Saleccia Beach

The Desert des Agriates is about forty thousand hectares of scrub and rock on the north coast, once grain country and now empty maquis, and Saleccia lies inside it: about a kilometre of white sand with clear shallow water and umbrella pines behind, and essentially nothing else. Access keeps it that way, since the only routes are a boat from Saint-Florent or a twelve-kilometre track that genuinely requires a high-clearance four-wheel-drive. Scenes for The Longest Day were filmed here in 1961, standing in for Normandy, and tanks and equipment were landed on the beach. A coastal path runs to Lotu beach nearby.

What you actually see

• The white sand - about a kilometre of empty beach in scrub country.
• The Agriates desert - forty thousand hectares of maquis behind it.
• The pine backing - umbrella pines and dune behind the sand.
• The Lotu path - a coastal walk to the neighbouring beach.

When to go

May to June and September; the boat runs roughly April to October and cancels in wind. Summer is hot with no services on the beach. The track is impassable to ordinary cars year-round.

Honest expectations

There is no shop, no bar and no shade beyond the pines; water and food must be carried. The track is severe and damages ordinary vehicles. Boat crossings are cancelled in swell.

Nearby

Saint-Florent lies east; Cap Corse is further northeast.