two islands, properly
The Lérins islands — ferry, monastery, iron mask and all.
A kilometre off Cannes lie two islands that ignore the twentieth century, let alone this one: Sainte-Marguerite with its forest and fortress, Saint-Honorat with its working monastery. This is the full visitor’s guide — how to reach them, what genuinely rewards the walk, and where the boat rewrites the day.
between the islands
Sainte-Marguerite: forest and fortress
The larger island is a walking wood — eucalyptus and pine over three kilometres, no cars, paths ringing the shore — crowned by Fort Royal, where the Man in the Iron Mask spent eleven genuinely mysterious years from 1687; his cell and the marine-archaeology museum are visitable. The étang and the southern shore hide the picnic coves; La Guérite on the eastern point hides the party. Half a day walks it all.
Saint-Honorat: sixteen centuries of quiet
Monks have held the smaller island since about 410 — making it one of Christendom’s oldest continuously monastic sites — and some twenty Cistercians still farm eight hectares of vines between the chapels. The fortified monastery tower on the south shore is the Riviera’s strangest silhouette; the abbey shop sells the wine (taken seriously by people who take wine seriously) and the vow of the place is palpable ten steps from the jetty. Dress and volume accordingly.
shall we put a date in?
We reply within the day
Ferry versus your own hull
Ferries run from Cannes’ Quai Laubeuf — around €15–20 return, separate companies per island, last boats back disconcertingly early. They deliver you efficiently to the jetties and the day’s crowds. What they cannot sell: the strait itself. The turquoise anchorage between the islands is the entire upper experience — swimming over sand in cathedral-clear water, lunch aboard or at La Guérite by tender, the islands as your day’s walls. Our charter runs it from Beaulieu as the classic long-western day; the ferry does the islands, the boat does the water between them.
The short answers
By ferry it is awkward — separate operators and schedules. By private boat it is trivial: the strait between them is the anchorage, and the tender lands either jetty at whim. The combination day is precisely what chartering solves.
Sainte-Marguerite has La Guérite (the party) and a couple of simpler terraces; Saint-Honorat has La Tonnelle under the monks’ pergola. All book out in season — or the galley fridge renders the question moot at anchor.
further down the chart
Your next summer story begins here.
One boat, one crew, up to 10 guests, and a coast that is entirely yours for the day. Tell us how you want to spend it and the rest is ours to arrange. The day is yours and it is our pleasure to be part of it.