BOAT-COMPARATOR Guide
Hyères and the Giens peninsula by boat: the Var lagoon
Renting a boat in Hyères: La Badine and its Caribbean water, the lap of Giens, Porquerolles next door — and the La Capte spot for families.
Between the Hyères roadstead and the Giens peninsula stretches a lagoon that is Var in address only: white-sand bottom, water 1.5 metres deep and warm from June, and the silhouette of Porquerolles on the horizon.
La Badine and La Capte
The Badine anchorage at Giens' eastern tip is the local 'lagoon': white sand, shallow turquoise water, ideal with children. Heading up: La Capte beach and the double tombolo of Giens, unique in Europe — a road laid between two seas, with pink salt flats full of flamingos.
The lap of Giens
The peninsula's south coast changes register: deep coves (Port du Niel, Chevaliers cove), cliffs and crystal water. It is also the gateway to Porquerolles, twenty minutes out — the combined lagoon-plus-island day is the Hyères operators' best seller.
Wind: read the water
Hyères is a dinghy-sailing capital for a reason: wind arrives strong and often. In a mistral, the roadstead and La Badine stay sheltered; in an easterly everything whips up — that is the day to postpone. Operators publish their weather policy: Boat-Comparator flags flexible cancellations.
Budget
License-free €100-200, RIB €230-450, motorboat €300-550. Hyères, Le Lavandou and La Londe bracket the Golden Islands waters — comparing the three bases is the profitable reflex.