Camping near Blue Flag Beaches in France

Our favourite beach near Nevez which has won again !

The blue flag eco-labelled beach awards have been announced for 2012.

The awards are voluntary but winning beaches are found to have :

• quality bathing waters,
• good waste management, and have,
• made efforts with environmental protection as well as environmental education. 

 Winning Beaches can fly the recognisable blue pendant flag during the summer. 

In France, 377 beaches and 87 marinas have gained an award this year, with 15 new winning beaches this year. New awards have gone to 8 beaches on the Atlantic Coast and one on the English Channel.

Languedoc-Roussillon is still at the top of the labeled regions with 28 communities winning awards, followed by Cote d'Azur with 19, Pays de Loire with 15 and Basse-Normandie  with 15.

Some beaches which were commended for gaining awards for a continuous 25 years are : "Le Grand-Village-Plage" (Charente-Maritime), "Villeneuve-les-Maguelone" (Hérault), "Argelès" (Eastern Pyrenees) and "La Londe-les-Maures" (Var). We have campsites near Argelès on the Mediterranean listed at http://www.bestfrenchcampsites.com

To gain a blue flag award, bathing waters should be found to be classified as "Excellent" when tested at least five times over the season. The results should be displayed on the beaches.

You can check the beaches in France that have won awards at :
http://www.blueflag.org/Menu/Awarded+sites/2011/Northern+Hemisphere/France

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Blue Flag Beaches in France

Here is a link to a list of the blue flag beaches in France. The blue flag is awarded based on :

• water quality,
• information displayed,
• cleanliness of the beach,
• toilet facilities etc
• in addition there must be some environmental education linked to the beach.

It does surprise me to see that some of my favourite beaches aren't listed. Also, some of the supposedly "great beaches for young children" aren't listed which is disappointing.

If you haven't decided which campsite to stay at yet the list of blue flagged beaches might help you. http://www.blueflag.org/Menu/Awarded+sites/2011/Northern+Hemisphere/France

What do you think about the beaches listed ? Have you found a beach which seemed really nice or one that wasn't so great ? We were slightly disappointed with the beaches at Trinite Sur Mer last year. I was a bit suspicious about the amount of green seaweed which had to be removed all the time in the early mornings - I wondered if this might be a sign of pollution and the water wasn't always all that clear. The only place that has so far tempted me in for a swim was the beach at the St Cast le Chatelet campsite on the north of the Brittany coast.

Another useful site that I have found to check water quality is http://baignades.sante.gouv.fr/editorial/en/accueil.html which allows you to search for water quality results at any of the beaches which have been tested. It's a slightly tricky site to use but its possible to get right down to some quite detailed information allowing you to check out the beaches before you book your holiday !

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