Arcachon Bay, Cap Ferret, Royan and Île de Ré
One earring short after oysters on a terrace in L'Herbe
Every oyster hut in L'Herbe has its terrace on the bay, so a search takes in the terrace and the beach in front of it.
A search for an earring lost at an oyster-hut table in L'Herbe starts from a small area: the table, the terrace around it and the beach in front. Two things settle how it goes: where you sat, and whether the tide was in or out.
Ring Seekers is a lost ring and jewellery recovery service that connects people who lost a ring, wedding band, watch, keys or phone around Arcachon Bay, on Cap Ferret, in Royan, in La Rochelle or on Île de Ré with a metal detectorist who can search there.
Tell us what happened and where. We find a detectorist who can reach the spot, brief them with your map and photos, and tell you honestly if the odds are poor.
Check your own things before the terrace
Shake out scarves and hoods and check the bottom of every bag first. Then note when you sat down, when you noticed, and which hut and table it was, using the Chapelle de la Villa Algérienne as your fixed point. A photo from your seat that shows the huts on either side says more than a description of them.
Elsewhere the ground changes. The Bassin fills and empties with the tide, Royan's fine-sand beaches lie between the Atlantic and the Gironde estuary, and flat Île de Ré is an island people explore by bike.
Places we cover from Arcachon to Île de Ré
- Arcachon
- Plage d'Arcachon (Thiers) and Plage d'Eyrac
- Plage Pereire and the Abatilles
- Le Moulleau
- The Banc d'Arguin, by boat
- Lège-Cap-Ferret
- Cap Ferret village
- Bélisaire and the Plage des Américains, Cap Ferret
- The ocean beaches: L'Horizon and the Truc Vert
- L'Herbe
- Le Canon
- Le Grand Crohot
- Royan
- La Grande Conche
- Foncillon
- Pontaillac
- Le Chay and Le Pigeonnier
- La Rochelle
- Plage de la Concurrence
- Les Minimes
- Chef de Baie
- Île de Ré
- Rivedoux-Plage
- La Flotte and the Plage de l'Arnérault
- Saint-Martin-de-Ré
- Le Bois-Plage-en-Ré
- La Couarde-sur-Mer
- La Conche des Baleines
- Trousse Chemise, Les Portes-en-Ré
The Bassin, then Royan, La Rochelle and Ré
Arcachon and Lège-Cap-Ferret share the Bassin. The rest is Charente-Maritime.
Plage d'Arcachon and Eyrac, Arcachon
The Plage d'Arcachon runs along the seafront boulevards in the town centre, between the Thiers jetty and the Pierre Lataillade jetty, once called the Eyrac jetty. Many boat trips leave from here, so a loss may have happened while boarding as much as on the sand. The Plage d'Eyrac, liked for its calm, lies between that jetty and the port.
Pereire and the Abatilles, Arcachon
Pereire is Arcachon's big beach, fine sand edged by a long pedestrian avenue, with a pine wood around wide lawns where families play ball. South of it, the Abatilles has shaded places to rest and sandbanks that come out at low tide.
Le Moulleau, Arcachon
The southernmost of Arcachon's beaches sits at the entrance to the Bassin, with a jetty and the Cap Ferret lighthouse straight across the water. Its water is deeper than off the town's other beaches. In season boats leave here for Cap Ferret, and boats from Arcachon and Cap Ferret land people by ladder on the sand of the Banc d'Arguin, out in the mouth of the Bassin.
L'Herbe and Le Canon, Lège-Cap-Ferret
Two oyster villages on the bay side of the peninsula. In L'Herbe the lanes are too narrow for two bikes to pass, and the oyster huts all have their terraces on the bay. At Le Canon, brightly painted wooden cabins line a beach on calm bay water.
Cap Ferret village, the Américains and the ocean beaches
In Cap Ferret village you can walk everywhere from the market square, from the shops of the Boulevard de la Plage to the lighthouse. Its bay beaches include Bélisaire and the Plage des Américains, which has a small pine wood along it where people lay towels in the shade. On the ocean side, the Grand Crohot at Lège, the Truc Vert and L'Horizon are huge surf beaches with lifeguards in summer; a little train runs from the Bélisaire jetty to L'Horizon.
The Grande Conche, Foncillon and Pontaillac, Royan
A walk along Royan's shore runs from the conche of Foncillon past Le Chay and Le Pigeonnier to Pontaillac. Pontaillac, a surfers' spot, has bar and restaurant terraces facing the ocean.
The Concurrence, the Minimes and Chef de Baie, La Rochelle
The Concurrence is the best-known beach in La Rochelle, in the city centre near the Lanterne tower and the Parc Charruyer. The Minimes is the biggest, with the Bout du Monde lighthouse in view. At both you can swim only at high tide. Chef de Baie, the smallest, sits below a wide strip of grass, and there you swim at low tide.
