Both Dives and Cabourg are well worth a visit, Dives being an attractive old port town on the right bank of the river Dives, and neighbouring Cabourg a fine 19th century seaside resort. However the marina isn’t really in either, being situated in the new development of Port Guillaume.

As with most other towns along the Normandy coastline, the entrance dries well out to sea leaving a splendid acreage of sand, so yachtsmen need to time their approach carefully. As a generalisation, shoal draught craft can start to approach from about half tide while deeper draught vessels will have to wait until nearer the top of the tide, but you will need to do your own sums with tide tables and an up to date chart.

The lock opens from about 2 1/2 hours before HW and stays open till about 3 hours after, the predicted opening times being set out on a handy sheet which you can pick up on arrival or inquire about beforehand. There is no dedicated website but the management is happy to fax you details.

The entrance is located between the wooded hill of Houlgate and the apartment backed beach of Cabourg. Find the red and white striped buoy D1 and then, when tidal conditions are suitable, follow the marked channel in leaving the green beacons to starboard. When nearly under the hill, next to the road and railway, the channel swings round to the right. The entrance to Port Guillaume is then straight in front of you, the river carrying on round to the right where drying moorings can be found. Once inside, if you berth to the left you are closer to the capitainerie.

As marina developments go, Port Guillaume is attractive with low rise buildings in pastel shades around a large basin with plenty of room for visitors, though when we were last there shops and bars were not exactly thick on the ground. Dives itself is about 20 minutes walk inland featuring attractive old buildings including a medieval covered market place. Best restaurant, if you happen to be there on one of the rare occasions when it’s open (it’s closed Sunday-Wednesday except during school holidays), is Chez le Bougnat (27 rue G-Manneville, T 02 31 91 06 13), a fun bistro with an extraordinary display of bric-a-brac. Keeping slightly longer hours is Guillaume le Conquérant (2 rue Hastings, T 02 31 91 07 26).

As you may have gathered from all the loving references to Guillaume, William the Conqueror is supposed to have marshalled his forces for the conquest of England in Dives. To escape “le Conquérant”, cross the footbridge over the Dives and enjoy a long walk along the prom at Cabourg taking in the sand yachting, sunbathing and other fashionable diversions of French seaside resorts. Here the local hero is the novelist Marcel Proust who stayed at the Grand Hotel several times in the early 1900s, as chronicled at stupendous length in A la Récherche du Temps Perdu. Even if you’re not a Proust fan, it’s fun to have a drink or a meal at the Grand Hotel and soak up the atmosphere of fin de siècle grandeur.

Meanwhile, should you tire of Dives and Cabourg, there is always Houlgate, a bracing walk to the east, and favourite haunt of impressionist painters who left several views of the place.

© 2008 Yachtpilot