The west coast, on the Audierne bay, is quite even: there are never-ending beaches, and you'll never walk on someone else's feet, even in the summer… Forget the crowded beaches of the French Riviera! Pors-Poulhan, Penhors, Plovan, Tréguennec and Tronoën follow one another without you noticing, and there you'll find blockhauses (German fortifications of World War II) as well as delicious clams hidden in the sand.

There is no harbor on this coast: its inhabitants have always turned towards the inland, the agricultural activities.
(In fact, the only Bigouden people who are traditionally sailors are those of the far South of the region, from Saint-Guénolé to Loctudy, on a narrow coast area: as soon as you go away from this south coast, the agricultural tradition dominates again. Some examples are particularly clear: villages like Léchiagat and Treffiagat, or Lesconil and Plobannalec, are hardly two kilometers away from each other, but their traditional activities are completely different.)

The Audierne bay breaks off in the South with the "Pointe de la Torche" (headland of the torch): this name is due to a wrong translation into French of the original Breton name, "Beg an Dorchenn" (headland of the flat stone). From this cape you can admire the whole bay in the North as far as the eye can see. This spot is famous among windsurfers because the funboard world championships often take place there, thanks to the appropriate natural conditions.

After the Torche, you can observe the second aspect of the Bigouden coast. This is the most hostile and the most dangerous one: the rocks of the "Cap Caval" (i.e. "Cape Horse", Pen Marc'h in Breton: this is now the name of the town), which are marked out by the lighthouse of Eckmühl.

This lighthouse (on the left) is now automatic and is 65 meters high (213 feet). Its light can be seen by boats up to 54 km away on average (33,5 miles). It was built in 1897 and was financed by a donation of the daughter of a marshal in Napoléon's army, Louis Nicolas Davout, prince of Eckmühl. You can climb its 307 steps and admire the beautiful view on the whole Bigouden country. The former lighthouse (on the right) still exists: nowadays it's a mark for the boats in combination with its big brother, and it shelters a radio relay too.

From Saint-Guénolé to Kérity, there are only rocky capes, narrow channels dug between the reefs, which are marked out by numerous, small green or red beacons (green marks the right side of the channel for a boat entering the harbor, red the left side). When the storm rages on the rocks of Saint-Guénolé in winter, the sight is impressive. The vibrations caused by the knocks of the waves may be felt as far as Quimper, a city 30 km away (18 miles). This is due to the nature of the Bigouden ground, which is entirely composed of rock under a thin layer of soil: consequently it's impossible to dig an underground car park for example, and the workers of the telephone company must use dynamite to hammer a pole!

After this area, we come back to a much more welcoming and varied coastline, on the southern side of the region. Beaches there are smaller than on the Audierne bay, there are creeks interspersed with rock headlands and fishing harbors.

From Kérity to Le Guilvinec, Léchiagat, Lesconil, Loctudy, l'Île-Tudy and as far as Sainte-Marine, fine sand beaches alternate with rocks, anglers' paradises at high tide, spots for shellfish and shrimps hunters at low tide.

The sight of l'Île-Tudy is particular: this is a belt of land which almost closes the Pouldu cove, this large stretch of water (at least at high tide) in the south-west of Pont-l'Abbé. It was an island in the past.

The Bigouden coast ends up to the East in the mouth of the river Odet, which is told to be the most beautiful river of France. The right bank is Bigouden up to Combrit. The Bridge of Cornouaille (which you can see on the left) over the Odet is 610 meters long (2000 feet) and 30 meters high (100 feet) in its middle part, and links up Sainte-Marine to Bénodet.

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