Updated on 25 July 2026
In Saint-Malo, a beach is never the same two hours running. With one of the largest tidal ranges in Europe — up to 13 metres between low and high water — the sand appears and disappears with the tide: the interactive map shows every beach and every low-tide crossing, and this page gathers them all, sorted by area.
On the town side, the great Sillon beach unrolls its three kilometres from the Saint-Thomas gate to Rochebonne. At low water it is a desert of firm sand where you walk out past the oak breakwaters; at high water on a big coefficient, the sea pounds the wall and the seafront hotels find themselves in the front row of the show. At the foot of the ramparts, Bon-Secours and its seawater pool face the sun setting behind the Grand Bé — the causeway dries out at low tide, and staying opposite the islands lets you watch for the crossing window from your room.
On the other side of the walled city, the Môle beach shelters from the east wind, the Éventail opens the way to Fort National, and Saint-Servan hides Bas-Sablons, protected by the Solidor slipway. Eastwards, Rochebonne, the Minihic and Le Pont string together the family coves of Paramé out to Rothéneuf, where the foreshore becomes shellfish-gathering ground on the big tides.
One reflex before any outing: the places marked “reachable at low tide” below are cut off as the tide rises, and the sea here comes back faster than you can walk. Always check the official SHOM tide times before crossing to an island or heading far out on the foreshore.
19 places, grouped by areaSee these places on the interactive map
The Sillonto be checked
The three-kilometre urban beach running along the sea wall, regularly ranked among the finest in France. At a big-coefficient high tide it vanishes altogether — the sea then pounds the wall; at low tide it stretches out for hundreds of metres, punctuated by the lines of oak breakwater posts. Lifeguarded in summer at several stations; the immense foreshore lends itself to walking, kite-flying and endless end-of-day swims.
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The locals' beach, below the western ramparts, famous for its 1930s seawater pool: a stone basin refilled by every tide, overlooked by its emblematic diving board — you can swim whatever the hour of the tide. It is also the starting point of the low-tide crossing to the Grand Bé. The sunsets from the sand, facing the islets, are deservedly famous.
Staying near Grand Bé: the walk out, tide times and safety margin
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At the foot of the castle, this is the beach nearest the ramparts on the Sillon side, facing the rock of Fort National. At low tide you set off from here dry-shod to the fort; at high tide only a ribbon of sand remains below the walls. Busy in summer for its location, it is above all a front-row seat for the spring tides: at high water the waves come to pound the rock armour beneath the castle.
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On its rock facing Éventail beach, this fort designed by Vauban in 1689 and built by Garangeau in Chausey granite guarded the roadstead together with the Petit Bé and La Conchée. You walk out to it dry-shod at low tide; the flag flying means the guided tour is open, in season. From the rampart walk, an unbeatable view over the Sillon and the city walls. At the biggest coefficients the sea uncovers the crossing generously — then closes it again in under an hour.
Visits at low tide, roughly Easter to late September — the flag is flown when the fort is open.
⚠ Reachable at low tide only — check the official SHOM tide times before crossing.
Staying near Grand Bé: the walk out, tide times and safety margin · Official website ↗
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The islet where Chateaubriand asked to be buried so as to “converse only with the sea”: his grave, a nameless slab topped with a cross, has faced the open water since 1848. You reach it dry-shod from Bon-Secours beach along a causeway the sea uncovers around mid-tide. Walking round the islet gives the finest close-up view of the ramparts. The sea cuts the Grand Bé off for several hours at every tide: check the times before crossing — rescuing stranded walkers is a local classic.
⚠ Reachable at low tide only — check the official SHOM tide times before crossing.
Staying near Grand Bé: the walk out, tide times and safety margin
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A small beach tucked between the Holland bastion and the Môle des Noires, the most sheltered at the foot of the ramparts. Fine sand and little swell in westerly weather thanks to the pier: this is the fallback on windy days, when the Sillon is unusable. At low tide it merges with Bon-Secours into a single stretch of sand. Beware in storms: the surroundings of the pier are dangerous and closed to the public.
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Behind the Grand Bé, this second islet carries a fort designed by Vauban at the end of the 17th century, one link in the ring of fire that locked the roadstead together with Fort National and La Conchée. A volunteer association is restoring it and opens it for visits depending on tide and season. The crossing continues from the Grand Bé along a second causeway, uncovered for less time than the first: the window is shorter, so the vigilance must be greater.
⚠ Reachable at low tide only — check the official SHOM tide times before crossing.
Staying near Grand Bé: the walk out, tide times and safety margin
Saint-Servanto be checked
Saint-Servan's beach, at the foot of the Alet headland, sheltered from the open swell by the pier and the peninsula's heights: the water here is often calmer than on the Sillon. Views over the comings and goings of the harbour entrance and across to Dinard. The path from the end of the beach loops around Alet and leads to the Solidor tower — the most rewarding short walk in town.
Paramé – Rochebonneto be checked
Between Rochebonne and the Pointe de la Varde, a quieter beach than its neighbours, edged with rocks that uncover fine pools at low tide — the domain of children with shrimping nets. The headland shelters it from north-easterly swells. Climbing towards La Varde along the GR 34 path brings you in a few minutes to one of the best viewpoints on the Saint-Malo coast.
