BOAT-COMPARATOR Guide
The 300-metre band: France's 5-knot rule explained
Why speed is capped at 5 knots near French shores, how to judge the limit, and what the hurried renter actually risks.
By Clément Lacaille, editor of Boat-Comparator · updated
THE rule every renter must know before turning the key: in France, within the 300-metre coastal band, speed is capped at 5 knots — a strong swimmer's pace. Simple, universal, and heavily enforced in summer.
Why the rule exists
The first 300 metres concentrate everything fragile: swimmers (including outside buoyed zones), divers, paddleboards, children on floats. At 20 knots a boat covers those 300 metres in 30 seconds — zero avoidance margin. Five knots restore the time to see and be seen.
How to know where it starts
No continuous marking: estimate 300 metres from the shore (practical cue: if you can make out faces on the beach, you are inside). Buoyed swim zones and crossing channels complete it locally. In any doubt: 5 knots — nobody was ever fined for caution.
What ignoring it costs
A fine (up to €1,500 for blatant cases), and above all crushing liability in an accident: at excessive speed near shore, the boat's insurer can turn on the helm. In summer weeks, nautical patrols make this rule priority one — rightly.
The good renter's reflex
Harbour exits and anchorage approaches: 5 knots by default, throttle only once offshore with a clear coast. Your passengers will thank you too: 5 knots is the speed at which you actually see the coastline.
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