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Map › France › Bretagne — Baie de Lancieux to Plage du Sillon › Baie de Lancieux

Bretagne · Cote d'Emeraude · Lancieux

Baie de Lancieux

also known as Baie de Beaussais, Saint-Sieu, Les Briantais, Tete de Chien, Plage du Rougeret

beginner-friendlyhigh crowds

Nearby Plage de Longchamp 4 km · Plage de Saint-Enogat 8 km · Plage du Sillon 13 km · straight-line distance

Seasonno season namedthe months riders and schools nameHow windyno knot figure publishedsynopticLaunchPlenty 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.access rules on record, belowWaterbay18-19°C in summer · 11 things riders flagLevelBeginner to advancedwith a caveat, in the Level sectionSchools6named at this spotFrom the airportin words under Getting therePleurtuit-Saint-Malo Airport (DNR)

When it fills in

No daily rhythm to plan around. The wind here is weather-system wind rather than thermal, so the session is set by the forecast and by the tide, not by an hour of the day.

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. 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.

The wind

Direction

beachwater
offshorewind blows away from land — rescue cover matters here

Character

synoptic

fills in: No daily rhythm to plan around. The wind here is weather-system wind rather than thermal, so the session is set by the forecast and by the tide, not by an hour of the day.

Flexible on direction and tide. South is offshore and risky; west and land winds are gusty and irregular.
No month-by-month season has been published. The wind is weather-system wind, not thermal; the tide height and the direction decide where you launch.

Strength

No knot figure is published for this spot.

Direction to shore

Varies by launch within the bay; south is offshore on the main Lancieux bay setup, while other directions require choosing the correct beach or sand bank.

Dominant direction

All directions can work. It is one of the few north-Brittany spots that takes a south wind, but south is offshore here. NW to NE is the most stable range; west and land winds are gusty and depend on the tide.

Forecast

Next three days, from Windfinder · full forecast

Month by month

  1. Jan62
  2. Feb62
  3. Mar73
  4. Apr66
  5. May57
  6. Jun43
  7. Jul59
  8. Aug58
  9. Sep53
  10. Oct65
  11. Nov71
  12. Dec63

per cent of the month at force 4 or more

  1. 13Jan10°
  2. 14Feb9°
  3. 14Mar10°
  4. 13Apr11°
  5. 12May14°
  6. 11Jun18°
  7. 12Jul19°
  8. 12Aug20°
  9. 12Sep19°
  10. 13Oct17°
  11. 15Nov14°
  12. 14Dec11°

avg knots per month · water °C below · season highlighted

MonthForce 4+KnotsFromAirWater
Jan62%13.4 ktSW6.9°C9.5°C
Feb62%13.8 ktWSW8.4°C9.2°C
Mar73%14.1 ktSW9.4°C9.6°C
Apr66%13.4 ktNE10.7°C11.4°C
May57%12.1 ktNW13.9°C14.4°C
Jun43%11.1 ktNNW16.7°C17.7°C
Jul59%11.8 ktNW18.4°C19.1°C
Aug58%11.8 ktSW19.1°C19.9°C
Sep53%12 ktWNW17.1°C19.4°C
Oct65%12.5 ktSW14.7°C17.1°C
Nov71%14.8 ktSSW10.8°C13.7°C
Dec63%14.2 ktSSW8.1°C11°C
modelled

A weather model's cell over this place, not a station on it. Good for comparing places, weaker for one beach.

Modelled from weather reanalysis on a 10–25 km grid (2022-2024), not a ground station: reliable for trade and synoptic winds, understates thermal sea breezes and valley winds. The typical daily max and the direction are columns of the table above, month by month. Highlighted months are the riding season from the spot record.

ERA5 reanalysis grid point (modelled) · Open-Meteo historical weather API — ECMWF ERA5/ERA5-Land reanalysis, not a ground station · 2022-2024

The water

Type

bay

Standing depth

A large sandy plateau with standing depth over long distances, which is why the schools teach here.

Tides

Huge range: big coefficients give up to 12 m between low and high water. It works at all tides, but the launch moves with the water level and the wind direction. The inner bay stays riggable at high water up to around coefficient 80; above that the beach goes.

Temperature

18-19°C summer · 8-10°C winter

Wetsuit

Channel water: a full suit even in summer for a long session, and a thick suit with hood/gloves/boots in winter. Nobody local has published a wetsuit guide, so this is the standard Channel setup.

Currents

Strongly tidal. No current speeds have been published; what matters in practice is the offshore drift in a south wind and the size of the tide, so plan the session around both.

