Local skipper · Marseille
A small-group boat leaves Marseille, runs down the national park coast and stops so you can swim in a calanque. It is the default choice for a first visit: more people have booked and reviewed it than any other calanques trip, and the options run from a short morning to most of the day.
This is the trip most people mean when they say "a boat to the calanques". You board in Marseille, a skipper takes a small group south along the coast of the Calanques National Park, and somewhere along the way the boat stops in a calanque so you can get in the water. The listing offers several durations, from 3 to 4.5 hours, and the longer the option, the further east the boat can go.
Know one thing before you go. You will see the famous coves from the water, and you will swim somewhere else. Landing on En-Vau beach from a boat has been banned since the 2000s, and since summer 2021 boats may not anchor or drift in En-Vau or Port-Pin either. Every honest operator stops for the swim in a cove where anchoring is allowed. The park sea rules explain the yellow buoys and the 5-knot limit inside 300 metres of the shore, which is why the boat slows right down near the cliffs.
Pick it for the short transfer and the small group: there is no bus to Cassis, and you are on the water within minutes of the Vieux-Port area. Skip it if you want lunch on board (look at the catamaran picnic trip) or a day under sail (the 1949 schooner). The exact meeting point and the time are on your voucher, so read it the night before.
Go to the quay named on your voucher. Marseille's harbours are big, so allow time to walk the pontoons.
The boat leaves the city behind and heads south along the coast towards the national park.
Slow passes below the white limestone, inside the yellow buoys where every boat drops to 5 knots.
The skipper anchors in a cove where anchoring is allowed. Jump in, float, look up at the cliffs.
A faster run home along the coast, with the city and Notre-Dame de la Garde ahead.
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You see En-Vau from the water only if your option goes that far east. No boat may land passengers on its beach, and anchoring in En-Vau and Port-Pin has been banned since 2021. The swim happens in another cove.
The listing offers options from 3 to 4.5 hours. Pick the duration when you book; the longer trips cover more of the coast.
From Marseille. The exact quay is printed on your voucher, so check it before the day. Marseille has several harbours and the walk between them is long.
The listing offers free cancellation up to 24 hours before. If the skipper cancels for wind or swell, you are offered a new date or a refund. See our Marseille guide for how the mistral affects trips.
Ready to book
A small-group boat from Marseille into the national park with a swim in a calanque. Free cancellation up to 24 hours before.
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