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Gigaro

On the east side of the beautiful Baie de Cavaliere lays the small Plage de Gigaro. Getting there you pass a winery, a few fields and a chateau which is a nice contrast to the monotonous holiday houses that otherwise plaster the sea-side parts of the hills in this area. The road ends at a short promenade in front of a narrow beach with a few rocks. On the land side of the promenade another guarded holiday village begins and spreads all the way up the hills. It´s a typical holiday village with simple houses and apartments but with a little bit of more space in between the houses. That space is covered by a lot of trees which hides the houses a bit and from far gives the impression of looking at a forest.

At the promenade there are a small supermarket, a bakery and a bar. Parking at the promenade is very limited. A bit further south there is another access to another part of the beach that is more suited for windsurfing and kiteboarding but again parking is sparse and all in all a nightmare during peak tourist season.

At the dead end of the promenade begins the Cap Lardier nature reserve. There starts a very nice coastal path running up and down the cliffs and little beaches to the cape. Very well worth the effort because of the stunning vistas and more or less untouched vegetation. Gives a good impression of how this area was like before people started to litter it with holiday villages. The natural resort is large enough to make extended hikes and go for nice mountain bike rides on the dirt tracks.

Surfing: The beach needs south swells to get any waves. The sandy part of the coast tend to just produce close outs but some of the reefs might produce surfable waves.

Windsurfing: Mistral comes side / side-onshore but gets blocked by the mountains the further east you get. Best to start at the beach further west and make sure no coming too close to the eastern end of the bay. Be careful with the rocks, some of the are submerged and barely visible. The only usable wind is the Mistral, it is a bit gusty close to shore but can get pretty strong. All together not the best windsurfing spot but good for a few jumps and a nice cruise in beautiful surrounding.

Kiteboarding: Due to the narrow beaches and plenty of cliffs and rocks a bit tricky, but otherwise fun within the stunning scenery.

Other things to do: Nice snorkelling / diving, mountain biking and hiking at the Cap Lardier area.

check the gallery for a few more general impressions of this place. Pictures from a rare day with surf-able waves in this gallery.

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