Port de plaisance du Havre: Getting There, Harbour Information and Sailing Destinations

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The Port de plaisance du Havre lies at the entrance to the Baie de Seine in the northern part of the outer harbour of Le Havre, only a few minutes' walk from the beach and the town centre. It is accessible around the clock and at any state of the tide, and has around 1,100 berths in the main basin. Here you can read how to get to the Port de plaisance du Havre for the start of your sailing trip, where to park and shop, what weather to expect, which sailing destinations are nearby and what skippers should know about registration, approach and marine weather.

Where is the Port de plaisance du Havre?

The Port de plaisance du Havre occupies the two bays Anse des Régates and Anse de Joinville in the north of the outer harbour. The harbour office is at 125 Boulevard Clemenceau, the town beach begins right next to it, and the MuMa art museum is only a few steps away. The tourist information office is around 200 metres from the harbour, and you can reach the town hall and the town centre with its shops on foot.

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The same operator also runs Port Vauban, with around 170 berths in an inner basin near the railway station. You can only get there through the Quinette lock and past the Pont de l’Eure bridge, and passage is only possible in the morning and evening at fixed times and after registering. Visiting boats berth in the main basin by the beach.

Arriving for the start of your sailing trip at the Port de plaisance du Havre

The easiest way to reach Le Havre is by train via Paris. In the city, trams and buses run to near the harbour.

From the airport to Le Havre

If you are travelling by air, the Paris airports Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle and Orly are the obvious choices. From Paris, take the train from Paris Saint-Lazare station on to Le Havre. The small Le Havre-Octeville airport is served mainly by holiday flights. As things stand (November 2026), a taxi from there to the city centre costs around 15 to 20 euros.

By car, train, bus or ferry

By car, you reach Le Havre from Paris, Rouen and Caen via the A13 motorway, and from northern France via the A16, A28 or A29. It is around 195 kilometres by road to Paris, around 91 to Rouen and around 85 to Caen.

As things stand (November 2026), 16 trains a day run between Paris Saint-Lazare and Le Havre, and the fastest take 2 hours 5 minutes. From Le Havre station, the tram takes you towards the beach in around 20 minutes. Tram lines A and B stop about ten minutes' walk from the Port de plaisance. The stops for bus lines 1, 7 and 13 are closer, about five minutes on foot. A single ticket for the city's LiA network is valid for one hour and costs 1.80 euros.

The ferry service between Le Havre and Portsmouth was discontinued in September 2026. Ferries run from Portsmouth to Caen and Cherbourg (as of November 2026), and from there you can continue to Le Havre by car or train.

Parking

The nearest car parks are on the Quai Éric Tabarly and the Boulevard Clemenceau, each around 300 metres from the Port de plaisance. There is more parking on the Rue des Sauveteurs and the Rue Augustin Normand, around 400 metres from the harbour.

Showers and sanitary facilities

There are sanitary facilities with showers at the Port de plaisance. They can be accessed with the harbour access card, which you receive when you register at the harbour office. If you arrive outside office hours, you can collect the card from the machine at the entrance to the harbour office.

Shopping for the trip

Within walking distance, you will find a Super U around 450 metres from the harbour. A Carrefour Market and a U Express are each around 750 metres away, and a Monoprix is around 1.4 kilometres away. For a bigger shop by car, there is an Auchan around 3.7 kilometres north of the harbour. A bakery and a butcher are around five minutes' walk from the harbour. The covered market Les Halles, around ten minutes on foot, sells fruit and vegetables, cheese and delicatessen products.

Doctor, pharmacy and emergency services

The nearest pharmacy is the Pharmacie Saint-Joseph, around 550 metres from the harbour. The Hôpital Flaubert hospital is around 1.8 kilometres away. In France, you can reach the ambulance service, police and fire brigade on these numbers:

• 112: European emergency number
• 15: medical emergency (SAMU), 17: police, 18: fire brigade
• 196: sea rescue when calling from the coast. At sea you call on VHF channel 16.

What does the Port de plaisance du Havre offer?

The Port de plaisance du Havre is a large city harbour with a fuel station on the pontoon, cranes and its own boatyard area.

