Cruise on the Gulf of Morbihan

What it is

The Gulf of Morbihan is an inland sea of some 115 to 130 km², joined to the Atlantic by a strait of about a kilometre between Port-Navalo and Locmariaquer. Mor bihan means "little sea" in Breton. Inside there are dozens of islands and islets, between thirty and sixty depending on how you count them, and only two with their own village and town council: the Île aux Moines and the Île d'Arz. Since 2014 it has been a regional nature park.

The cruise is the comfortable way to see it: a pleasure boat with commentary that sails between the islands and drops you on one of them to eat and walk; you return on a later boat. Through the window pass islets with solitary houses, oyster beds, moored sailing boats and, at the mouth of the gulf, currents reaching almost nine knots.

Who runs it

Two companies run the gulf tour with a stop:

• Izenah Croisières departs from the Port-Blanc landing stage, in Baden. Its cruise 1 goes round the gulf and stops at the Île aux Moines: it leaves at 10:15 and reaches the island at 12:15, about two hours of commentated sailing. It runs from 1 April to 30 September, every day. It costs €25 per adult and €13 for ages 4 to 12; under-4s do not pay. It has versions with a stop on the Île d'Arz or on both islands.
• Navix has departures for the gulf from Vannes, Port-Navalo, Locmariaquer, Auray-Saint-Goustan, Le Bono and La Trinité-sur-Mer, with three variants: a stop at the Île d'Arz, at the Île aux Moines or at both. The base adult price departing from Vannes is €26.80 with one island and €31.20 with both. Check the duration, times and child fare for each port on its website.

Both sell online. In July and August it is wise to book; outside summer it is usually enough to turn up with some time to spare.

What the day is like

With Izenah, after landing on the Île aux Moines you have the afternoon free: the island is about 6 km long, with a village in the centre, small beaches and a Neolithic cromlech. You return to Port-Blanc on the regular shuttle, which leaves every half hour; the last boat is at 20:00, or at 22:00 in July and August. Everything you can do there is in the entry for the Île aux Moines.

Allow half a day at least: two hours on the boat and at least two on the island. If you stay for lunch, it is a whole day.

Getting to the departure point

From Carnac, Port-Blanc (Baden) and Vannes are to the east, past Auray. At Port-Blanc there are car parks near the landing stage, some paid and others free a little further away; in summer they fill up, because they are also the ones for the island shuttle, so arrive with time to spare. If you go with Navix, confirm the departure point for your port when booking.

What to bring and with whom

A windcheater even if it is sunny: on deck it blows. Sunglasses and some water. Izenah allows dogs on a lead. It works well with children: the stop breaks up the trip and under-4s do not pay.

If you would rather go straight to the island without a cruise, the regular crossing from Port-Blanc takes about five minutes and cannot be booked.

For the rest of the trip, the Carnac area has the alignments and the Grande Plage.