yard's. Any independent test of the protection of the basins against a storm like Xynthia. |
What owners and crew report
No smell and no swell, after ten summers
In a YBW forum thread of 25 and 26 October 2024, a member writing as John_Silver said he had visited most summers for about 10 years, noticed no odour or weather problems and that no swell gets in, and called the team helpful and multilingual. Another, Bobc, said he had never noticed a smell or a swell at the Minimes and that the town is busy and open all year. The question that started the thread, about odour and rough berths, came from an AI summary and was not an owner report.
YBW forum (John_Silver, Bobc)The visitors' pontoon can be full, and the Chalutiers is the fallback
John_Silver said he usually waits for a gap on the visitors' pontoon or for admission to the Bassin des Chalutiers. The Cruising Association's report on the Chalutiers, by member Nicky Barker and updated on 23 May 2025, says the basin suits boats over 40 ft or drawing more than 1.5 m, with a gate that usually opens about four times per high water (HW-2, HW-1, HW and HW+1.5) and staff who open it only when they know boats are coming; most vessels go to pontoon C3 with 11 m fingers.
YBW forum and Cruising AssociationSilt, lift-out space and the regatta
Dunedin told the same thread that berths can silt up, so check the depth, and that lift-outs should be booked early because space ashore is limited. PlanB, who had stayed a few days on passage, noted an annual regatta, which affects berth security, and vaguely remembered storm damage a few years earlier. Nigel52 called La Rochelle one of the best west coast bases and mentioned the boatbuilders and travel hoists at the Minimes.
YBW forum (dunedin, PlanB, Nigel52)What the berth numbers hide
The port's own page counts 5,157 berths, a figure higher than Wikipedia, a 2026 guide and Sea-Seek, which still shows 3,300 on 48 pontoons. A forum member planning an annual contract wanted a base with a town open all year and noted the walk is long from the furthest berths, which is the sort of thing a berth count does not show. Sea-Seek's last contributor updates date from 2019 to 2021, and the BoatCible guide dates from 2026.
Sea-Seek and BoatCibleStorm Xynthia and the closure that followed
Yachting Monthly's Dick Durham reported on 22 June 2010 that its correspondent Miranda Delmar-Morgan had been turned away from La Rochelle, where pontoons and lock gates awaited repair after the February storm. The report does not say how long the closure lasted or which basin it concerned. Yotters found no owner account of the Minimes marina after Xynthia, and nothing recent on its resilience, from owners.
Yachting MonthlyNo independent report on the haul-out or a large yacht
Yotters found no owner, captain or crew report of using the Quai Marillac lifts, no price list for them and no report of a yacht over 24 m berthing at the Minimes, though the tariff continues above that by phone. For anything big the sources here are the port's own pages and directories.
Yotters desk
What is good, and what to watch
Strong points
- The tariff is published, complete and currentA 23-category grid to 24 m, to the cent, with VAT, weekly and monthly rates, a third night free and a 50 per cent winter rate, on the port's website for 2026. Most European marinas say on application.
- Berths for visitors without a booking game400 are set aside for visitors, and a cruising guide and a 2026 guide say you can arrive and be booked in. Outside the boat show that is a real advantage on a coast where many marinas are full.
- A base for the whole Pertuis d'AntiocheIle de Re, Ile d'Aix and Ile d'Oleron are a short sail away, the town is open all year and a railway station and an airport serve it. Nigel52 on the forum calls La Rochelle one of the best west coast bases.
- Fuel around the clock and a yard zone beside the pontoonsNine pumps with card payment 24 hours, three lifts and a crane at Quai Marillac and about 160 specialised nautical companies according to the French Wikipedia, with free bicycles, showers and Wi-Fi.
What to watch
- No depth published for the berths and an ambiguous channel figureThe port gives -0.8 m for the access channel and nothing for the basins. A forum member warns berths can silt. A deep keel has to ask before arriving.
- The berth count depends on whom you read5,157 on the port's page, about 4,700 on Wikipedia, about 4,500 in a 2026 guide and about 3,300 on Sea-Seek. A buyer cannot tell what is on an annual contract.
- Not for big yachtsThe published tariff stops at 24 m and above that is by phone, with 5 per cent a metre added. The Bassin des Chalutiers is the Cruising Association's suggestion for deep or long boats, with a gate that opens only around high water.
- Boat-show weeks and lift-out queuesThe Grand Pavois changes availability and suspends the weekly and monthly rates, and a forum member warns that lift-outs must be booked early because space ashore is limited.
- Storm exposure is on the record and the protection is not documentedXynthia damaged the Minimes in February 2010. The sources here do not say what the basins would withstand today.
Who it is for: A cruising or racing owner between about 8 and 24 metres who wants a deep-pocketed, well-serviced base or an easy stop on the French Atlantic coast, with a published price and no booking fuss outside the boat show. Not for a deep-draught or very long yacht that needs a guaranteed berth, or for anyone who needs a published depth and a known waiting-list time before committing to a year.