Les Sables-d'Olonne to La Baule
You were out on a sand yacht on La Baule's bay one winter afternoon, and the phone did not come back with you
La Baule's bay is a vast stretch of sand, so the part of it you were on is the first thing to pin down.
A phone lost while you were out on a sand yacht on La Baule's bay can be searched for. The part of the bay you were on, and the time you were out there, are what a detectorist most needs from you.
Ring Seekers is a lost ring and jewellery recovery service that connects people who lost a ring, wedding band, watch, keys or phone in Les Sables-d'Olonne, La Baule or the nearby resorts with a metal detectorist who can search there.
Tell us what happened and where. We find a detectorist who can reach the beach, brief them with your map and photos, and tell you honestly if the odds are poor.
Mark the seafront behind you
On a bay this size, the seafront is your best guide. Open a map and mark the avenue or building that stood straight inland of the sand you were on, then add the date and roughly what time you were out. Photos from the day with the seafront in the background place you just as well.
It is worth one more look in the car and in every pocket and bag, yours and those of anyone who was out with you.
Where this page reaches, town by town
- Les Sables-d'Olonne
- The Grande Plage, Les Sables-d'Olonne
- The Remblai
- Plage de Tanchet
- Plage des Présidents
- La Chaume and the Bassin Dombret
- Plage de la Paracou
- La Baule-Escoublac
- La Baule beach
- Plage Benoît
- Le Pouliguen
- Plage du Nau
- Pornichet
- Plage des Libraires
- Bonne Source and Sainte-Marguerite
- Batz-sur-Mer: Plage Saint-Michel and Plage Valentin
- Saint-Brevin-les-Pins: Plage de l'Océan and the Rochelets
- Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie
- The Grande Plage, Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie
- Plage de Boisvinet
- Saint-Jean-de-Monts
- The estacade, Saint-Jean-de-Monts
- Plage des Demoiselles
Town beaches on either side of the Loire estuary
Three resorts in the Vendée, the bay at La Baule and its neighbours, and Saint-Brevin across the estuary.
The Grande Plage and the Remblai, Les Sables-d'Olonne
The Grande Plage is the family beach of Les Sables-d'Olonne, fine sand facing south, a few steps from the pedestrian streets of the town centre. The Remblai, the long promenade along it, now gives priority to people on foot and on bikes. The Central and Petite Cale lifeguard posts both stand on this beach, and either one makes a handy marker.
Tanchet, the Présidents and the Bassin Dombret, Les Sables-d'Olonne
Tanchet, at the southern end of the bay, is the sporty beach and a surfers' stronghold, with a rocky reef as well as a beach break. The small Plage des Présidents lies south of the Grande Plage, near the Arago and Présidents districts and the Lac de Tanchet. Across at La Chaume, the Bassin Dombret is a natural seawater basin tucked among the coves of the rocky Côte Sauvage, reached from the corniche du Nouch. Farther along the Côte Sauvage, near the dunes and the forest, the Paracou is a small sandy cove among rocks.
La Baule beach and Plage Benoît, La Baule-Escoublac
La Baule's beach is the heart of the resort, in the middle of a bay of fine sand. Sailing, paddleboarding and kitesurfing go on here, and sand yachting in winter. Plage Benoît, at the western end, is a quiet family beach looking back over the rest of the bay, and at low tide people fish on foot there.
Batz-sur-Mer and Saint-Brevin-les-Pins
In the centre of Batz-sur-Mer, the little Plage Saint-Michel sits behind its jetty with yellow bathing cabins on the sand, and the Plage Valentin is the largest beach on the wild coast, with a sailing school nearby. Across the Loire estuary, Saint-Brevin has long sandy beaches edged with dunes and pines, among them the Plage de l'Océan and the Rochelets, where the lifeguard post is on Avenue Alexandre Bernard.
Plage du Nau, Le Pouliguen
The Nau lies between the port pier and the town hall in Le Pouliguen. It is a family beach, and its diving boards are used for sunbathing as well as jumping. When the tide goes out, people come down to fish on foot.
The Libraires, Bonne Source and Sainte-Marguerite, Pornichet
The Libraires is Pornichet's big family beach, fine sand facing the bay with the seafront terraces behind it. It shelves so gently that children run straight into the water. South of the port, Bonne Source is the town's largest sandy beach, with a path along it and a small cove at its northern end; past the Pointe de Congrigoux, Sainte-Marguerite is quieter and more natural.
The Grande Plage and Boisvinet, Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie
The Grande Plage is a long beach of fine sand facing west, running on towards Brétignolles-sur-Mer, and surfers, kitesurfers and sand yachts all use it. Boisvinet, between the Corniche and the jetty, is the family beach, with a bathing basin that children can use at low tide.
