Bretagne — Baie de Lancieux to Plage du Sillon

Baie de LancieuxPlage de LongchampPlage de Saint-EnogatPlage du Sillon

1. 

   Baie de Lancieux

   bay · beginner ok

   Baie de Lancieux is the bay that works when nothing else on the Cote d'Emeraude does: sheltered by the Ebihens, by Saint-Jacut and Saint-Briac, and by the Fremur estuary, rideable in every direction and at every tide, on a sandy plateau where you can stand a long way out.

   intermediateadvanced

   In seasonno month named for this spot

   The model here carries the month's average wind rather than a count of windy days: it reaches 14.8 kt in November, the strongest month it models for this spot.

   Baie de Lancieux: the long version, the launch and the rules

   More on Baie de Lancieux

   The catch is that every direction has its own launch. NW to NE is the stable range. South wind works, and it is one of the few north-Brittany options for a southerly, but it is offshore with nothing between you and Jersey; do not go out alone in it, and come in the moment you stop holding ground. West and land winds are gusty and depend on the tide. Tidal range reaches 12 m on big coefficients, so the beach you rigged on can be gone or turned into shorebreak later in the same session, and the Saint-Jacut side launches are off limits at high tide. Seven schools work the bay and a southerly weekend gets crowded. The back of the bay is a bird reserve closed from late October to 31 March, and from 1 July to 31 August Saint-Sieu and Les Briantais are closed to riding too, so read the restriction map before you pick a beach.

   Getting on the water

   Launch choice changes with tide and wind. At high tide: the back of the bay on the Lancieux side for S-SW, Pissote/Manchette for S-NE, Rougeret for N-NE, Saint-Sieu for N-NW, Briantais for NW (but see the rules: the Saint-Jacut side launches, Pissote and Manchette included, are listed as forbidden at high tide). At low tide launch in the middle of the bay, or use Tete de Chien when the wind is west-dominant and Rougeret when it is east-dominant.

   If it goes wrong

   No dedicated kite rescue on the bay, and reportedly the spot on this coast where the emergency services are called out most often, because an offshore-wind problem develops fast and the drift runs toward Jersey. Sea emergency in France is 196 from a mobile and VHF channel 16 on the water, answered by CROSS, with 112 from the beach.

   Room to rig

   Plenty at low tide and at high tide on small coefficients; a big high tide eats the beach, and with several schools plus the independents it gets overpopulated.

   Rules and access

   2026: from 1 July to 31 August riding is forbidden off Saint-Sieu and Les Briantais, and take-off moves to the inner bay at Roche Morin or to Tete de Chien depending on the tide. Foils launch at Tete de Chien and must ride outside 300 m. In the same summer window, launching at high tide is forbidden on the Saint-Jacut side beaches - Haas, Ruet, Rougeret, Pissote and Manchette - and from the Houle Causseul and Chatelet ports, under Saint-Jacut arrete 2017-107. In the Baie de Beaussais itself, take off from the middle of the bay at low tide and from the inner bay at high tide. The back of the bay is an ornithological nature reserve closed to riding from the end of October to 31 March.

   Everything on Baie de Lancieux

2. 

   Plage de Longchamp

   ocean

   Longchamp is a 600 m wave beach in Saint-Lunaire, between Dinard and Saint-Briac on the Cote d'Emeraude, and it is a surf beach first: when it works the water has surfers and windsurfers in it and the space for kites is tight.

   intermediateadvanced

   In seasonno month named for this spot

   The model here carries the month's average wind rather than a count of windy days: it reaches 14.8 kt in November, the strongest month it models for this spot.

   Plage de Longchamp: the long version, the launch and the rules

   More on Plage de Longchamp

   It only works in NW or NE. Straight north is onshore, and with the waves that come with it getting back upwind is hard work, so a north forecast is not the day to drive over. The tide is the big one here, Saint-Malo range: at low water a rock uncovers in the middle of the spot, and at high water the sea wall is the main danger and it disturbs the wind close in. Summer is mostly out. Kiting is forbidden on all four Saint-Lunaire beaches every year from 15 June to 15 September between 10:00 and 20:00, so a summer session means early morning or evening. Nobody has published wind numbers or a month-by-month season for the beach; the water is 18-19 C in summer and 8-10 C in winter, so it is a full suit even in summer and a thick one with hood, gloves, boots in winter. Intermediate-to-advanced wave riders only; it is not a place to learn.

