France / Brittany
Plage Bonaparte
Plage Bonaparte is a 1.3 km-long sandy beach facing north-east, 3.7 km north of Plouha (Brittany, France). The sea averages 17.5 °C in August, its warmest month, and 9.0 °C in March; it never reaches 21 °C on average.
Average sea surface temperature by month. Current month outlined.
Month by month
October at Plage Bonaparte
Beach-day index 2.5/10 · France median 4.9
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sea °C | 10.2 °C | 9.2 °C | 9.0 °C | 10.0 °C | 11.7 °C | 13.9 °C | 16.0 °C | 17.5 °C | 17.4 °C | 16.1 °C | 14.0 °C | 11.9 °C |
| High °C | 10° | 9° | 10° | 12° | 14° | 16° | 18° | 19° | 18° | 16° | 13° | 11° |
| Low °C | 8° | 7° | 7° | 9° | 11° | 14° | 16° | 16° | 16° | 14° | 11° | 9° |
| Rain mm | 86 | 74 | 62 | 46 | 51 | 47 | 47 | 52 | 45 | 88 | 101 | 98 |
| Cloud % | 73 | 71 | 68 | 61 | 64 | 63 | 60 | 60 | 56 | 65 | 69 | 71 |
| Wind m/s | 8.3 | 8.0 | 7.1 | 5.9 | 5.7 | 5.2 | 5.2 | 5.5 | 6.1 | 7.1 | 8.0 | 8.4 |
| Daylight h | 8.7 | 10.2 | 11.8 | 13.6 | 15.2 | 16.1 | 15.8 | 14.4 | 12.7 | 10.9 | 9.2 | 8.3 |
| Record high/low | 14°/2° | 14°/-0° | 14°/1° | 18°/4° | 22°/8° | 24°/10° | 27°/13° | 29°/14° | 24°/12° | 22°/8° | 18°/4° | 15°/3° |
| Beach index | 1.9 | 2.0 | 2.3 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.8 | 3.6 | 4.3 | 3.9 | 2.5 | 1.8 | 1.8 |
Long-term monthly averages: air from NASA POWER (2001–2020), sea from NOAA OISST (1991–2020); records are the extremes of 2001–2020. How the index works.
When to go
No month reaches 5.5 on the beach-day index; the best is August at 4.3/10, held back mainly by cool air (highs of 19 °C) and cold water (17.5 °C).
At its warmest the water here is 4.6 °C cooler than the France median for August (22.1 °C).
Across the year the sea averages 13.1 °C, cooler than 80% of the coastal beaches in the atlas.
November is the wettest month (101 mm) and September the driest (45 mm); the yearly total is about 800 mm.
Daylight runs from 8.3 hours in December to 16.1 hours in June; in mid-August the sun rises at 07:03 and sets at 21:29 local time.
Orientation, sun and shore
The shore faces north-east (45°). Open water fills about 50% of the horizon close by, which makes it an open stretch of shore.
At no time of year does the sun set over the sea here: sunset bearings run from 234° to 308°, behind the land.
Sunrise is over the sea in every month.
Straight out to the north-east the next coast is roughly 50 km away, so waves are mostly wind-driven sea rather than ocean swell.
About 1 km offshore the sea is roughly 13 m deep and 18 m at 3 km. Behind the beach the ground is about 53 m above sea level 500 m inland and 91 m at 1.5 km, so the beach is backed by steep slopes or cliffs.
Within 1 km, the land is 56% tree cover, 26% grassland and 17% cropland (satellite land-cover map, 2021): a largely natural setting. Water makes up 58% of that circle.
- Tree 56%
- Grass 26%
- Crop 17%
Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021 (10 m). Orientation from OpenStreetMap land polygons sampled in 36 directions; depths and heights from the GEBCO 2020 grid (about 450 m cells), indicative only.
Bathing water quality
The official EU bathing-water site “Bonaparte - Anse Cochat”, 270 m from the beach centre, was rated Excellent for the 2025 season. It was Excellent in 9 of its 11 classified seasons since 2015.
- 2015Excellent
- 2016Excellent
- 2017Excellent
- 2018Excellent
- 2019Good
- 2020Good
- 2021Excellent
- 2022Excellent
- 2023Excellent
- 2024Excellent
- 2025Excellent
Source: European Environment Agency, EU Bathing Water Directive assessments · national site profile. Classes are based on four seasons of bacteriological sampling.
The sea peaks at 17.5 °C in August. Most swimmers find water below 20 °C cold; a wetsuit is common here.
Average wind speed at 10 m reaches 8.4 m/s in December, the windiest month.
OpenStreetMap shows no lifeguard station within 1 km. Seasonal lifeguard posts are often unmapped, so check on site.
Photos
From above
Facilities within 1 km
- –Restaurants, cafés & bars
- 1Public toilets
- –Showers
- 3Car parks
- –Lifeguard stations
- 1Hotels & guesthouses
- 1Viewpoints
Counted within 1 km of the beach (bus stops 1.5 km) from OpenStreetMap features and Overture Maps places, release of 2026-10. Unmapped does not mean absent.
Around the beach
Nature
- Grotte de Bréhec n°2 cave entrance 1.4 km NW
- Grotte de Bréhec n°1 cave entrance 1.4 km NW
Islands in view
- Le Taureau 1.7 km N
Getting there
| Airport | Code | Distance | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jersey Airport St. Peter | JER | 76.7 km | north-east |
| Guernsey Airport Saint Peter Port | GCI | 84.0 km | north |
| Rennes-Saint-Jacques Airport Saint-Jacques-de-la-Lande, Ille-et-Vilaine | RNS | 113 km | south-east |
Straight-line distances from the beach; road distance is usually 20–40% longer.
Local transport: 3 mapped car parks within 1 km.
6 towns and villages of 1,000+ people lie within 10 km (about 14.5K residents); within 30 km there are 54 (about 203.7K).
Reference
Plage Bonaparte has an article on the FR Wikipedia: Plage Bonaparte.
Wikidata item Q109041548.
When people look it up
The FR Wikipedia article was read 3,113 times in the 12 months to August 2026. Interest peaks in August (733 views), 6.6× the quietest month.
Map
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Data on this page
- Air temperature, rain, cloud, wind, humidity: NASA POWER climatology 2001–2020, 0.5° grid.
- Sea temperature: NOAA OISST v2.1 monthly normals 1991–2020, nearest ocean cell 18.8 km away.
- Beach outline, surface, rules and public facilities: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), feature w451766760; restaurants, cafés, bars and lodging: Overture Maps places (CDLA-Permissive-2.0).
- Water body, status and length: Wikidata (CC0).
- Towns and time zone: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Airports: OurAirports (public domain). Sunrise and sunset: NOAA solar equations.
- Photos: Wikimedia Commons, author and licence under each image.
- Satellite view: Copernicus Sentinel-2 (ESA), scene S2A_30UWU_20250402_1_L2A.
- Orientation: OpenStreetMap land polygons (ODbL). Depth and terrain: GEBCO 2020 grid.
- Bathing-water quality: European Environment Agency (site FRH0122222M022310).
- Settlements: GeoNames places with 1,000+ inhabitants.
- Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021, 10 m (CC BY 4.0).
- Search popularity: about 9.9K Google searches a month for the name (KeywordTool, October 2026).
Data compiled 2026-10-13. Something wrong? Report a data error.