Private water taxi in Arès
From the very tip of Arcachon Bay, cross to Cap Ferret's villages, Andernos or Arcachon in one straight line — instead of driving the long way around. Enclosed-cabin boats, private skipper, departures timed to the Arès channel tide.
Indicative pricing.
Prices from, for 1 to 12 guests — firm quote within hours (captain, fuel, insurance, fees included).
Le fond du Bassin d'Arcachon, à marée et en ligne droite
Arès n'est pas un port comme les autres : c'est le fond nord du Bassin d'Arcachon, un plan d'eau qui se vide et se remplit deux fois par jour. Nos opérateurs partenaires travaillent avec les annuaires de marée du chenal d'Arès, savent quand la vieille jetée du XVIIIe siècle est praticable et quand il faut basculer sur le ponton d'accueil du port ostréicole, et tracent leur route entre les parcs à huîtres balisés du nord du Bassin. C'est cette lecture fine de la marée et des chenaux — pas la vitesse brute — qui fait la différence entre un transfert fluide et une attente sur la vasière.
The Bay's dead end — by road
Arès sits at the very northern tip of Arcachon Bay: to reach Claouey or Le Piquey by car you must loop through Lège and down the single peninsula road, which crawls in July and August. By water, those same villages are just across the channel — minutes away in a straight line.
Skippers who read the Arès tide
This is not a deep-water port: the Arès channel dries at low tide and the old jetty even disappears under water on big coefficients. Our partner skippers plan each pickup on the tide window, tell you the exact boarding time and adjust the pontoon — jetty or oyster port — to the day's water level.
The wild side of the Bay
Leaving Arès by boat means sliding past the salt marshes of the Prés Salés d'Arès et de Lège-Cap-Ferret nature reserve, the oyster cabins of the port, then out towards the Île aux Oiseaux and its stilted cabanes tchanquées — a crossing that is itself the excursion.
Where we pick you up.
- No hotel in Arès has its own private dock — boarding is arranged at the public jetty or the oyster port, both a short ride from anywhere in town
- Guests of Hôtel Le Grain de Sable and of the town's seafront villas are picked up at the agreed pontoon; your skipper confirms the exact spot with the tide time
- Jetée d'Arès — the oldest jetty on the Bay (18th century), reaching out to the Arès channel; boarding here around high water on moderate tides only — on big coefficients the jetty itself can be submerged, so pickup automatically switches to the oyster port pontoon
- Port ostréicole d'Arès — the oyster harbour lined with working cabins, with a welcome pontoon below the harbourmaster's office; the usual pickup point when the tide allows entry, and the fallback whenever the jetty is unusable
Tell us your trip. Quote in hours.
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