Hidden Gems: Photographing Brittany’s Boat Graveyards

Brittany has some amazing boat graveyards (cimetiere à bateau) dotted around it’s coast and estuaries. On our last visit we found three that were worth a detour. There are lots of others.

Boat Graveyard of Quelmer

Cimetière à bateaux de Quelmer – also known as Cimetière de la Passagère which it s not far from
48.60168938602394, -2.0054249050449733

Probably the best in terms of the number and variety of boat hulks. Many of them are highly decorated with graffiti and so they may not appeal to the purist. The location is very much affected by the state of the tide and so some planning is required; at high water it’s difficult to access the whole site. On the other hand some water improves the scene. You also need to consider the sun direction. There is limited street parking nearby. It’s about 2 miles south of the centre of St Malo but even so, it’s somewhat off the beaten track and so quite quiet. I saw no-one else there on either of my two visits.

Boat Graveyard of LE BONO

Cimetière à bateaux du Bono
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Situated a long way up the River Bono on the opposite side of the river to the town of Le Bono. Park in the town and then walk across the suspension bridge (good views) and take the footpath to the right along the river bank. This is a very pleasant river side walk which takes you down to the site where there are a number of wooden hulks under overhanging trees and so invisible on google satellite view. Again, it will look very different according to the tide state even though it is well up stream.

Boat Graveyard de Le Magouër par Plouhinec

Cimetière Marin de Le Magouër par Plouhinec
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Here the wooden hulks are up high on a sandy beach about a mile up the river Etel. There is plenty of off road parking for the beach nearby. You can walk round the wrecks and get at them from all angles. However I found these to be the least interesting partly due to the numerous distractions in the surroundings that made finding a composition difficult, as the options are limited. There is a lighthouse a bit further along the road which is of limited interest.