From the Villa, you reach all the important places of the "pointe" within 10-15 Minutes ON foot.
From our house, you can walk to the Ocean beach, the Bay beach, the navy pier, the market, the bakery, my preferred fishmonger, the catholic church, the protestant temple, two small supermarkets, as well as quite a few bars and restaurants. Nevertheless, you are in a quiet part of the Ferret. The village des Pécheurs, where you can taste and buy oysters, is a bit further (15 minutes to our preferred oyster farmer).
First things first. You are probably here for the sea and the beaches.
On the bay side, you have quiet, protected, family friendly beaches.
In summer, they may be more crowded, but they are never as crowded as on the Côte d'Azur. We will tell you where the beaches are never full.
There you also have the kids clubs, the most famous being the Club Mickey, which give parents a few hours for themselves.
In the bay you can swim in quiet waters which are as clean as the ocean (we have strong tides), but warmer.
Here you can practice stand-up paddling, although not always because sometimes we have small waves as well.
The bay is a great place for sea kayaking. Depending on your endurance and with a good guide, you can discover small secluded jewels.
An expedition worth the travel is the river Leyre and its delta, which is a small paradise for canoeing and sea-kayaking.
Speaking of waves, the ocean beaches are a lot wilder, much less visited, excepted one which we will show you how to avoid.
With the rising tides, there are very pleasant (really warm) natural pools that the sea creates for a moment.
The Ocean beaches are exhilarating, but less child-friendly, as we have strong currents and very big waves.
Like everything in life, we have to learn how to master it if we want to enjoy it. For this, I highly recommend a few lessons of surfing.
Surfing lessons are a little about the surf sport and a lot about Ocean, waves, tides. You can choose between surf and body board
Below is the school of Alex, who taught my daughters
The peer is our second communication line to the outside world:
From the pier there are shuttle boats going to Arcachon and its train station, or to excursions around the bay or to the Dune du Pila.
Also, a great place for photographers who want to photograph our monument: the lighthouse.
The villa is at 11, avenue Nord du Phare, which is - as the name says - North of the Lighthouse, thus if you walk South, you will reach it within minutes. It can be visited in Summer.
It is worth it.
The small museum is very didactic and the vista from the top is breathtaking (as is the climb to reach it).
The market is in the center of the village. There you can find all fresh products, most of them locally sourced. Once you have ensured the survival of the family, you can do some shopping. The quality of the goods here is very variable, but there are quite a few serious merchants as well as artists who actually have some talent.
We will of course give you all tips regarding the market, where to buy what, when, etc.