Beau Rivage Plage

Beau Rivage runs along the shore directly below the Quai des Etats-Unis, at the Vieux Nice end of the bay rather than out along the Promenade, which puts the old town, the Cours Saleya market and the climb to the Colline du Chateau within a few minutes on foot. Like every beach in Nice this one is pebble, not sand: large smooth galets that are unkind to bare feet but keep the water noticeably clear, and the club works around them with teak decking and raised mattress platforms. It is the largest private beach in the city and is laid out as two distinct sections, a quieter lounge end and a livelier stretch nearer the bar, so a group that cannot agree on the kind of day it wants can usually be split between them. The kitchen is Mediterranean and seasonal and serves lunch every day of the year, which is unusual on this coast; from May to September dinner is served outside. Watersports are arranged through a neighbouring operator rather than run in house. There is no car park of its own, and the nearest paid options are Sulzer, Cours Saleya, Palais de Justice and Corvesy. Book mattresses ahead in July and August.