France / Corsica
Plage Napoléon
Plage Napoléon is a 411 m-long sandy beach facing north-north-east in L'Île-Rousse (Corsica, France). The sea averages 24.5 °C in August, its warmest month, and 13.2 °C in February; it is 21 °C or warmer in July–September.
Average sea surface temperature by month. Current month outlined.
Month by month
October at Plage Napoléon
Beach-day index 5.9/10 · France median 4.9
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sea °C | 13.7 °C | 13.2 °C | 13.5 °C | 14.8 °C | 17.4 °C | 20.8 °C | 23.5 °C | 24.5 °C | 22.7 °C | 20.4 °C | 17.8 °C | 15.1 °C |
| High °C | 12° | 12° | 14° | 16° | 19° | 23° | 26° | 26° | 24° | 20° | 17° | 14° |
| Low °C | 10° | 10° | 11° | 13° | 17° | 21° | 24° | 24° | 21° | 18° | 15° | 12° |
| Rain mm | 48 | 51 | 55 | 47 | 45 | 27 | 16 | 23 | 50 | 79 | 102 | 68 |
| Cloud % | 59 | 56 | 53 | 49 | 46 | 33 | 22 | 25 | 37 | 47 | 56 | 55 |
| Wind m/s | 5.6 | 5.5 | 5.4 | 4.3 | 3.9 | 3.4 | 3.4 | 3.3 | 3.9 | 4.7 | 5.4 | 5.8 |
| Daylight h | 9.4 | 10.5 | 11.9 | 13.3 | 14.6 | 15.3 | 15.0 | 14.0 | 12.6 | 11.1 | 9.8 | 9.1 |
| Record high/low | 17°/4° | 16°/2° | 19°/2° | 23°/7° | 26°/11° | 30°/14° | 31°/20° | 32°/19° | 28°/16° | 26°/10° | 22°/8° | 19°/5° |
| Beach index | 2.8 | 2.8 | 2.8 | 3.1 | 4.9 | 8.0 | 9.7 | 9.6 | 8.5 | 5.9 | 3.3 | 2.6 |
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
The beach-day index peaks in July–August; July scores 9.7/10 with highs of 26 °C, sea at 23.5 °C and 16 mm of rain.
In July that is 1.8 points above the median of the 625 beaches in France covered by this atlas.
At its warmest the water here is 2.4 °C warmer than the France median for August (22.1 °C).
Across the year the sea averages 18.1 °C, cooler than 57% of the coastal beaches in the atlas.
November is the wettest month (102 mm) and July the driest (16 mm); the yearly total is about 610 mm.
Daylight runs from 9.1 hours in December to 15.3 hours in June; in mid-July the sun rises at 05:58 and sets at 21:01 local time.
Orientation, sun and shore
The shore faces north-north-east (15°). Open water fills about 39% 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 238° to 303°, behind the land.
Sunrise is over the sea in April–September.
Straight out to the north-north-east the next coast is roughly 120 km away, so waves are mostly wind-driven sea rather than ocean swell. The beach is on an island of about 8,604 km².
About 1 km offshore the sea is roughly 19 m deep and 73 m at 3 km. Behind the beach the ground is about 24 m above sea level 500 m inland and 63 m at 1.5 km.
Within 1 km, the land is 51% built-up land, 29% tree cover and 16% grassland (satellite land-cover map, 2021): an urban beach. Water makes up 41% of that circle.
- Built 51%
- Tree 29%
- Grass 16%
- Bare 3%
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 “Napoleon”, 130 m from the beach centre, was rated Excellent for the 2025 season. It was Excellent in 7 of its 11 classified seasons since 2015.
- 2015Sufficient
- 2016Sufficient
- 2017Good
- 2018Good
- 2019Excellent
- 2020Excellent
- 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.
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
- 51Restaurants, cafés & bars
- 3Public toilets
- –Showers
- 2Drinking water
- 20Car parks
- –Lifeguard stations
- 33Hotels & guesthouses
- 5Grocery shops
- 3Water-sports spots
- 5Bus stops (1.5 km)
- 2Pharmacies & clinics
- 1Cash machines
- 1Historic sites
Food and drink mapped within 1 km: 41 restaurants, 3 cafés, 6 bars and 1 fast-food outlet. Accommodation: 33 hotels and guesthouses.
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
Historic sites
- Phare de la Pietra monument 310 m SW
Nature
- Capu Curboriu peak 1.4 km W
Islands in view
- Île de la Pietra 990 m NW
- l'Isulottu 1.4 km NW
- Isula Piana 1.4 km N
- Isula di u Brocciu 1.5 km NW
- U Brucciettu 1.5 km NW
Diving & boat hire
- MISS Paddle Water sport 100 m E
- Jet Loc 490 m NW
- Isula Loisirs 600 m NW
Getting there
| Airport | Code | Distance | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calvi Sainte Catherine Airport Calvi | CLY | 16.8 km | south-west |
| Bastia-Poretta International airport Bastia | BIA | 45.3 km | east |
| Ajaccio Napoléon Bonaparte airport Ajaccio | AJA | 79.9 km | south |
Straight-line distances from the beach; road distance is usually 20–40% longer.
Local transport: 5 bus stops within 1.5 km, rail station Ile-Rousse (530 m), rail station Camping Monticello (1.4 km), ferry terminal Gare Maritime de L'Île-Rousse (820 m) and 20 mapped car parks within 1 km.
2 towns and villages of 1,000+ people lie within 10 km (about 4.2K residents); within 30 km there are 5 (about 12.5K).
Map
Loading map…
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 5.5 km away.
- Beach outline, surface, rules and public facilities: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), feature w625649076; restaurants, cafés, bars and lodging: Overture Maps places (CDLA-Permissive-2.0).
- 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_32TMN_20230814_1_L2A.
- Orientation: OpenStreetMap land polygons (ODbL). Depth and terrain: GEBCO 2020 grid.
- Bathing-water quality: European Environment Agency (site FRM022B134M02B285).
- 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.