A Minted Location day guide
Dock & Dine in Saint-Tropez
The gulf's dock-and-dine is unusually honest: the two most famous lunches on Pampelonne publish their own boat access, in writing, with a VHF channel. Everything below is each venue's own claim.
Pampelonne — tender in, by the book
Club 55, the beach institution since 1955, states it plainly on its own site: a pontoon and boatmen reachable by VHF on Channel 17. Loulou Ramatuelle lists its batelier on Canal 13, April through October — beach from 11, lunch from 12:30. The drill belongs to the bay, not the club: pick up one of the ZMEL's 210 ecological buoys (booked online), then call the channel. Free-anchoring over the Posidonia is over, and the 79 ft (24 m) line has been the law of the bay since June 2023 — book the buoy before you book the table. Verde Beach at the southern end and Casa Amor on the chemin de Matarane are landmarks whose live sites leave the boat logistics to you — check local dockage options before building lunch around them.
The town quay — berth once, walk everywhere
Berth in the vieux port — 729 moorings across two basins, VHF 09, capitainerie on the Quai de l'Épi — and the quay is the dining room. Sénéquier, the red terrace on the port since 1887 and home of the tarte tropézienne, and Le Girelier, the seafood house of the Quai Jean Jaurès open noon to eleven in season, both face the berths; the passerelle does the work.
Across the gulf
At Sainte-Maxime the dining is on the port itself: the tourism office lists L'Amiral's terraces and 360° rooftop and the ONA tea salon inside the public port, with more than 800 berths and a 24/7 fuel dock below.
Before you go
In July and August the town port limits vessels over 59 ft (18 m) to two two-day stays per month, and two basins in the heart of the village fill hard — the port runs 24/24 in summer for a reason. Call VHF 09 ahead, book the Pampelonne buoy early, and if the plan is bigger than lunch, the Broker Request on this page reaches the American buyer's broker for these waters.
The stops, as their own docks describe them
| Spot | Where | Arriving by boat |
|---|---|---|
| Club 55The Pampelonne institution since 1955, and the cleanest tender-access statement on the beach: its own site lists a pontoon and boatmen on VHF 17. Pick up a ZMEL buoy, call the channel, and lunch comes to meet you. | Plage de Pampelonne, Ramatuelle — 43 bd Patch | Pontoon and boatmen reachable by VHF on Channel 17 — per its own access page |
| Loulou RamatuelleLoulou's own site lists its batelier on Canal 13 — verified tender access, in writing. Closed evenings; +33 4 94 79 80 04. | Plage de Pampelonne, Ramatuelle — chemin des Tamaris | Batelier (boatman) on VHF Canal 13 — April through October; beach 11 am–7 pm, lunch from 12:30 pm |
| SénéquierThe red-terrace café-brasserie of the Saint-Tropez quay since 1887, home of the tarte tropézienne — its terrace faces the berths, and the passerelle does the work. | Vieux port, Saint-Tropez — the red terrace on the quay | Check local dockage options — the vieux port's 729 moorings and VHF 09 capitainerie are steps from the terrace |
| Le GirelierThe seafood institution of the quay — 'sur le Port de Saint-Tropez, face à la mer' in its own words. Open 12:00–23:00 in season; +33 4 94 97 03 87. | Quai Jean Jaurès, vieux port, Saint-Tropez | Check local dockage options — quay-front on the Quai Jean Jaurès, facing the vieux port berths |
| Verde BeachSouth-Pampelonne beach club and restaurant, open daily 11 am–8 pm with the kitchen to 5:30 pm. | Plage de Pampelonne, Ramatuelle — southern end | Check local dockage options — the ZMEL's 210 buoys hold the bay off the sand |
| Casa AmorThe boho-chic Pampelonne beach club with a summer events calendar; +33 4 22 47 10 40. | Plage de Pampelonne, Ramatuelle — chemin de Matarane | Check local dockage options — book a Pampelonne ZMEL buoy and tender to the beach |
Dockage notes are what each restaurant publishes on its own site — space is first-come and dinner-hour rafting is real, so hail ahead. Where a venue states nothing about docking, we say so rather than guess.
Planning more than lunch?
We represent buyers wherever the right boat sits — shortlisting, surveying and sea-trialing on the buyer's side of the table. Tell us the mission and we'll tell you which boat, and which berth, it calls for.