In the shimmering heart of Saint-Tropez, the day dissolves into a dream of liquid gold, where the silhouettes of superyachts dance against a sunset, backed by the old port’s chic cafés, buzzing terraces, luxury boutiques, and the endless foot traffic that turns every berth into a front-row seat to the town’s glamour. But to make that happen, one needs the perfect spot, and that helps explain why ten individuals working at the port of Saint-Tropez allegedly devised a way to charge for access. What good is the perfect luxury vessel if it cannot secure the right position from which to enjoy Saint-Tropez?
Knowing this well, some port managers, employees, and intermediaries in contact with captains or yacht owners were accused of luring key decision-makers into paying for access to the most sought-after berths. On Wednesday, Draguignan prosecutor Pierre Couttenier said ten people will be tried in November over a system that allegedly monetized access to prized spots for luxury yachts. The glamorous address that attracts superyachts from around the world may have more than 730 berths overall, but not all of them carry the kind of prestige wealthy visitors crave, even at an extra cost. The most glamorous, high-visibility inventory is tiny, with only around 30 prime transient spots in the old port, set against the theater of cafés, terraces, luxury boutiques, and constant foot traffic.
That scarcity is precisely what turned access into a business plan. In peak season, there are no less than 50 to 90 boats on the waiting list for each berth in the old port of Saint-Tropez, according to Benoît Ravix, the town hall’s director general of services. For anyone who thought the multi-million-dollar floating mansion was the true luxury asset, in Saint-Tropez it is often the temporary parking space that becomes the real prize, one people are willing to fight for, or pay for.
Port colleagues were allegedly demanding sums ranging from $1,000 to $17,000 in cash, in addition to the official cost of the berths, which can climb to $6,000 per night. The largest vessel that can dock in the port of Saint-Tropez, at 90 meters, could cost roughly $10,000 per night before tourist tax and optional services. What is especially alarming is that this alleged system of corruption took root in a port that otherwise appears to run like a tight ship. Larger vessels require advance paperwork, berth allocation follows structured procedures, and the port publicly emphasizes its environmental credentials, biodiversity-related certifications, wastewater pumping services, and electric-boat facilities. Yet, evidently, another system was operating alongside the official one, an unofficial fast lane that allegedly ran on cash alone.
According to Sud Ouest, investigators, who seized assets worth nearly $1 million, estimate that the total amount collected reached around $2.3 million. The ten people involved have been summoned to appear before the Draguignan criminal court on November 23. It was a former port agent who denounced several of his colleagues in the spring of 2024.