Feature	Details
Location	Anse des Régates and Anse de Joinville in the outer harbour, Boulevard Clemenceau 125, 76600 Le Havre
Berths	around 1,100 in the main basin for boats from 5 to 19 m, plus around 170 in the Port Vauban
Visitor pontoons	P and O at the entrance, on finger pontoons or alongside
Water depth	around 3 m in the basins of the Port de plaisance, around 15 m in the outer harbour
Access	around the clock, regardless of the tide
VHF channel	9 (harbour office), 12 (Havre Port harbour traffic)
Harbour office telephone	+33 2 35 21 23 95
Berth fee for a 12 m boat	47 € per day, all year round; under 4 hours 16 € (as of November 2026)
Fuel	Fuel station on the pontoon, open around the clock with a card
Crane and slipway	two slipways; at the boatyard, a boat hoist up to 28 t and a mast crane

Equipment

Water and electricity are available from bollards on the pontoons, which you activate with the harbour access card. Wi-Fi is free, the harbour is under video surveillance and has been awarded the Blue Flag. The fuel station is on the pontoon and accepts cards around the clock. On the Quai Éric Tabarly there is an electric crane for racing boats and small motorboats under three tonnes.

For larger jobs, there is the boatyard area Zone technique de l’Escaut behind the Quinette lock. There, a boat hoist lifts yachts of up to 28 tonnes and six metres in beam out of the water, and a mobile crane steps masts of up to 25 metres. There is also a washing area, winter storage space ashore and several specialist firms.

What is the sailing weather like in Le Havre?

In Normandy, the wind comes mainly from the west to southwest, and in the English Channel it is usually channelled from the west-southwest. The coast of the Pays de Caux north of Le Havre is among the windiest in the region, especially in winter. Strong winds are much more frequent from November to March and least frequent from June to September. Météo-France issues a strong wind warning for coastal waters as soon as wind of Beaufort force 7 or more is observed or expected.

Le Havre lies in the tidal waters of the English Channel. One special feature is the long high-water stand: the water stays unusually high around high tide, while the low-water phase is short. For the Port de plaisance, the tide plays no role when entering and leaving, but it certainly does for destinations with a lock.

Which sailing destinations are near Le Havre?

From Le Havre you can sail across the Seine estuary to the Calvados coast, head north along the chalk cliffs, or sail up the Seine into the interior. For longer sailing trips, the Cotentin peninsula and the south coast of England are within reach.

Honfleur lies on the other side of the Seine estuary, about 17 kilometres away by road. The approach passes the Pont de Normandie, and visiting boats berth in the historic Vieux Bassin and by the town gardens. A day sail out to the sandy beaches of the Calvados, to Deauville or Dives-sur-Mer, is also a classic.

To the north, the coast runs along the chalk cliffs of the Côte d’Albâtre. A day sail to Étretat with its rock arches is well worth it, but for Fécamp and Dieppe you would do better to plan a weekend. Further northeast, beyond Calais, lies Dunkirk.

A sailing trip of several days leads west to Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue and around the Cotentin, for example to Cherbourg. We present the marina there in our profile of Port Chantereyne in Cherbourg . The English coast and the Isle of Wight are also destinations for multi-day sailing trips from Le Havre. For Great Britain, Jersey and Guernsey, everyone on board who does not hold a British or Irish passport generally needs an electronic travel authorisation (ETA), children included.

Anyone heading up the Seine to Rouen will find a marina there in the Bassin Saint-Gervais on the right bank, with around 100 berths for boats from 5 to 17 metres, showers, a fuel station and a launderette. Rouen is still within the tidal part of the Seine, and the city centre is close to the harbour.

What can you do on a harbour day in Le Havre?

You can reach the following places from the Port de plaisance on foot or by bike. The city centre of Le Havre, rebuilt by Auguste Perret after the Second World War, has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2005.

• MuMa: The André Malraux Museum of Modern Art stands opposite the harbour moles, just a few steps from the Port de plaisance. Its collection of Impressionist painting is the second largest in France after the Musée d’Orsay in Paris.
• City beach: The beach begins right next to the harbour, at the terminus of the tram line. From spring to autumn there are beach huts and restaurants.
• Perret Quarter: The rebuilt city centre is home to the Church of Saint-Joseph, the town hall, the Les Halles market hall and Oscar Niemeyer's Le Volcan cultural centre.
• Saint-François and Notre-Dame: These districts contain Notre-Dame Cathedral, the natural history museum and the Maison de l’Armateur, a shipowner's house. By the harbour stands the Catène, an arch made of colourful containers.
• Jardins suspendus: The gardens in a former military fort display plants brought back by botanists and explorers from all over the world.

For skippers: berthing and marine weather in Le Havre

Before entering, call the Port de plaisance on VHF channel 9 or by telephone during office hours, and the harbour office will assign you a berth. On your way through the harbour entrance, monitor channel 12, which carries the harbour traffic of Havre Port.