9–20°C water
Protected, shallow, sandy tidal bay with banks and multiple launch sectors on the Lancieux and Saint-Jacut sides; the same bay contains many rocks and a bird-reserve area at the back.

Your level

beginnerintermediateadvanced
The sandy plateau is where the schools teach. Beginners should not ride a south wind on their own here, and need someone to point out the rocks, the tide traps and the closed zones.

The scene

What riders come here for

freeridefreestylelearningflat watersmall waves
Regional reference spot with several schools, independent riders and windsurfers; can feel roomy at low tide but crowded in south wind or summer.

Launch and rules

three ways on to the water, and what each one asks of you

With a school or a boat

6 schools name this spot

See who they are

On your own

Room to launch: 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.

access rules on record

Somewhere else

Plage de Longchamp, 4 km

Every spot within 40 km is on the map at the top of this page, with its distance under it.

Rescue

VHF channel 16

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.

Launch

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.

Space

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.

Hazards riders report 11

  • offshore drift in southerly wind
  • rocks around the bay
  • crowding in south wind
  • shorebreak at some high-tide launches
  • bird reserve in the back of the bay
  • offshore drift in southerly wind toward Jersey/England
  • many rocks around the bay
  • crowding, especially in south wind
  • high-tide wind disturbance near cliffs or narrow beaches
  • summer restrictions at Saint-Sieu and Les Briantais
  • Pissote and Manchette launches forbidden at high tide
Rules & 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.

Access rules drift faster than anything else we hold — check locally, and propose an edit if this has changed.

Rider tips

  • In a south wind stay high in the bay, never ride alone, and come in the moment you cannot hold your upwind line: the next stop downwind is Jersey.
  • At low tide launch from the middle of the bay, away from the rocks and the other users.
  • Read the restriction map before a summer session: Saint-Sieu and Les Briantais are closed 1 July to 31 August and the Saint-Jacut side launches are closed at high tide.
  • Check the coefficient: on a big one the range hits 12 m and the beach you rigged on will not be there at high water.
  • Foil riders launch at Tete de Chien and stay outside 300 m.
  • Do not count on parking at Saint-Sieu in summer.
  • Read the restriction map before a summer session: Saint-Sieu and Les Briantais are closed 1 July to 31 August and the Saint-Jacut side launches are closed at high tide in the same window.
  • Check the coefficient: on a big one the range hits 12 m and the beach you rigged on will not be there at high water. Above about 80 the inner-bay high-tide launch stops working.
  • Save 196 in your phone before a south-wind session: that is the sea emergency number, VHF 16 on the water.

Getting there

Airport

Dinard-Pleurtuit-Saint-Malo Airport (DNR); Rennes and Nantes are broader commercial alternatives.

Route

Lancieux is a short drive from Dinard or Saint-Malo: 15 minutes from Saint-Malo, about 9.9 km by road from Dinard, and there is a local bus from Dinard if you are travelling light.

Transfer

15-25 by car from Dinard/Saint-Malo; longer by bus depending on connection and launch point.

Cost level

medium

Staying

Lancieux itself, plus Saint-Briac, Saint-Lunaire or Saint-Malo, has seaside apartments, campsites, hotels. Parking at Saint-Sieu is a pain in summer.

No-wind days

In Lancieux: sailing, windsurfing, catamaran, land-sailing, kayak or boat rental. Otherwise coastal walks, the Saint-Sieu and Briantais beaches, horse riding, fishing, or a day in Saint-Malo or Dinard.

Photos

Lancieux-plage-de-l-Islet-byRundvald
Rundvald, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

FAQ

Is Baie de Lancieux suitable for beginners?

The shallow sandy plateau is used for teaching, but beginners should not ride the south/offshore setup alone and must watch for rocks, tide changes and restricted zones.

What is the wind like at Baie de Lancieux?

NW to NE is described as the most stable range; south wind works but is offshore, and west/land winds are gusty and tide-dependent.

Are there rules or restricted zones at Baie de Lancieux?

From 1 July to 31 August, navigation is forbidden at Saint-Sieu and Les Briantais, and the back of the bay is a bird reserve closed to navigation from late October to 31 March.

Is there a launch or space constraint?

Yes, the launch point changes with tide and wind direction across several bay sectors, and high tide can reduce usable beach and crowd the remaining space.

Are there kite schools nearby?

Yes, several schools operate around the bay, including Club Nautique de Lancieux, Evoride, Kitecenter 22, Kitecenter 35 and Kite To Breizh.

More in BrittanyPlage de la FalaiseSaint-Michel-en-Greveall →

Last updated: August 2026