Port Vauban, Antibes. Twenty minutes from Nice airport, with the crew meeting you at the quay.
Antibes holds the largest marina on this coast and the quay that takes the largest yachts on it. The airport is close, the old town is beautiful, and we agree with the captain where the car sets you down.
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The essentials
Port Vauban at a glance
- Where it isAntibes, between the ramparts and Fort CarreThe old town is on one side of the water and the Fort Carre headland on the other.
- SizeAround 1,500 berthsSomething in the order of 4,200 linear metres of quay, which makes it the largest marina on the French Riviera by capacity.
- The big quayQuai des Milliardaires, run by the IYCAA breakwater running around 650 metres out, with roughly 19 berths for the largest class of yacht, the biggest quoted at about 165 metres.
- Nearest airportNice Cote d'Azur (NCE)Around 20 kilometres east. Twenty to thirty five minutes on a quiet road.
Published figures, checked in September 2026. We arrange transport to and from the port. Berths are held by the yacht, through her captain and agent, and we claim no relationship with the port, the IYCA or any event held there.
The harbour
A working port with a superyacht wall in it
Port Vauban is really two places sharing one basin. Most of it is an ordinary large Mediterranean marina, with fifteen hundred or so berths running from small local boats up through the sizes that fill every harbour on the coast. Along the eastern breakwater is something else entirely: the Quai des Milliardaires, operated by the International Yacht Club of Antibes and known to everyone by either name or simply as the IYCA. It runs out from the Bastion Saint-Jaume for around 650 metres and it takes a handful of the largest yachts afloat.
Around the harbour sits the reason so many yachts base themselves here rather than in Monaco or Cannes. Antibes is the working capital of the Mediterranean yachting industry: crew agencies, engineers, provisioners, shipyard and technical services, and a permanent population of professional crew who live in the town. A yacht that is not in charter is very often in Antibes, which is why so many guest arrivals here are the first day of a charter rather than a stop in the middle of one. For guests the practical consequence is simple. This is not a resort marina with a hotel above it. It is a port, it is busy, and the quay you are going to is behind a gate.
Getting there
Road transfer ranges to Port Vauban
| To or from | Quiet roads | July, August and event weeks |
|---|---|---|
| Nice Cote d'Azur (NCE) | 20 to 35 minutes | 35 to 60 minutes |
| Cannes Mandelieu (CEQ) | 20 to 30 minutes | 35 to 55 minutes |
| Cannes and the Croisette | 20 to 30 minutes | 35 to 60 minutes |
| Cap d'Antibes villas and hotels | 10 to 20 minutes | 15 to 35 minutes |
| Monaco and Port Hercule | 40 to 65 minutes | 1 hour to 1 hour 30 |
Realistic ranges in normal conditions, not promises. Antibes has no heliport of its own, so the helicopter that makes sense for Monaco rarely makes sense here: Nice is close enough that the car wins. Our own chauffeurs and cars are in London and Manchester, with a trusted global network everywhere else; on the Riviera, cars are arranged through operators we know.
Vehicles and the quay
Where cars stop, and where they do not
Vehicle access along the Quai des Milliardaires is controlled. In practice a car is set down at or near the entrance to the quay and the last part is walked, with crew meeting the luggage and carrying it to the passerelle. Where a vehicle is allowed further it is by arrangement made in advance by the yacht, not something a driver can negotiate at the barrier with guests in the back. Assume the walk, and be pleasantly surprised if the captain has arranged otherwise.
The car parks serving the port work on a barrier and a ticket, and the same ticket opens the secure pedestrian gate back out towards the quays and the old town. That matters for the shape of the day: the driver parks, and is then a few minutes away on foot rather than circling. For a departure it is the reverse, and the crew will usually want the bags brought to the gate rather than the driver brought to the yacht.
Tenders come alongside inside the harbour rather than on the seaward side of the breakwater, and the landing point is agreed for that stay. Confirm it with the captain the night before. The old town has narrow one way streets, and a car sent to the wrong side of the ramparts loses fifteen minutes it did not have.
The calendar
The weeks that fill the town
Antibes has its own rhythm, and it is not quite the same as the resort towns either side of it. Spring is the fit out season: yachts come out of the yards, crews arrive, and the port is at its busiest with work rather than with guests. Les Voiles d'Antibes, the classic yacht regatta that opens the Mediterranean season, is held at the Bastion Saint-Jaume at the end of May and the start of June, with the 2027 edition scheduled for 2 to 6 June.
From there the coast's own calendar takes over. The Monaco Grand Prix in late May and early June, the Cannes Film Festival in May, the Cannes Yachting Festival in early September and the Monaco Yacht Show later that month all draw yachts, cars and crew from Antibes and put pressure on everything that has to be booked. July and August are simply full. The quieter and arguably better weeks are the first half of June and the second half of September, when the sea is warm and the roads move.
Embarkation day
What makes the day work
- Tell us the quay and the berth number. The IYCA quay and the inner pontoons are a different journey on foot, and the driver needs to know before leaving Nice
- Expect to walk the last stretch, and say so in advance if anyone in the party cannot
- Embarkation is usually around midday, so the flight and the car are planned backwards from the passerelle
- For a tender pick-up, agree the landing point the night before and confirm it on the morning
Around the trip
Related pages
Request a proposal
Tell us the quay and the day
Dates, how many of you, where you are flying from and which quay the yacht is on. We will come back with the aircraft, the transfer from Nice and the timings at Port Vauban, and we will speak to the captain about where the car can stop.
Prefer to talk? +44 2030 048300 or WhatsApp, at any hour.
Questions people ask
About Port Vauban
How far is it from Nice airport?
Around twenty kilometres. Twenty to thirty five minutes when the coast road and the motorway are moving, and half an hour longer in July, August or on a festival evening.
Can the car drive onto the Quai des Milliardaires?
Access along the quay is controlled, so plan on a set down at the entrance and a short walk with the crew carrying the luggage. If the yacht has arranged vehicle access in advance, the captain will tell us.
Is there a heliport at Antibes?
No. Nice is close enough that the car is normally the right answer here, which is not the case for Monaco. If you want to arrive by air from further along the coast, we will look at the options from Nice or Cannes with you.
Do you arrange the berth?
No. Berths at Port Vauban and on the IYCA quay are held by the yacht through her captain and agent. We arrange the aircraft and the cars and coordinate the timings with the crew.
Are these your own cars?
Our own fleet and our own chauffeurs are in London and Manchester, with a trusted global network everywhere else. On the Riviera cars are arranged through operators we know, with one contact at Odyssey throughout.
One contact, wherever you are