Paramé – Rochebonneto be checked
The family-friendly continuation of the Sillon, level with Paramé: beach clubs in summer, a sailing school, a launching slip and the promenade behind. The sand stays wide even at half-tide, making it the most usable beach in town on middling coefficients. The seafront buildings and villas date from Paramé's late-19th-century seaside golden age.
Paramé – Rochebonneto be checked
At spring tides, the foreshore uncovered between Rochebonne and the Minihic becomes shore-foraging country: cockles and clams in the sand, winkles and shrimp in the rock pools. Respect the minimum sizes and quantity limits, and check the current health advisories before gathering anything. The local golden rule: walk out as the sea falls, turn back at slack water — the flood comes back in here at walking pace.
⚠ Reachable at low tide only — check the official SHOM tide times before crossing.
Shore foraging in Saint-Malo: where to stay and when to come
Rothéneufapproximate location
North of the Rothéneuf inlet, the wild sweep of Chevrets beach backs onto dunes between Besnard island and the Pointe du Meinga. The island is reached along a sand spit, and the path around it strings together coves and viewpoints over the open sea. The inlet itself all but empties at low tide: a landscape of sand and channels that changes by the hour. Few facilities and a lot of space — the exact counterpoint to the urban beaches of the Sillon.
Rothéneufapproximate location
On the far side of the Pointe de la Varde, Le Val opens the sequence of Rothéneuf beaches: wilder, backed by dunes and facing due north — when the swell gets in, the waves here are among the cleanest in the area. At low tide the sand almost reaches the Rothéneuf inlet. Fewer facilities than in town: you come here for space and light.
Dinard – Saint-Lunaireto be checked
Dinard's central beach, trimmed with its blue-and-white striped tents, between the Pointe du Moulinet and the Pointe de la Malouine. The Belle Époque setting — casino, listed villas, bathing huts — has been the resort's picture for 150 years; Picasso painted here over several summers. A seawater pool sits at one end, with lifeguards in summer. Out to sea, the island of Cézembre and, to the right, the ramparts of Saint-Malo.
Dinard – Saint-Lunaireapproximate location
The great beach between Dinard and Saint-Lunaire, one of the most extensive on the Emerald Coast, framed by the Pointe du Décollé and the Pointe de la Garde Guérin. Facing north-west, it is the local surf and sea-wading spot when the swell gets in; at low tide the sand uncovers for hundreds of metres. Less urban than the Écluse, more family-friendly than wild — and the coast path leaves from both ends.
Cancale – Pointe du Grouinto be checked
A wide cove of pale sand backed by its dune, guarded in the middle by the fortified Du Guesclin island — one of the most photogenic landscapes on the coast road to Cancale. An undeveloped beach in a protected natural site: no sea wall, no shops, parking is set back. Lifeguarded in summer on the western side. At low tide a walk round the island improvises itself; at high tide the cove becomes a marine amphitheatre again.
Cancale – Pointe du Grouinto be checked
Between Rothéneuf and Cancale, this fortified rock set in the middle of its cove is reached dry-shod at low tide, across the sand. A castle was held here in the 14th century by the family of Constable Bertrand du Guesclin; the present 18th-century fort was Léo Ferré's home from 1959 to 1968 — he wrote some of his finest songs here. The island is private: no visits, but the walk round the rock and the cove are worth the detour on their own. Watch the rising tide, which closes the crossing.
⚠ Reachable at low tide only — check the official SHOM tide times before crossing.
Cancale – Pointe du Grouinapproximate location
Between the Pointe du Meinga and the Du Guesclin cove, a sheltered fine-sand beach, quieter than its Saint-Malo neighbours. This is Colette's shore: from her villa at Rozven, just above, she wrote among others Le Blé en herbe (1923), whose plot plays out on these strands. Coves and rocks at both ends, pools at low tide, the coast path running along above — the place keeps something of the insouciance of writers' summers.
Rance valleyapproximate location
One of the finest spots on the maritime Rance, halfway between Saint-Malo and the Châtelier lock. At high tide the slipway dips into a tranquil lake; at low tide the estuary all but withdraws, uncovering mudflats, salt meadows and the hulks of old boats lying on their sides — a landscape dominated by the ruins of Péhou castle. A café-guinguette on the slipway in season. The spectacle of the refilling, on the flood, is worth lingering an hour for.
It depends on the state of the tide. The great Sillon beach — three kilometres of sand backed by the sea wall — is the most spectacular: immense at low water, reduced to a ribbon at high water on a big coefficient. Bon-Secours, at the foot of the ramparts, has the seawater pool and the causeway to the Grand Bé; Bas-Sablons, in Saint-Servan, is the most sheltered.
Yes, but the sea can retreat several hundred metres: at low water, the Bon-Secours seawater pool, refilled at every high tide, is the simplest option. On a rising tide the water comes back quickly over sun-warmed sand — often the best moment for a swim. Watch the flags in season.
From Bon-Secours you cross at low tide to the Grand Bé and on to the Petit Bé; from Éventail beach, out to Fort National. The returning sea cuts these islands off: check the official SHOM tide times before crossing, and head back as soon as the water reaches the causeway.