Discover sand beach around Nice, only 30 minutes drive.
Nice has so many beautiful beaches around the city and they are surrounded by mountains. Driving along the coastline of Côte d’Azur is similar to driving in Pacific Coast Highway in California. Personally, I prefer Côte d’Azur because each of the beaches is different along the coastline and the ambience changes after every turn. You pass through big and luxurious cities like Nice, Cannes and St. Tropez but between these cities, there are hidden, tiny, beautiful villages with the perfect beach. You can make your pick. We definitely crave for the tiny villages and local beaches. I say it local because we noticed more local people hanging out on the beach than tourists.
Juan les Pins beach, Antibes
The sand beach is 30 minutes away from Nice. They have both private and public areas. You have easy access to restaurants and shower. One of the coolest things about this beach is you will see a fast train passing by frequently. The train track is close to the beach and it livens the beach experience. Do not worry; it is not dangerous at all and is not noisy too. Do try waving to the passengers, they might just wave you back.
This beach does does not have waves. It reminded me of the beaches in Honolulu, Hawaiian. You can swim from one side to another effortlessly. The temperature is good and the crowd is moderate. However, do not be surprised, if you notice a lack of diversity in the crowd. It is a local beach and we know who lives in the South of France. I will stop this topic on this and let you imagine the beach and pack. This beach looks out at the green mountains and the mountains are breathtaking. We had to kick our ass off the water and drive towards it.
Plage du Midi, Cannes
The sand beach is 35 minutes away from Nice. All the travel sites brag about this beach as a must-visit local beach in Cannes. Many also say it’s near a mountain. I completely disagree with it. This is a big and beautiful beach easily accessible from Cannes and Nice but it is not near a mountain. You can enjoy the beautiful architectures of the city and multiple small stores selling food on the beach. However, the mountains are quite far away. If you are into water sport activities, this beach is perfect for you as they have parasailing, kayaking and jet skiing. After the beach, you can always walk to Le Vieux Port and enjoy the boats and yachts. This port was built in 1950 and is only 15 minutes walk from the beach.
If Plage du Midi is not close to the mountain, then which one is? There is one in a village called Théoule-sur-Mer only 20 minutes away from here.
Vallon de l’Autel beach, Théoule-sur-Mer
The sand beach is 35 minutes away from Nice in a tiny village. It is a small beach next to the restaurant “Le Marco Polo”. We fell in love with this one instantly. Imagine yourself immersed in a blue sea surrounded by greeneries. Mountains and tiny houses surround this beach. It’s perfect. The other thing that made this beach special is easy access to supermarket Casino. We were tired of eating in restaurants and did not want to eat anything heavy. So, we went to Casino and grabbed salads, water and soda. This Casino also has an umbrella and other sea accessories in case you need it. You might also notice a snorkel mask and question yourself if you need it. Let me tell you that you do not need it for this beach. However, if you do want to snorkel, the lady in the store told me it’s somewhere in the corner of one of the beach. I apologize for the vagueness but that’s how she described it. You can try asking the lady and share it with me in the comment box below.
I jumped for the first time from a floating diving raft on this beach. It is safe and not far from the shore. You will have to swim against a small wave but it is definitely worth it. Talking about safety, I do suggest you be careful because I almost slipped. Try on your own risk or with a partner because they do not have a lifeguard. The crowd was moderate and diverse. Can it get more perfect with a mix of sea, forest and diversity? In addition to all, you will also be surrounded by beautiful yachts resting around the sea. This place has the best view and you should not miss it when you visit the south of France.
Plage des Esclamandes, Fréjus
The sand beach is 45 minutes away from Nice. Unlike the other beach in the coastline, this beach is hidden and does not have access to food and drinks. You will notice a parking lot on the sides of the street and you can access the beach from there. Please do take parking seriously in all the places. Though they are tiny, they are strict about parking. We got a ticket at Théoule-sur-Mer because I was 100% sure nobody will inspect the cars in this tiny village. Well, I was wrong. So, parking ticket first and then beach second. Plage des Esclamandes is a big beach. However, the sea is not blue as other beaches. It looks brown and muddy but the water is clean and clear. This beach has watersport activities like in Plage du Midi beach, Cannes and the beaches in Nice.
If you are a naturist, this beach is for you. It has a naturist section. Naturist beach is the beach where one can chill naked. You will see 2-3 signboards informing you before you approach it. Just keep on walking, till you see signboards and enjoy the nature in naturist style. In addition, it has a passage behind the beach to head to the parking lot and other sections of the beach. If you do not want to pass all the people wearing swimsuits to go to naturist beach, you can use this passage. It has signboards to direct you to your destination.
During our trip, we encountered a black swan in a lake. I regret not taking a photo of it. I was too mesmerized by the sight of it because I had never seen one. I did some research to find out if black swans were common and guess what, it is not. Black swans are native to Australia. She was beautiful. It was amazing how I forgot to capture the swan on Instagram. Sometimes nature makes you forget technology just like that. Have you ever seen one and where? Share on the comment box below.
SOME OF MY WORDS 
One thought