Languages › French À la plage – beach vacation, sea and water sports French vocabulary Share Flipboard Email Print French Vocabulary Pronunciation & Conversation Grammar Resources For Teachers By 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. our editorial process Camille Chevalier-Karfis Updated 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 umbrelaUne chaise longue – a beach chairDe la crême solaire - some sun screenDes lunettes de soleil - sun glassesUne serviette de plage - a beach towelUn sac de plage - a beach bag Prendre un bain de soleil – to sunbatheFaire des chateaux de sable - to build sand castleUne pelle - a shovel (it kind of sounds like the English "pail", so it can be confusing)Un rateau - a rakeUn seau - a pail Bronzer - to suntanPrendre/attraper un coup de soleil – to get sunburnedUn sac étanche - a waterproof bagUne combinaison de plongée - a wet suitDes palmes - flippersUn masque - a maskUn tuba - a snorkle (yes, this one is quite weird !!)Un maitre nageur - A beach/pool guardLa 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 swimSe baigner - to bathe (meaning being in the water, swimming or not)Patauger - to be in water and splash around like a kid wouldNager la brasse - to do the breast strokeNager le crawl - to do the crawlSauter dans l'eau - jump in the waterPlonger – to diveSurfer sur les vague - surf the wavesBoire la tasse – to accidentally swallow (sea, pool...) waterSe noyer - to drownFaire du surf - to surfFaire de la planche à voile - to windsurfFaire du ski nautique - to water skiFaire du ski jet - to jetskiFaire de la plongée sous-marine - to do scuba divingFaire de la plongée libre - to snorkleFaire du masque et du tuba - to snorkle (longer but more used)Faire de la voile - to sailFaire 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/