A short visit to the center of the Arcachon Bay.

"A mysterious island, guarded by the famous pile dwellings..."

Visible from the shores of the Bay of Arcachon, the île aux Oiseaux (bird island) immediately catches the eye and arouses the curiosity. Seen from far, it seems to stretch endlessly in the waves, and though the rare copses of trees and fishermen-huts seem to lend it a certain idea of relief, it stays a mystery for most of the viewers. Nevertheless the island is not unknown to everybody.
First of all there is the oyster fishers, who's numerous oyster beds are laid out all around the island. Secondly there are the yachtsmen for whom it seems an attraction not to be missed and who's small craft are often crowded around the piles of the famous pile dwellings. And last but not least there is the colonies of birds that gather here and thus provided the island with a name.
However, for most people it stays an inaccessible and secret territory, a strip of land that can only be reached through books, songs, or photographs.
We will try to lift a corner of the veil.

Mysterious as it is to the visitor, the Bird-island is just as inexplicable to the geologists and the geographers. According to the most widely held theory, it is supposed to be an old sand-bank or the remainder of a high dune, formed by the wind and the ocean currents, of which the basis has settled through the years in its actual place. Its precise cartography is another subject of discussion, but it is true that the forces of the tides that partly cover the island twice a day are not a great help here. On average we can say that, the Bird-island has a surface of approximately 300 hectares when it is flood and 1,000 hectares when the water has receded.

Explored by the inhabitants of the Basin of Arcachon since ancient times, the island in the old past served as a pasture for herds of cows and, later, for horses. At low tide the horses used to swim to the island from the villages that were nearest - Claouey or Petit Piquey - . The beautiful site of the "pointe aux chevaux" , remembers of those days (see also the heading for "tourism" in Petit Piquey). One day they even tried to develop a form of agriculture.
However also in the Basin of Arcachon, nature can sometimes be terribly wild. As was the case in 1714 and in 1882 when terrifying storms inundated the island and decimated the crops and the cattle.
Bit by bit the island became a place for hunting and fishing. Now they built a couple of small hunting cabins they call "tonnes", and they made some lakes, and a well which provides sweet water.

The building of the first pile-dwelling ("cabane tchanquée" in French , tchanque meaning 'wader' in Gascon, the local dialect) some hundred years ago, and the establishment of huge oyster parks provided the island with the vocation it still has today.
Finally, of course tourism found its way to the shores of this small island. The first regular excursions from Arcachon by boat date back to the beginning of the 20th century. From that time onwards this number has been growing at an enormous rate even if we do not count the ever growing influx of yachtsmen who, especially during holidays, sometimes make the channel to this small plot of 'promised land' look like the ring road around Paris.

When you know that the island is completely enclosed by the impressive oyster banks, it is understandable that there are only very few courses of navigation that permit a secure access. Therefore a perfect knowledge of their location is imperative. Moreover, the speed with which the water covers or uncovers parts of the island obliges you to almost constantly keep an eye on your boat.
Furthermore we would like to point out that the oyster banks, the pile dwellings, the hunting cabins (the 'tonnes) and everything else on the island is private property.