Rivedoux, La Flotte and Saint-Martin, Île de Ré
Rivedoux-Plage is at the entrance to the island, with a north beach on the bay of Sablanceaux and a more sheltered south beach. La Flotte has a harbour lined with terraces, and a stone's throw away the Arnérault is a sheltered bay along a promenade. In Saint-Martin, lanes and alleys wind through the old centre inside the fortified walls.
Le Bois-Plage, La Couarde and the western tip, Île de Ré
On the south coast, Le Bois-Plage draws surfers of every level with its consistent waves. At La Couarde a huge expanse of fine sand lies along the south side. At the far western tip, the Conche des Baleines runs from the Baleines lighthouse towards Les Portes, backed by the Lizay forest, and Trousse Chemise has coves facing the pine wood of that name.
From the chat to the brief
Nobody new to explain it to
You write to one person on WhatsApp, who stays on your case, so the story only has to be told once.
Which side of the Bassin
Cap Ferret lies straight across the water from Le Moulleau, so the brief names the town as well as the stretch of sand before a detectorist sets out.
Dropped over the side
A ring that went off a boat in the middle of the Bassin is a long shot, and you would hear that from us first.
Costs, then a decision
We explain the costs before any search is booked, and you decide from there.
Two ways the tide comes into it
Around the Bassin and on Ré, give the hour of the loss along with the place.
Banks and flats in the Bassin
The Bassin d'Arcachon fills twice a day on the rising tide, and at every low tide mudflats and sandbanks come out of the water. Give us the time and whether the water was coming in or going out.
Coefficients on Île de Ré
On Ré each tide carries a coefficient, a figure for the gap between high and low water that day, and big tides are those above 95. If you noted the coefficient on the day, pass it on.
Questions about Arcachon Bay and the Charente-Maritime coast
Is the beach below an oyster-hut terrace in L'Herbe part of the search for an earring lost over lunch?
Yes, together with the terrace floor and the ground under your table. The huts in L'Herbe all have their terraces on the bay, with the beach in front. Tell us which hut it was, using the Chapelle de la Villa Algérienne as your marker, where your table stood, whether the tide was in or out, and whether the earring is a stud or a hoop.
Can a wedding band lost on a low-tide sandbank off the Abatilles be looked for after the water has covered it?
It can, and timing is the first thing we ask about: when you walked out, and when the water came back over the bank. The Abatilles, south of Pereire, has sandbanks that come out at low tide. Tell us which way you came down to the beach, how long you walked before reaching the bank, and the last moment you are sure the band was on.
How do I describe a ride through Saint-Martin-de-Ré for a phone that bounced out of a bike basket?
As a line drawn on a map. The old centre of Saint-Martin is a web of lanes and alleys inside its fortified walls, and one street name covers a lot of corners. Draw the way you rode, mark every stop, and say whether the phone had a metal case.
Which details narrow down a ring lost during a swim at the Minimes in La Rochelle?
The time comes first. At the Minimes you can swim only at high tide, so the hour of your swim goes a long way to placing you. It is also the biggest beach in La Rochelle, so give your position against the Bout du Monde lighthouse, close to it or farther along, and how deep the water came on you.
Royan moves sand around the Grande Conche every spring. Is that a problem for a bracelet lost there in August?
Not for a summer loss. The work is done in spring, when sand that has built up at the ends of the beach is carried to the parts that have worn away, so the sand you sat on in August was already in place. Name the street you took down to the seafront, and say how far down towards the water your towels were.
Does it matter whether a watch dropped at the Thiers jetty in Arcachon landed on the boards, on deck or in the water?
A great deal, because each one is a different search. Many boat trips leave from the Plage d'Arcachon, the town-centre beach between the Thiers jetty and the Pierre Lataillade jetty. Say where along the jetty the boat was tied up, which of the three you think it was, and roughly what time.
My ring came off in the waves at L'Horizon, on the ocean side of Cap Ferret.
Tell us whether you came on the little train from Bélisaire or walked in from the car park, which lifeguard flags you were between, and how far down the sand the tide was. If it went in the waves, say roughly how deep you stood.
A thin chain snapped while I lay on the south beach at Rivedoux-Plage. What should the photo show?
Whatever fixes your spot along the sand. The south beach is the sheltered one, looking out towards Île d'Aix and La Rochelle, and the Chauveau lighthouse can be seen from the Rivedoux beaches. A photo from your towel with the lighthouse in it, and the time you packed up, gives the detectorist a line to start from.
Arcachon Bay, Cap Ferret, Royan and Île de Ré
Start from the place you last had it
Every town on this page goes to the same WhatsApp number.
Say what came off and what you were doing when it went. Then drop a map pin on the spot and send both on WhatsApp.