Port Frejus

Port Frejus is located at the eastern end of the town of Frejus. This is a very popular place for boat owners and holidaymakers. It is halfway between busy places which are St-Tropez and Cannes, and it is ideally located just west of the Esterel Coast nearby, appreciated for its coves and anchorages. It is one of the recently built marinas along the Var coast and throughout the French Riviera, having only been inaugurated in July 1989. This is apparent in the port’s layout, its architecture and its infrastructure as well as in the parts of town around the marina, with a definite modern feel to the place.
 
However, the Frejus as a harbour goes way back in history. "Forum Iulii" was in ancient times a major trading port, a naval base as well as a large Roman city. Some of the ruins can be visited. Yet, Frejus looks like a brand new holiday town. The quality of life there would almost have you forget that, on 2 December 1959, this little town was devastated with the collapse of the Malpasset dam. That evening, after heavy rains, the dam gave way at 21:13 unleashing a 40 metre high wave into the valley, destroying everything in its path, including a large part of Frejus, before reaching the sea. Images of the town then show a lunar landscape. This national disaster cost the inhabitants of Frejus 423 lives. The town was rebuilt, during the 1960s and 1970s, period during which the Riviera was extensively transformed with constructions.
 
Port Fréjus was therefore opened in 1989, with the perspective of connecting the town’s waterfront to the town’s centre, which had been preserved. The marina as it is nowadays has nothing in common with the harbour in antique times. Its layout has primarily been designed to accommodate the smaller boat, on docks and 15 pontoons. In total, there are 672 berths in the marina for boats ranging from 5 m to 15 m in length, including 29 moorings for short stays. The port of Frejus also has 30 berths for larger boats as well as yachts of a maximum size of 30 m x 7 m, on a location not far from the port’s entrance.
 
Inland marina extension projects, inspired by the town of Frejus’ history have recently taken place. A small canal has been dug up, creating berths and moorings for up to a hundred boats from 8 m to 15 m in length overall (and less than 4.5 m air-draft due bridges, and less than 2 m draft).
 
Port Fréjus is a private marina built post-1983. It is therefore possible to acquire rights to use berths there until the end of the port’s concession, but only under the form of Guaranteed Usage (“Garantie d’Usage” in French), unlike the older private ports, where the rights to use are connected to detaining a lease (or “Amodiation”) corresponding to a mooring.