PastVisitor guideSeptember 8 – 13, 2026 · Cannes, France

Cannes Yachting Festival

Six days of boats in the water, in two Cannes harbours: motor yachts in the Vieux Port, sailing yachts, brokerage and dayboats at Port Canto. This is an independent visitor’s guide: what to expect, how to plan your days, and where to sail once the show closes.

Floating pontoon and moored yachts in the Vieux Port of Cannes at sunset — Photo: Jorge Láscar · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

What to expect

Two sites at either end of the Croisette: the Vieux Port, at the foot of Le Suquet, for motor yachts, engines and equipment, and Port Canto at the eastern end for the sailing area, yacht brokerage, toys and dayboats up to about 13 m.
Boats you can step aboard, from dayboats to large yachts, with selected sea trials arranged by the builders and dealers.
Free shuttle boats between the Vieux Port and Port Canto for visitors holding a valid ticket, according to the organiser.

Plan your visit

2026 hours were 10:00–19:00 Tuesday to Thursday, 10:00–22:00 on Friday, 10:00–19:00 on Saturday and 10:00–18:00 on Sunday. The organiser’s site has next year’s dates once they are announced.
Give each harbour at least half a day. The Vieux Port entrances are at the Palais des Festivals and at Pantiero, facing the town hall; Port Canto has separate gates for the sailing area and the brokerage and toys areas.
Arriving by boat? Cannes has several harbours, among them the Vieux Port, Port Canto and the municipal Port du Moure Rouge (VHF 9). Berths are hard to find in show week, so contact the harbour office well ahead.
Keep a morning for the Lérins Islands. Ferries run from the Vieux Port in 15 to 20 minutes, or sail there yourself: the anchorage is about 3 nm away.

Sailing nearby: the Lérins Islands

The Lérins Islands sit just off the Croisette: Sainte-Marguerite, with the Fort Royal where the Man in the Iron Mask was held, and Saint-Honorat, home to the Cistercian monks of Lérins Abbey. From the Vieux Port, the run around the west end of Sainte-Marguerite to the Plateau du Milieu, the anchorage between the two islands, is about 3 nm.

Anchoring here is regulated. Posidonia seagrass is a protected species, so put the anchor down on clear sand, never on the seagrass. The préfecture maritime keeps two no-anchoring zones by the islands: north-west of Sainte-Marguerite, where the town lays about 30 buoys in the Anse Sainte-Anne for boats of 6 to 20 m from 1 May to 30 September (declare yourself to Port du Moure Rouge on VHF 9), and south of Saint-Honorat, below the abbey. Personal watercraft are banned in the channel between the islands. Rules checked October 2026; confirm before you go.

With a week to spare, our 7-day itinerary carries on to Cap d’Antibes, the red rocks of the Esterel and Saint-Tropez, and back to Cannes, about 77 nm in seven legs.

Before you take a berth at the Vieux Port or Port Canto, see the water you are arriving into.

This is the approach to Cannes as it looks in AnchorQueen: nautical charts with depths, a 3D fly-by of the marina before you get there, and live wind, gusts, pressure and waves at the berth, with arrival and sunset times for the day you actually arrive.

The reel follows the approach into Port de Moure Rouge and the Vieux Port. The still is the 3D view over the bay, with seabed contours and shallows drawn from bathymetry data, on iPhone and iPad.