Languages › French À la plage – beach vacation French vocabulary Share Flipboard Email Print French Vocabulary Pronunciation & Conversation Grammar Resources For Teachers By Camille Chevalier-Karfis Camille Chevalier-Karfis French Language Expert Camille is a teacher and author of many French audiobooks and audio lessons on modern spoken French. She co-created and runs French Today, offering original audio for adult students. Learn about our Editorial Process Updated on March 06, 2017 Ahhhh... the beaches of France! Whether you go there for a vacation or just want to improve your French vocabulary, this list will certainly prove useful to you. To best memorize this vocabulary, make sure you link the French word to an image in your head, not to the English word! Lets start with a fun idiom: "ce n'est pas la mer à boire" - lit. it's not like you had to drink the whole sea. It means it's not that difficult to do! 01 of 04 La plage et la topographie Plage Poulafret/ FrenchToday.com. La plage - the beachLe sable – the sandUne plage de sable - a sand beachUne plage de galets - a round pebble beachUne crique - a little beach between clifsUne dune de sable - a sand duneUn banc de sable - a sand banc, a temporary islandUne falaise - a cliffUne baie – a bayUne péninsule – a peninsulaUn rocher – a rockUne côte – a coastUne île – an island 02 of 04 La mer et l'océan Bretagne mer / FrenchToday.com. La mer - the sea (don't mistake with the homonyms "la mère" - the mother, and "le maire" - the mayor)L'océan - the Ocean (watch out the pronunciation o - say - an/nasal)Une vague - a wave (strong French "a" sound, don't say it like the word "vague")L’eau (f) - the water (pronounced “lo”)Un courant - a currentLe vent - the windLa marée haute - high tideLa marée basse - low tideLes mouettes – seagulls (sounds like mwet)Les poissons – fishesUne algue – a seaweedUne huitre – an oyster (une nweetr)Un pin – a pine tree 03 of 04 Le matériel de plage Leyla sur la plage / FrenchToday.com. Un parasol - a sun umbrela Une chaise longue – a beach chair De la crême solaire - some sun screen Des lunettes de soleil - sun glasses Une serviette de plage - a beach towel Un sac de plage - a beach bag Prendre un bain de soleil – to sunbathe Faire des chateaux de sable - to build sand castle Une pelle - a shovel (it kind of sounds like the English "pail", so it can be confusing) Un rateau - a rake Un seau - a pail Bronzer - to suntan Prendre/attraper un coup de soleil – to get sunburned Un sac étanche - a waterproof bag Une combinaison de plongée - a wet suit Des palmes - flippers Un masque - a mask Un tuba - a snorkle (yes, this one is quite weird !!) Un maitre nageur - A beach/pool guard La natation – swimming (the noun) Une piscine – a pool (sounds just like “piss in” LOL) 04 of 04 Les sports nautiques Leyla fait du surf / FrenchToday.com. Nager - to swim Se baigner - to bathe (meaning being in the water, swimming or not) Patauger - to be in water and splash around like a kid would Nager la brasse - to do the breast stroke Nager le crawl - to do the crawl Sauter dans l'eau - jump in the water Plonger – to dive Surfer sur les vague - surf the waves Boire la tasse – to accidentally swallow (sea, pool...) water Se noyer - to drown Faire du surf - to surf Faire de la planche à voile - to windsurf Faire du ski nautique - to water ski Faire du ski jet - to jetski Faire de la plongée sous-marine - to do scuba diving Faire de la plongée libre - to snorkle Faire du masque et du tuba - to snorkle (longer but more used) Faire de la voile - to sail Faire du kayak - to kayak Now that you've mastered the French beach and water sports vocabulary, practice your understanding of it in my "learn in context" articles - see links below! À la plage! A "Learn French vocabulary in context" story Camille va nager ! A "Learn French Vocabulary in Context" story I post exclusive mini lessons, tips, pictures and more daily on my Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest pages - so join me there! https://www.facebook.com/frenchtoday https://twitter.com/frenchtoday https://www.pinterest.com/frenchtoday/ Cite this Article Format mla apa chicago Your Citation Chevalier-Karfis, Camille. "À la plage – beach vacation French vocabulary." ThoughtCo, Feb. 16, 2021, thoughtco.com/beach-sea-and-water-french-vocabulary-1372761. Chevalier-Karfis, Camille. (2021, February 16). À la plage – beach vacation French vocabulary. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/beach-sea-and-water-french-vocabulary-1372761 Chevalier-Karfis, Camille. "À la plage – beach vacation French vocabulary." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/beach-sea-and-water-french-vocabulary-1372761 (accessed March 23, 2023). copy citation