   Getting on the water

   Rig on the sand only when the tide has left enough of it, and keep clear of the surfers and windsurfers, the central rock and the sea wall. It is a 600 m board-sports beach; there is a local surf report and an anemometer for it.

   If it goes wrong

   Town-employed, SNSM-trained lifeguards watch the marked bathing zone on all four Saint-Lunaire beaches daily in July and August, 11:30 to 13:00 and 14:00 to 19:00 (2026), with a flag mast on each beach and a beach wheelchair at the post. That is bathing supervision inside the zone, not kite rescue, and it covers exactly the weeks when kiting is banned from 10:00 to 20:00. Outside July and August nobody is watching.

   Room to rig

   Restricted; the practice area is small.

   Rules and access

   2026: kitesurfing is prohibited on all four Saint-Lunaire beaches, Longchamp included, from 15 June to 15 September every year, between 10:00 and 20:00; the town's order regulating beach policing and safety was reissued in 2025. 2026: unregistered craft, including windsurf boards, boards, kayaks and sea canoes, may not be used inside the supervised bathing zone. 2026: dogs and other animals are banned from the beaches from 15 June to 15 September, guide dogs excepted.

   Everything on Plage de Longchamp

3. 

   Plage de Saint-Enogat

   bay

   Saint-Enogat is Dinard's town beach on the Cote d'Emeraude, and most of the year it is a kite spot only on paper.

   advanced

   In seasonno month named for this spot

   The model here carries the month's average wind rather than a count of windy days: it reaches 14.8 kt in November, the strongest month it models for this spot.

   Plage de Saint-Enogat: the long version, the launch and the rules

   More on Plage de Saint-Enogat

   It needs a spring tide, coefficient above 90, and the water below 2.50 m, which leaves a window of roughly 2 to 3 hours in which the sand banks open up and you ride the flat channels between them. Wind is NW through NE, side-on at best, and part of the bay sits in a wind shadow. Rocks and a strong current do the rest. This is an advanced spot; if you are still learning, Plage du Sillon in Saint-Malo or the bay at Lancieux is where the local schools go. In 2020 Dinard banned kitesurfing outright from 23 July, then reopened Saint-Enogat as a test during the August spring tides, only east of a marker buoy, kite rigged at the water's edge, and only until 31 August 2020. Whether any of that has been renewed since is unconfirmed, so read the beach notices before you unpack. Water is about 18.8 C in summer and 8.4 C in winter; full suit all year.

   Getting on the water

   Under the 2020 test rules you launch only in the defined area east of a marker buoy, and you rig at the water's edge. Whether the buoy is still set is unconfirmed.

   If it goes wrong

   No dedicated rescue service is on record; beach lifeguards may be seasonal but kite rescue should not be assumed.

   Room to rig

   Very limited and tide-dependent.

   Rules and access

   2020: Dinard banned kitesurfing from 23 July 2020, then reopened Saint-Enogat as a test during the August spring tides, on three conditions - water height below 2.50 m, riding only in the zone east of a marker buoy, kite rigged at the water's edge - and those conditions expired on 31 August 2020. 2026: no later municipal order for Saint-Enogat has been found, the town's own site publishes no kitesurf arrêté, and the most recent round-up of Côte d'Émeraude beach restrictions dates from 2021 and still carries the 2020 Dinard order. Read the notices at the beach access before unpacking, and do not assume the test zone survives. The neighbouring communes do have current summer rules and they are stricter: Saint-Lunaire bans kitesurfing on every beach in the commune between 10:00 and 20:00 from 15 June to 15 September (order 81-2019), and Saint-Malo confines launching on the Sillon to a 300 m corridor between the Kyriad hotel and the Avenue Fuentes steps from 1 July to 1 September.

   Everything on Plage de Saint-Enogat

4. 

   Plage du Sillon

   ocean

   The Sillon is Saint-Malo's beach, 3 km of sand under the sea wall running out from the old town, and it is the only place in the commune where kiting is allowed.

   intermediateadvanced

   In seasonno month named for this spot

   The model here carries the month's average wind rather than a count of windy days: it reaches 17.7 kt in November, the strongest month it models for this spot.