Registration and Berthing

Visitor pontoons P and O are right at the entrance to the Port de plaisance, where you berth at finger pontoons or alongside. After mooring, you register the boat at the harbour office and pay the berthing fee. There you will also receive the access card for the pontoons, showers, water and electricity. If you arrive outside office hours, register at the machine at the entrance to the harbour office and receive an access card against a prepayment of 15 euros. You complete the registration at the office the next day. If your boat is longer than 12 metres, register beforehand by telephone or e-mail.

Under the 2026 tariff, a boat between 11.51 and 12 metres in length pays 47 euros per day all year round; if you stay for less than four hours, it is 16 euros. Multihulls at a longitudinal pontoon pay the same tariff as monohulls. In July and August the harbour office is staffed daily from 7 am to 1 pm and from 2 pm to 7 pm; at other times the hours are shorter, and from 16 November to the end of March it is closed on Sundays.

If anyone on board lives outside the Schengen Area, the skipper must e-mail the border police form to the harbour office at least 24 hours before arrival. When arriving from Great Britain, Jersey, Guernsey or Ireland with a passage of less than 24 hours, it is sufficient to send it on departure. Anyone leaving France from Le Havre also sends the form to the harbour office.

Harbour rules

• A speed limit of 3 knots applies throughout the Port de plaisance. Under sail, you may only move within the harbour if you remain manoeuvrable and keep to the speed limit.
• The harbour's dredger has priority over all other boats while working. As things stand (November 2026), it will be dredging in the Anse des Régates until the end of April 2027, and affected boats will be temporarily moved.
• Fishing and swimming are prohibited in all basins.
• Keep dogs and other animals on a lead on the pontoons and harbour areas.

Approach

Le Havre is a large commercial and cruise port, and yachts share the approach with commercial shipping. Head for the LHA approach buoy, from where the buoyed fairway, about 15 metres deep, runs on roughly 107 degrees to the harbour entrance between the north and south breakwaters. A leading line on roughly 107 degrees marks the approach by day and night; the light at the end of the north breakwater flashes red, and the one on the south breakwater green. Beyond the entrance, the Port de plaisance lies in the north of the outer harbour. Between the southeast end of the breakwater in front of the Port de plaisance and the north breakwater lies a silted area.

Under the regulation of the maritime prefecture for the Baie de Seine, pleasure craft under 20 metres in length keep a listening watch on channel 12 east of buoys LH3 and LH4. They wait until the ships in the fairway have passed and never cross ahead of them. Stopping, anchoring and fishing are prohibited in the buoyed fairway and up to 100 metres either side of it. To cross the main fairway further out, you need permission from the harbour master's office via channel 12.

Which marine weather forecast applies in Le Havre?

The authoritative forecast is the marine weather forecast from Météo-France. Le Havre lies in the coastal area “De la baie de Somme au cap de la Hague”, and the coastal forecast is valid up to 20 nautical miles offshore. On VHF, the CROSS Jobourg rescue coordination centre broadcasts the forecasts on channel 80, including via the Antifer station, three times a day after an announcement on channel 16. CROSS Jobourg broadcasts strong wind warnings every hour. All stations and broadcast times are listed in the Marine weather guide from Météo-France.

Sailing trips from Le Havre on Törnfinder

You can find an overview of offers on all French coasts at Sailing in France, all offers at Trips.

Frequently asked questions

How do I get to the Port de plaisance du Havre?

The easiest way is by train from Paris Saint-Lazare; the fastest connections take just over two hours. From Le Havre station, take the tram towards the beach for about 20 minutes; the stop is roughly a ten-minute walk from the harbour.

Where can I park at the start of my sailing trip in Le Havre?

In the car parks at Quai Éric Tabarly or on Boulevard Clemenceau, both about 300 metres from the Port de plaisance.

Are there showers at the Port de plaisance du Havre?

Yes. You open the sanitary facilities with the harbour access card, which is available from the harbour office or, outside office hours, from the machine at the entrance.

Where can I shop for provisions in Le Havre before my sailing trip?

At Super U, about 450 metres from the harbour, or at Carrefour Market and U Express, each about 750 metres away. Fresh food is available at the Les Halles market hall, about a ten-minute walk away.

Can I enter the Port de plaisance du Havre at any state of the tide?

Yes. The Port de plaisance is accessible around the clock and regardless of the tide, and the water in the basins is about three metres deep.

Is there a ferry from Le Havre to England?

As things stand today (November 2026), not any more. The route to Portsmouth was discontinued in September 2026; ferries to Portsmouth now sail from Caen and Cherbourg.