The estacade and the Demoiselles, Saint-Jean-de-Monts
The beach at Saint-Jean-de-Monts faces due west and keeps plenty of room at high tide as well as low. In the evening people gather on the estacade for the sunset. The sand is wide, flat and open, and sand yachts go out on it. Towards the Demoiselles the beach feels more secluded.
Before anyone sets foot on the sand
A person, not a form
There is no form to fill in. You write on WhatsApp in your own words, and the person who answers is the one who writes up the brief for the detectorist.
Two Grandes Plages
Les Sables-d'Olonne and Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie both have a Grande Plage. Put the town in your first message and there is no mix-up later.
No part of the bay to go on
A phone that went somewhere on La Baule's bay, with no idea which part, is a long shot, and you would hear that from us first.
Before any booking
We explain the costs before any search is booked.
Big tides, flat sand and two basins
What changes the picture from one beach to the next.
When the Grande Plage goes under
On the biggest tides the Grande Plage in Les Sables-d'Olonne can disappear under the sea altogether. Give the date and the hour, and the tide tables show how much beach there was at that moment.
Sand yachts on three beaches
Sand yachts go out at La Baule in winter, at Saint-Jean-de-Monts from low tide, and on the Grande Plage at Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie. If you were on one, say which part of the beach you crossed, going by what you could see on the seafront.
Two bathing basins
The Bassin Dombret at La Chaume is seawater held among the rocks, with no waves, and the bathing basin at Boisvinet in Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie can be reached at low tide. For either one, say where you got in and where your things were.
Questions about Les Sables-d'Olonne, La Baule and nearby beaches
Where on La Baule's bay would a search start for a phone lost from a sand yacht?
From the stretch of beach you were on, worked out from the seafront. The bay is a vast stretch of sand, so send a pin on the avenue or building that stood inland of you, with the date and the hour you were out. Say which pocket the phone was in, and add any photo from the day that shows the seafront behind you.
Can a wedding band lost on a swim at the Grande Plage in Les Sables-d'Olonne be found when the tide was in?
It can be looked for, and the tide is the key to where. At low tide this beach stretches as far as the eye can see, and on the biggest tides the sea can cover all of it, so the date and the time of your swim show where the water's edge was. Add which lifeguard post was nearer, the Central or the Petite Cale, and whether the water was at your waist or your chest.
Is an Oura ring that came off surfing at Tanchet worth reporting?
Yes, above all if you know where you paddled out. The surf at Tanchet breaks over a rocky reef as well as a beach break, so say which of the two you were riding, and whether the ring went in the shallows on the way out or farther out among the waves. Add the time you came back in.
An earring came loose while we were in the Bassin Dombret at La Chaume.
The Bassin Dombret is a natural seawater basin without waves, set among the rocky coves of the Côte Sauvage, so the basin itself and the rocks around it are the two places to think about. Tell us where you climbed in, where your bag was, and the way you came from the corniche du Nouch.
Metal-framed glasses went off a diving board at the Nau in Le Pouliguen.
The boards give an exact starting point. The Nau lies between the port pier and the town hall, and people sit on the boards to sunbathe as well as jump from them. Say which board it was, whether the glasses fell as you jumped or while you sat, and the time, so the state of the tide at that moment can be checked.
Are keys dropped on the Plage des Libraires in Pornichet worth looking for?
Yes, if you can say roughly where you sat. The Libraires is a big beach facing the bay, so the street you took down from the seafront, or the terrace straight behind you, is the best way to place your towels. Say too whether the keys were in a pocket or loose in a bag.
Our daughter lost a bracelet playing in the basin at Boisvinet in Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie.
Boisvinet lies between the Corniche and the jetty, and its bathing basin can be reached at low tide. Tell us which part of the basin she was in, the time, and where your towels were on the sand. Describe the bracelet as well: a chain or a bangle, and what it is made of.
The watch was gone after we watched the sunset from the estacade at Saint-Jean-de-Monts.
In the evening the estacade is where everyone ends up, so think back over whether the watch came off up there or on the sand walking to and from it. The beach keeps plenty of room even at high tide, so mark where you stepped onto the sand and where you left it, and send the time you were there.
Les Sables-d'Olonne to La Baule
From the Vendée or Loire-Atlantique, the same WhatsApp chat
Whichever town on this coast it was.
Put the town and the beach in the first line, then what went missing. A pin dropped where you were, and whether the tide was in or out if you noticed, can follow in the same chat.