   Plage du Sillon: the long version, the launch and the rules

   More on Plage du Sillon

   Wind from W round to NE works; in the extreme directions you walk along the beach, toward Fort National or Plage du Pont, to get out of the disturbed air. Freeride and chop in front of the Surf School, more wave the further east you go toward Rochebonne. Everything depends on the tide. At low water there is room for dozens of riders without a crossed line; on a rising tide the beach goes, and what is left is the historic breakwaters, the rocks and the wall. From 1 July to 1 September launching and landing is confined to a 300 m technical zone between the Hotel Kyriad access and the access opposite avenue Fuentes, and it closes once the water height passes 7 m. Saint-Malo has come close to losing the spot over complaints, so the locals are strict about giving way to everyone else. Full wetsuit all year; the water is around 18.5 C in summer and 8.6 C in winter.

   Getting on the water

   Local riders usually gather at the Surf School / Thermes Marins area. From 1 July to 1 September the municipal zone is the 300 m by 40 m technical area between the access opposite Hotel Kyriad, 45 chaussée du Sillon, and the access opposite avenue Fuentes, marked out with flags on 4 m poles and a transit channel through the 300 m band.

   If it goes wrong

   The lifeguards mark out the summer technical zone while the beach is supervised; there is no kite rescue as such.

   Room to rig

   Large at lower tide; limited or closed when the tide rises and beach depth is insufficient.

   Rules and access

   The 2015 municipal order, restated in 2021, allows kitesurfing in Saint-Malo only on the Grande Plage du Sillon inside a set practice zone. From 1 July to 1 September launch and landing must happen in the technical area between the beach-access stairs opposite the Hotel Kyriad, at 45 chaussée du Sillon, and the stairs opposite avenue Fuentes: 300 m wide and at least 40 m deep, marked with bright markers and flags on 4 m poles, with a transit channel out through the 300 m band. Riding at the water's edge inside that technical area is not allowed, to keep the launch clear. The zone is open only up to 7 m of water height; above that, kiting on the Sillon is forbidden.

   Everything on Plage du Sillon

• Dinard-Pleurtuit-Saint-Malo airport (DNR) is private aviation only, about 5 km from Dinard
• Rennes airport is the nearest airport with scheduled commercial flights, then onward by TER train or road

Kite bag rules for your airline

Type the carrier you are flying: what it charges for a kite bag, and the year of the policy that says so.

Known for France:easyJetRyanairAir FranceTransavia

Every carrier, with limits and what riders report at the counter →

1. Lancieux is the bay everyone falls back on because it works in every wind direction and at every state of the tide, and that is exactly why it fills up.

   consensus×4 riders

2. South wind is both the reason to come and the reason people get hurt here: it is one of very few spots on this coast that works with a southerly, and a southerly is offshore, so losing your upwind angle means drifting out toward Jersey.

   consensus×3 riders

3. The bottom of the bay is shallow enough to stand in for a long way out, which is why three schools teach here and why the spot has a beginner reputation that outruns its actual difficulty.

   consensus×3 riders

4. On a good day the numbers run into the hundreds and the legal launch strips are narrow, so the standing local advice is to spread out rather than pile onto the same patch of sand.

   consensus×3 riders

5. Summer is the constraint, not winter. Each commune writes its own dated order, so between mid-June and mid-September some of these beaches are shut to kites for most of the day and others only outside bathing hours.

   consensus×3 riders

6. Le Sillon at Saint-Malo is the west-wind alternative and a genuinely long beach, but the historic wooden breakwater posts and the sea wall are the traps: at high water the sand disappears and you end up pushed back onto them.

   majority×2 riders

7. Longchamp at Saint-Lunaire is a wave spot on a short leash: it only works north-west to north-east, the usable area is small, and surfers, windsurfers and swimmers get there first.

   majority×2 riders

8. Saint-Enogat is the one people rave about and almost never get: it needs a big tidal coefficient and under about 2.5 m of water, which leaves a two-to-three-hour window a handful of times a year, and it has been partly restricted since dangerous behaviour in summer 2020.

   majority×2 riders

What we could not settle. Ride here? These are the gaps worth filling.

• Is 'Bretagne — Baie de Lancieux to Plage du Sillon' the name riders actually use for this area?
• No confirmed food/rider-hangout specifics or current-year price examples for Saint-Malo/Dinard were found — needs a targeted look at restaurant and accommodation pricing.
• Which festivals or kite meets run between Lancieux and the Sillon, and when?
• Is this stretch of Brittany easy to visit alone or to work from?