Camargue is a region, located in the south of Arles, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, France. It lies between the Mediterranean Sea and the two arms of the Rhône River delta. The eastern arm is called the Grand Rhône and the western one is the Petit Rhône. Since 1986, Camargue site has been designated as a "Wetland of International Importance" by the Ramsar Convention.
In an area of over 930 km² / 360 mi², the Camargue is western Europe’s largest river delta. It is a vast plain comprising large brine lagoons, cut off from the sea by sandbars and encircled by reed-covered marshes. One spot in the vicinity of Marseille with excellent conditions for wind surfing is Beauduc beach.
To get to Beauduc beach, you have to cross the whole of the Camargue area until you arrive at the saltpans of Salin-de-Giraud. Then you leave the road network for a track that goes through marshland, lagoons and dunes, along causeways and out towards the edge of the world. When you can’t go any further, you’re just on the spot.
It is an isolated and easy to find beach that requires a weekend trip in order to visit. The mistral wind is blowing on the spot ideally and mainly from the northwest with a medium speed of 16 to 25 knots/30-46.3 kph.
The main type of the wind is thermal so along with the northwest direction allows many wind surfing tricks as freeride, bump and jump and freestyle. The water quality is murky with no tide dependency or currents and the bottom of the sea is sandy. Generally, the beach has a few surfers on weekdays but on weekends, it gets quite crowded.
Wind surfers, kite surfers, swimmers and motorized boats are all over the place, so you should be very careful. It is a lovely all year round accessible beach, suitable for all kind of wind surfers beginners or pro’s. The beach is indicated for wind surfing, so if you are an athlete of that kind, you will have a blast.
