A day on the water is how Cannes actually works in season: out of Port Canto mid-morning, lunch on the île Sainte-Marguerite, back for the evening. We arrange the boat, the table and the car at the quay as one booking.
*High-season guide for a 20–25 m day boat, plus fuel and APA — your dates quoted exactly.
The Cannes day
The classic run is short and perfect: out past the Croisette, twenty minutes to the
îles de Lérins, anchor off Sainte-Marguerite and tender in to
La Guérite for lunch — the island
table that defines the season. Swim, siesta on the bow, and you are back alongside in
time for Bâoli. During the
festival fortnight the water is the only
calm place in town — and the only parking that works.
Antibes & the Cap
Half a day stretches naturally around the Cap d’Antibes — the
billionaires’ bay reads best from the water — with lunch options from
Pampelonne to the plage clubs of Juan-les-Pins. Searches for yacht hire in Antibes and
Cannes are the same charter market; the boats sit in the same ports.
Berthing in Cannes and the anchoring rules at the Lérins islands
Cannes has two main harbours at either end of the Croisette. Which one your yacht uses shapes where the car meets you.
The Vieux Port
The Vieux Port sits beside the Palais des Festivals, at the western end of the Croisette. It has about 645 berths, 55 of them for yachts over 24 metres, and takes yachts up to 140 metres.
A redevelopment is under way that will add mooring for larger yachts. In festival fortnight this is the harbour closest to the red carpet.
Port Pierre Canto
Port Canto sits at the eastern end of the Croisette and is run by the town. It has 553 berths for yachts up to 90 metres and has held the Pavillon Bleu label since 2008.
It is usually a quieter place to step aboard than the Vieux Port in festival weeks.
The Lérins islands
Sainte-Marguerite and Saint-Honorat lie within a Natura 2000 site whose Posidonia seagrass covers several hundred hectares. Anchoring on seagrass is now a criminal offence in France.
Larger yachts are barred from anchoring in the marked seagrass zones under prefectoral orders. They lie further out and send guests in by tender.
Smaller boats have a managed buoy field at the Anse Sainte-Anne. It has 28 buoys for boats of 6 to 20 metres, booked through Port Mouré Rouge, with a seven-night limit.
None of this changes lunch. It changes where the yacht lies while you eat at La Guérite. For festival dates, see the Cannes Film Festival. The fastest arrival from Nice is by helicopter.
How much does yacht hire in Cannes cost?
High-season guide for a 20–25 m day boat: €5,000–9,000 a day plus fuel and APA. Larger yachts and full weeks are quoted per itinerary — one clear figure, with berthing, fuel and crew gratuity itemised before you commit.
Are the boats crewed?
Always — skipper and crew as standard, chef and hostess on the larger boats. You step on and off; everything in between is handled.
Can you book the tables and beach clubs around the boat?
That is the point of one desk: the daybeds, lunches and nights around your Cannes charter are held by the same concierge that books the boat — see the venues we cover and ask for the day as one plan.
