‘Handiplages’ for disabled people in France: what they offer and where to find them
Certain French beaches provide specially-designed wheelchairs that can be used on sand and in water
There are more than 140 Handiplages in France, equipped with facilities to assist disabled people
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Over 140 French beaches have earned Handiplage status after taking steps to improve accessibility for disabled people.
The term Handiplage is an official label that can only be used by beaches that provide services and infrastructure such as free disabled parking, beach access via ramps or mats, and free adapted wheelchairs (called tiralos) to move around on the sand and in the sea.
Accessible beaches can be found along France’s coastlines in the south, west and north of the country, with some located on inland lakes and rivers.
The Handiplage website features an interactive map to locate accessible beaches, with each entry listing specific details and descriptions, as well as a Handiplage ‘level’ from one to four.
Each level is indicated by a series of buoyancy rings, granted to a beach depending on their fulfilment of certain requirements.
Level one beaches must offer services such as: beach supervision, a first-aid post, disabled parking spaces, wheelchair access from the car park to the water, and disabled toilet facilities.
Once each of the level one measures has been achieved, the beach can then be in contention for a more advanced grading:
For level two, there must also be adapted showers and a team of handiplagistes trained to help with sea access.
Level three beaches should have accessible changing rooms or cabins for disabled people as well as sun shelters.
To be awarded with level four Handiplage status, beaches must offer specific guidance and equipment for blind people, including speaker terminals.
Note that of the 140 registered beaches in France, just 14 have level four facilities, with the majority of these concentrated along the Côte d'Azur.
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Some sites require users to call and reserve a spot to ensure access to an adapted wheelchair and the help of a handiplagiste.
Beach-goers may also be asked to present a disability card (carte d'invalidité) or other documentation before accessing the site, depending on commune rules.
Plage de la Salis
The Plage de la Salis in Antibes (Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur), is one example of a level four Handiplage.
The modern beach area opened in June 2019 and is 1,300 metres square. It is free to use, and is funded by the local council, with free disabled parking and shuttle buses also provided.
It has ten Handiplage staff members on-hand from 09:30-13:30 and then 14:00-18:00 every day of the week, to provide assistance. They can also help with using the tiralos (of which there are four), designed with wide wheels that do not sink as much into the sand.
There are also mats laid out along the sand to the sea to make movements easier. They are blue and white in colour, creating visual contrast to assist people with visual impairments.
One beach user, Fabienne Prévot, previously told FranceInfo: “For people like us, to go into the sea, it is like being weightless; to be free in our movements. It is a completely liberating activity. I think it is marvellous that they can enable us to bathe so easily.”
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