BOAT-COMPARATOR Guide

Menton by boat: the gentlest border, from Garavan bay to Ventimiglia

Renting a boat in Menton: Garavan and its gardens, the old town from the sea, and the Italian jaunt to the Balzi Rossi and Ventimiglia.

The last port before Italy, Menton offers a boat day unlike any other: start beneath the ochre façades of the old town, lunch in Italy, return at sunset. No border was ever softer than at 5 knots.

France side: Garavan and the old town

Garavan bay, due east, is an amphitheatre of gardens (Val Rahmeh, the lemon groves) falling to limpid, sheltered water — anchoring stays peaceful even in summer. Off the old town, the Riviera's most photogenic façade is best admired from the sea, Saint-Michel's campanile first.

Italy side: Balzi Rossi and Ventimiglia

A mile past the border, the Balzi Rossi cliffs (the 'red rocks' and their prehistoric caves), then the long Calandre beach towards Ventimiglia. Push to Bordighera in calm seas. Paperwork: none for day boating in neighbouring waters — just keep the boat's papers and an ID aboard.

The waters

Sheltered from westerlies by the relief, exposed to the easterly levant that raises chop: the local rule is simple — levant forecast, go in the morning or postpone. With France's mildest winters, Menton's rental season runs long.

Budget

License-free €100-190, RIB €230-420, motorboat €300-550. Menton and neighbouring Monaco share the waters — the price gap between the two bases is anything but neighbourly: compare.

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