Port de Kernével (Larmor-Plage, Lorient)

Kernével marina is located in Larmor-Plage, within the Lorient roadstead, on the Atlantic coast of the Morbihan department in Brittany. Accessible at any state of tide, it offers direct access to open sea and ranks among the main marinas of the Lorient area.

The marina has 1038 berths spread across floating pontoons, accommodating boats up to 30 metres in length. Depths range from 2 to 8 metres depending on the area, with a tidal range of up to 4.5 metres at high coefficients. Berth holders have access to water and electricity on the pontoons, a fuel station, wifi, showers, a bike rental service and a boat launch ramp. The marina holds the Ports Propres and Ports Propres actifs en biodiversité certifications.

Around the marina, several restaurants and bars with terraces, along with a small beach, animate the site. Three nautical clubs are based here. Boat trips and boat rentals are available, and a seasonal water-bus service connects the marina to other points around the roadstead in summer. A footpath leads to the centre of Larmor-Plage in about twenty minutes, and to the Lorient La Base site in around thirty minutes on foot or ten minutes by bike.

The Kernével headland holds a historic place in the defence of the Lorient roadstead: a star-shaped fort was built there in 1761 to protect the port and the French East India Company. During the Second World War, the villas of Kernével were requisitioned by German forces, who turned the site into a fortified camp from which Admiral Karl Dönitz directed the Battle of the Atlantic submarine campaign, according to the Breton cultural heritage inventory. Later, the marina, opened in 1988, saw renowned sailors such as Éric Tabarly and Alain Gautier moor their boats.