FranceSwim off the side of a boat in a calanque
Calanques National Park
In 8 months
The Calanques are white limestone inlets dropping straight into water an unreasonable shade of blue, on the coast with Marseille on one side of them. Since 2012 they have been a national park, the first in Europe on the edge of a city, covering land and sea.
The boat leaves from the Vieux-Port in the afternoon, after the drive down from the Verdon. Swim boats are booked only a day or two ahead, because the sea decides, and the swimming is unsupervised, so it is for confident swimmers.
The boat stops in a cove, and over the side it is. After a lake and a river, the salt is a small shock and a good one.
How to get there
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