Marana Beach (Bastia): tips and photos

Why go to Marana beach

The Marana is less a beach than a long sand spit, the lido, which separates the Biguglia lagoon from the sea south of Bastia. The sand runs for nearly 15 km (measured on OpenStreetMap) through four communes: Furiani, Biguglia, Borgo and Lucciana. According to the Agence du tourisme de la Corse (the Corsican tourist board), these pine-backed beaches begin 5 km south of the town. On maps, the name “Plage de la Marana” refers only to the Borgo section, but the Agence du tourisme de la Corse uses it for the whole spit.

If you are looking for a beach in Bastia with plenty of room, this is the long ribbon of sand south of the town: kilometres of sand without rocks, good water quality and car parks along the road. The best beach in Bastia? For a cove and turquoise water, you need to head for Cap Corse or the Agriates. You choose the Marana for easy swimming, a quarter of an hour from the centre.

Type of beach: sand, water and swimming

The sand is backed by pine wood behind a small dune, then comes the lido road, with its apartment blocks and holiday villages, and finally the lagoon. The coast is almost straight and faces east: the sun rises over the sea.

Offshore, recent averages (2023-2025) from the Open-Meteo Marine dataset give about 23 °C in June, 27 °C in July and August, and 25 °C in September.

The French Ministry of Health monitors seven bathing sites on the spit. For the 2026 season, it rates as excellent “Pont de la Marana” (Furiani), “Pineto” (Biguglia), “VVF camp de voile” (Borgo) and “Mariana” (Lucciana); as good “Club de la Marana” (Furiani) and “Alba Marana” (Borgo); and as sufficient “La Maraninca” (Lucciana).

None of the four communes has published any text on lifeguard cover for 2026. Before you swim, check with the town hall for the section you choose and see whether a lifeguard station is open.

The parts of the beach

To the north, at Furiani, the sand begins just after Arinella beach, which belongs to Bastia. This is the section closest to town, around the places called Banda Bianca and Tombulu Biancu, and the only one served by the summer shuttle bus.

In the centre, at Biguglia, an equipped section stretches around the “Pineto” bathing site, a quarter of an hour’s drive from Bastia.

Further south, at Borgo, is the part that maps call “Plage de la Marana”, nearly 4 km long, with numbered car parks along the road. It is a quarter of an hour from the airport.

At the far south, at Lucciana, the sand continues to the mouth of the Golo, beyond which the beaches of the Casinca begin.

A beach next to a nature reserve

The beach borders the Biguglia lagoon nature reserve without being part of it: the reserve, created in 1994, covers the lagoon and its banks, not the seashore. The spit is still a protected environment. It is listed as a ZNIEFF (natural area of ecological interest) from Furiani to Borgo, part of the Borgo lido is a Natura 2000 site, and the Conservatoire du littoral, the public body that protects the French coastline, owns part of the sand at Furiani, Borgo and Lucciana. Keep to the marked paths across the dune and, on the lagoon side, follow the reserve’s paths and signs.

When to go

June and September give you a sea that is already or still warm, with less traffic on the lido road. In July and August, the S9 shuttle bus takes you to the north of the spit without a car; for more space, head south to Borgo or Lucciana. Out of season, the spit is good for walking along the water’s edge.