The Béziers boat house has reopened its doors to boaters and tourists

Olivier Nolorgues, agent portuaire et se séjour touristique à la maison batelière de Béziers. Antonia Jimenez – ML

undefined Antonia Jimenez – ML

undefined Antonia Jimenez – ML

La navigation sur le canal du Midi ayant repris le 1er avril, la maison batelière, à Béziers, a donc rouvert ses portes.

It was due to resume on March 2. However, due to the drought in the South, navigation on the Canal du Midi only resumed on March 27. Consequently, the Béziers boat house, located on Quai Port-Neuf, which serves as the captaincy of the Béziers river port, has reopened its doors to boaters.

As a reminder, the Béziers port extends all along the quay, on both banks, from the Orb lock to the so-called Béziers lock.< /p>

Captaincy office and tourist information office

"Also to the public since we are also a tourist information office", indicates Stéphan Escrouzailles, the port manager. It also takes care of the two other ports managed by the Béziers Méditerranée tourist office: Sérignan and Valras-Plage. This opening is therefore an opportunity to take stock of the boat house which only has, behind it, one season of operation since it only opened last year. ;last year.

Two agents were assigned during the 2023 season: one for stay, the other port. "However, it was decided, for the new season, that there would be more than a single agent ensuring the double mission n", specifies Olivier Nolorgues, the employee in question, who also works on the three ports.

"A smooth start"

Ensuring the reception of boaters, taking care of moorings, stopovers, invoicing, as well as the supply of water and electricity. These are its main missions when he wears the cap of a port agent. "For these fifteen days of opening, it’s like last year, the activity is starting slowly." And Stéphan Escrouzailles specifies : "For the moment, we made 1 to 9 stopovers during the day, for a total of 45 in 15 days, and five extensions. Knowing that at the strongest,  i.e. on July 19 of last season, we were at 15 stops."

This soft start allows the manager to devote more time to port development projects. Concerning the number of rings (places) for example, it is 16 for the moment. "We are working on increasing the number and type of rings (places) rsquo;rings, that is to say short or long term, the objective being to satisfy requests."

To do this, the two banks were handed over by Voies navigables de France, the Canal manager, to the City of Béziers. "The banks are in the process of being transferred to the tourist office. We will then go from 136 m of linear quay to more than 400 m."

Thus, the number of boats in winter, i.e. moored from November 1 to March 31 of owners leaving them in "guarding", which was 8 during the 2023 season could also increase.

Opening of the boat house, from April 1 to October 31, Monday to Sunday, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and from 1:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. I subscribe to read more