Arcachon Bay, in
FrenchFrench is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...
the
Bassin d'Arcachon (the locals just call "le Bassin"), is a
bayHeadlands and bays are two related features of the coastal environment.- Geology and geography :Headlands and bays are often found together on the same stretch of coastline. A bay is surrounded by land on three sides, whereas a headland is surrounded by water on three sides. Headlands are...
of the
Atlantic OceanThe Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres , it covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface and about one-quarter of its water surface area. The first part of its name refers to the Atlas of Greek...
on the southwest sea shore of
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
, situated as a
landmarkThis is a list of landmarks around the world.Landmarks may be split into two categories: natural phenomena and man-made features, like buildings, bridges, statues, public squares, and so forth...
between the
Côte d'ArgentCôte d'Argent, French for the Silver Coast, is a touristic name given to a section of the French Atlantic coast.-Location:In south west of France, facing the Atlantic Ocean, "La Côte d'Argent" is part of the Bay of Biscay...
and the
Côte des LandesCôte des Landes or Côte landaise is a touristic name given to a section of the French sea shore. It is a section of Côte d'Argent.All along the French coasts, the different parts of the sea shore have particular names....
, in the region of
AquitaineAquitaine , archaic Guyenne/Guienne , is one of the 26 regions of France, in the south-western part of metropolitan France, along the Atlantic Ocean and the Pyrenees mountain range on the border with Spain. In the Middle Ages it was a kingdom and later a duchy, with boundaries considerably larger...
. The bay covers an area of 150 km² at high
tideTides are the rises and falls of sea level caused by the combined effect of rotation of the Earth and the gravitation of the Moon and the Sun. The tides occur with a period of approximately 12 and a half hours and are influenced by the shape of the near-shore bottom.Most coastal areas experience...
and 40 km² at low tide. Some of its geological features are natural preservation areas.
The general shape of the Bassin d'Arcachon is that of an equilateral triangle pointing north, the southwest corner of which is opened and the access from the sea, between Cape Ferret and the town of
ArcachonArcachon is a commune in the Gironde department in south-western France. It is a popular bathing location on the Atlantic coast southwest of Bordeaux in the Landes forest...
(more specifically, its suburb Pyla-sur-Mer), through a 3 km narrow channel (Les Passes).
Arcachon Bay, in
FrenchFrench is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...
the
Bassin d'Arcachon (the locals just call "le Bassin"), is a
bayHeadlands and bays are two related features of the coastal environment.- Geology and geography :Headlands and bays are often found together on the same stretch of coastline. A bay is surrounded by land on three sides, whereas a headland is surrounded by water on three sides. Headlands are...
of the
Atlantic OceanThe Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres , it covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface and about one-quarter of its water surface area. The first part of its name refers to the Atlas of Greek...
on the southwest sea shore of
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
, situated as a
landmarkThis is a list of landmarks around the world.Landmarks may be split into two categories: natural phenomena and man-made features, like buildings, bridges, statues, public squares, and so forth...
between the
Côte d'ArgentCôte d'Argent, French for the Silver Coast, is a touristic name given to a section of the French Atlantic coast.-Location:In south west of France, facing the Atlantic Ocean, "La Côte d'Argent" is part of the Bay of Biscay...
and the
Côte des LandesCôte des Landes or Côte landaise is a touristic name given to a section of the French sea shore. It is a section of Côte d'Argent.All along the French coasts, the different parts of the sea shore have particular names....
, in the region of
AquitaineAquitaine , archaic Guyenne/Guienne , is one of the 26 regions of France, in the south-western part of metropolitan France, along the Atlantic Ocean and the Pyrenees mountain range on the border with Spain. In the Middle Ages it was a kingdom and later a duchy, with boundaries considerably larger...
. The bay covers an area of 150 km² at high
tideTides are the rises and falls of sea level caused by the combined effect of rotation of the Earth and the gravitation of the Moon and the Sun. The tides occur with a period of approximately 12 and a half hours and are influenced by the shape of the near-shore bottom.Most coastal areas experience...
and 40 km² at low tide. Some of its geological features are natural preservation areas.
The general shape of the Bassin d'Arcachon is that of an equilateral triangle pointing north, the southwest corner of which is opened and the access from the sea, between Cape Ferret and the town of
ArcachonArcachon is a commune in the Gironde department in south-western France. It is a popular bathing location on the Atlantic coast southwest of Bordeaux in the Landes forest...
(more specifically, its suburb Pyla-sur-Mer), through a 3 km narrow channel (Les Passes). On the north shore is the town of Arès, then
Andernos-les-BainsAndernos-les-Bains is a commune in the Gironde department in south-western France.Andernos-les-Bains is a located on the northeast shore of Arcachon Bay. To its northwest is the town of Arès....
on the northeast. Just south of the entrance is
The Great Dune of PylaThe Great Dune of Pilat is the largest sand dune in Europe. It is located in La Teste-de-Buch in the Arcachon Bay area, France, 60 km from Bordeaux....
. Nearly in the middle of the bay is a very particular island: L'île aux Oiseaux (birds island).
It is perhaps due to the
Eyre riverThe Eyre is a coastal river that flows through the Moors of Gascony, in Aquitaine, Southwest France.The river is generally presented as the confluence of:* the Grande Leyre , its principal course, upstream from Moustey,...
that runs water from the
Landes forestThe Landes forest or the Landes of Gascony , in the historic Gascony region of southwestern France now known as Aquitaine, is the largest maritime pine forest in Europe...
and has its mouth (Delta de l'Eyre) in its southeast corner, that the Bassin still has a link to the sea, which would otherwise be obstructed by the
sandbanksThings known as shoal, shoals or shoaling include:* Shoal, a sandbank or reef creating shallow water, especially where it forms a hazard to shipping* Shoal draught , of a boat with shallow draught which can pass over some shoals...
brought about by the tides.
For long ago, similar areas became lakes (called in French "lacs" or "étangs") nowadays filled with fresh water; from north (the
GirondeGironde is a common name for the Gironde Estuary, where the mouths of the Garonne and Dordogne rivers merge, and for a department in the Aquitaine region situated in southwest France.-History:...
mouth) to south (the
AdourThe Adour is a river in southwestern France. It rises in High-Bigorre , at the Col du Tourmalet, and flows into the Atlantic Ocean near Bayonne. It is long, of which the uppermost as the Adour du Tourmalet. At its final stretch, i.e...
river mouth), are the Lac d'Hourtin-Carcans, the Lac de Lacanau, the Étang de Cazaux et de Sanguinet, the Étang de
BiscarrosseBiscarrosse is a commune in the Landes department in Aquitaine in south-western France. It is located southwest of Bordeaux, and inland from the seaside resort of Biscarrosse-Plage on the Atlantic coast....
et de Parentis, the Étang d'Aureilhan, the Étang de Léon, the Étang de Soustons, the Étang Hardy, the Étang Blanc and the Étang de Garros. Arcachon Bay is the last water area that remains wide opened to the ocean.