France / Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer
Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer is a coastal resort area in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France. Its longest mapped beach stretches about 1.1 km and has a sand surface. The sea averages 22.1 °C in August, its warmest month, and 11.8 °C in February; it is 21 °C or warmer in July–August.
Average sea surface temperature by month. Current month outlined.
OpenStreetMap shows no lifeguard station within 1 km. Seasonal lifeguard posts are often unmapped, so check on site.
Services in the resort
- 103Restaurants, cafés & bars
- 5Public toilets
- –Showers
- 7Drinking water
- 36Car parks
- –Lifeguard stations
- 38Hotels & guesthouses
- 2Campsites
- 10Grocery shops
- 2Water-sports spots
- 1Marinas & slipways
- 5Bus stops (1.5 km)
- 1Pharmacies & clinics
- 2Cash machines
- 2Bike rental
- 3Historic sites
Food and drink mapped within 1 km: 91 restaurants, 5 cafés, 5 bars and 2 fast-food outlets. Accommodation: 38 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.
Bathing water quality
The official EU bathing-water site “Brise De Mer”, 680 m from the beach centre, was rated Excellent for the 2025 season. It was Excellent in 11 of its 11 classified seasons since 2015.
- 2015Excellent
- 2016Excellent
- 2017Excellent
- 2018Excellent
- 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.
Month by month
October at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer
Beach-day index 5.2/10 · France median 4.9
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sea °C | 12.4 °C | 11.8 °C | 12.4 °C | 13.8 °C | 16.3 °C | 19.4 °C | 21.3 °C | 22.1 °C | 20.3 °C | 18.5 °C | 16.2 °C | 14.0 °C |
| High °C | 11° | 11° | 15° | 18° | 22° | 27° | 29° | 29° | 25° | 21° | 15° | 11° |
| Low °C | 4° | 4° | 7° | 10° | 13° | 18° | 20° | 20° | 17° | 13° | 9° | 5° |
| Rain mm | 45 | 35 | 38 | 47 | 43 | 28 | 16 | 21 | 54 | 73 | 87 | 45 |
| Cloud % | 64 | 59 | 56 | 54 | 52 | 41 | 32 | 36 | 43 | 58 | 63 | 62 |
| Wind m/s | 6.2 | 6.4 | 6.0 | 5.8 | 5.6 | 5.0 | 5.2 | 5.0 | 5.3 | 5.8 | 6.3 | 6.0 |
| Daylight h | 9.3 | 10.5 | 11.9 | 13.4 | 14.7 | 15.4 | 15.1 | 14.0 | 12.6 | 11.1 | 9.7 | 9.0 |
| Record high/low | 19°/-3° | 18°/-7° | 23°/-1° | 26°/4° | 31°/6° | 39°/9° | 35°/14° | 36°/14° | 33°/9° | 29°/3° | 22°/1° | 18°/-4° |
| Beach index | 2.6 | 2.7 | 2.8 | 3.2 | 5.4 | 8.1 | 8.8 | 9.0 | 8.0 | 5.2 | 2.7 | 2.7 |
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; August scores 9.0/10 with highs of 29 °C, sea at 22.1 °C and 21 mm of rain.
In August that is 1.0 points above the median of the 625 beaches in France covered by this atlas.
Across the year the sea averages 16.5 °C, cooler than 66% of the coastal beaches in the atlas.
November is the wettest month (87 mm) and July the driest (16 mm); the yearly total is about 530 mm.
Daylight runs from 9.0 hours in December to 15.4 hours in June; in mid-August the sun rises at 06:46 and sets at 20:47 local time.
Orientation, sun and shore
The shore faces south-south-east (150°). Open water fills about 42% 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 304°, behind the land.
Sunrise is over the sea in September–April.
Straight out to the south-south-east about 800 km of open sea lies before the next coast, enough for large swells to build.
About 1 km offshore the sea is roughly 12 m deep and 14 m at 3 km. Behind the beach the ground is about 0 m above sea level 500 m inland and 0 m at 1.5 km, a flat coastal plain.
Within 1 km, the land is 61% built-up land, 18% wetland and 11% grassland (satellite land-cover map, 2021): an urban beach. Water makes up 56% of that circle.
- Built 61%
- Wetland 18%
- Grass 11%
- Bare 9%
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.
Getting there
| Airport | Code | Distance | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nîmes-Arles-Camargue Airport Nîmes/Garons | FNI | 34.0 km | north |
| Montpellier-Méditerranée Airport Montpellier/Méditerranée | MPL | 40.0 km | west |
| Marseille Provence Airport Marignane, Bouches-du-Rhône | MRS | 63.4 km | east |
Straight-line distances from the beach; road distance is usually 20–40% longer.
Local transport: 5 bus stops within 1.5 km and 36 mapped car parks within 1 km.
1 town or village of 1,000+ people lie within 10 km (about 2.3K residents); within 30 km there are 7 (about 95.2K).
Around the beach
Attractions & museums
- Musee des Saintes Maries de la Mer museum 210 m SW
Historic sites
- Église de Notre-Dame-de-la-Mer monument 10 m E
- Bac du Sauvage monument 210 m NE
- Aiques-Mortes monument 220 m W
Marinas
- Port Gardian 550 m SW
Diving & boat hire
- French School De Voile 240 m S
- Trot'Nalex 260 m E
Campsites
- Camping Le Clos Du Rhone 160 m NW
- Camping de la Brise 830 m NE
Map and nearby beaches
Loading map…
Open in OpenStreetMap · Directions in Google Maps
| Beach | Distance | Warmest sea | Length | Surface |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer | – | 22.1 °C | 1.1 km | Sand |
| Le Grau-du-Roi | 25.2 km W | 22.0 °C | 3.3 km | Sand |
| La Grande-Motte | 30.1 km NW | 22.0 °C | 1.2 km | Sand |
- Le Grau-du-Roi25.2 km WCompare
- La Grande-Motte30.1 km NWCompare
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 9.5 km away.
- Beach outline, surface, rules and public facilities: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), feature w35269077; 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.
- Satellite view: Copernicus Sentinel-2 (ESA), scene S2B_31TFJ_20230716_0_L2A.
- Orientation: OpenStreetMap land polygons (ODbL). Depth and terrain: GEBCO 2020 grid.
- Bathing-water quality: European Environment Agency (site FRL0413096M013020).
- Settlements: GeoNames places with 1,000+ inhabitants.
- Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021, 10 m (CC BY 4.0).
- Search popularity: about 3.6K Google searches a month for the name (KeywordTool, October 2026).
Data compiled 2026-10-13. Something wrong? Report a data error.