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Nice Boat Tours › Surprising Facts About the Coast You See from a Nice BoatUpdated 2026-09-26

Surprising Facts About the Coast You See from a Nice Boat

Hours, prices and access verified by the Nice Boat Tours team — last checked 2026-09-26.

A villa above a natural rock pool on the tip of a green cape

The short answer. The coast east of Nice holds more than its postcards: boats that run on sunlight, a cliff path with gates that shut in a storm, monks on an island off Cannes, and a harbour in Monaco built for 700 vessels. Every Nice boat trip passes some of them. Here are twelve facts, with the figures behind them.

The figures at a glance

FactThe figure
Sunniest month in NiceJuly, 349 hours of sun
Wettest monthNovember, 138 mm of rain
The cliff path at Cap-d'Ail3.6 km, with 13 storm barriers
Monaco's harbourRoom for up to 700 vessels
The island monksOn the island since AD 410
The small shared boatsUp to 12 people

The boats

1. Some boats here run on the sun. SeaZen's boats at Beaulieu-sur-Mer are electric catamarans charged by solar panels, certified by the French maritime administration for private trips. There is no engine noise and no smell of fuel. They are quiet enough to talk over and slow enough that the captain lets you steer. Read about one on the silent solar boat from Beaulieu.

2. The small boats stop at twelve. Nissa Croisières' RIBs and the catamaran out of Cannes each take no more than 12 people. The Trans Côte d'Azur ferry to Monaco carries up to 200. That gap is the whole difference between the two kinds of trip.

3. The fares run from pocket money to a large cheque. The cheapest way onto the water is the hour-long cruise at $33. The dearest is a four-hour charter at $987 for a group of up to four. The fares in between are set out on the visitor guide.

4. Some charters bill you again at the quay. Several private boats add a fee paid on board, €300 in most cases, on top of the fare you booked. One four-hour charter states that the skipper's fee and the fuel are already included.

The coast

5. The cliff path has storm gates. Cap-d'Ail's coastal path runs 3.6 km from Plage Mala to Plage Marquet. Along it are 13 safety barriers that close in strong wind or a rough sea. The walk passes panels on the plants, old millstone quarries and Belle Époque villas.

6. The beach below it flies a Blue Flag. Plage Mala, fine sand and small round pebbles in the rocks, was awarded the Blue Flag in 2017, and it is a non-smoking beach. The cave beside it is the swim stop for the Mala RIBs, as the post on the Mala cave explains.

7. The villa on the cape is a Belle Époque palace. The Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild on Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat stands in themed gardens that look over the sea. You see it from the boats; you visit it by road, daily from 10:00 to 18:00 this season. More sights along the way are on things to do in Nice from the water.

Monaco and the islands

8. Monaco has one deep-water harbour. Port Hercule, in the La Condamine district, is the only deep-water port in Monaco, with room for up to 700 vessels. It is named for a temple to Hercules that stood on the Rock above.

9. Monks have lived on an island off Cannes for sixteen centuries. Of the five Lérins Islands, Saint-Honorat has had monks more or less continuously since AD 410. They make wine, honey, lavender oil and a herbal liqueur.

10. The Man in the Iron Mask was held off Cannes. The fort on Sainte-Marguerite held that prisoner. It is now the Museum of the Sea.

The weather

11. July gets more than twice December's sun. Météo-France's 1991-2020 normals for Nice give July 349 hours of sunshine and December 145. July also has only about two rainy days.

12. Autumn is the wet season, not winter. October brings 128 mm of rain and November 138 mm, the most of the year, while July has 14 mm. The mistral, the north-west wind of the Rhône valley, is not usually a problem for Nice boats: along the Riviera the mountains channel it, and it often comes with clear skies. Month by month, with the boats still sailing, is on the best time to visit.

Useful tip. The facts that matter for a booking are dates, not trivia. The sunset catamaran's timetable ends on 5 October, the Monaco ferry sails its last on 31 October and the hour-long cruise runs to 1 November.

What the facts mean for your trip

Most of these facts change which boat you should book. If you want quiet, and a turn at the wheel, the solar boat is the one; you start in Beaulieu rather than Nice, so allow for the journey there. If you want a small group, pick a boat that stops at twelve, and book it early, because small boats fill first.

If you are pricing a private boat, read its exclusions before you pay. A fare that looks cheaper than the next one may carry €300 at the quay, and you pay it in person on the day. If you want to walk as well as swim, the cliff path at Cap-d'Ail gives you the Mala coast from above, but check the weather: when the barriers close, you cannot go through.

And if you want to stand in Monaco rather than look at it, choose the day ferry, and pick one of its three sailing days. You can see which boats pass each of these places on things to do from the water.

A few more worth knowing

  • The Monaco ferry sails only on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
  • It leaves Nice at 09:30 and Monaco at 17:00, so you get nearly seven hours ashore.
  • The one-hour cruise sails at 11:00 and 15:00, every day except Monday.
  • Its commentary is live, in French and English.
  • The Saint-Tropez boat takes about 2.5 hours each way and gives you five hours ashore.
  • Tram line 2 runs from the airport to the Port Lympia stop at the port.
  • The airport tram needs its own €10 Aéro return ticket.

The full picture of the Saint-Tropez day is on Nice to Saint-Tropez by boat, and the quays and the tram are on the map of departure points.

Boats that show you these facts

Next: Choose the fact you want to see for yourself, then look for a date. Every fare sits side by side on Nice Boat Tours.