Y: Though the phenomenon can happen just about anywhere, the Île de Ré is famous for its square waves. That’s a cross sea, and yeah, it does make the waves look square! The waves from each system can meet in the middle at perpendicular angles. These winds can come from two different weather systems, each far away from each other. But what happens when the wind suddenly shifts direction? The new wind causes waves as well. It looks like a grid on the surface of the water.ĭ: Oh, I get it! You’re talking about a “cross sea.” Waves are usually made when the wind blows in one direction over the surface of the water. Normally you’d just see waves coming in parallel to the shore, right? But what if there were also waves moving perpendicular to the shore? You’d see the waves intersecting each other at roughly right angles. Y: Imagine that you have a bird’s eye view and you’re looking down at the ocean. It’s got sun, sand, … and square waves!ĭ: I’m having a hard time picturing that! What do you mean, Yaël? I think I’ll go the Île de Ré, a small island off the west coast of France. This article was first published on our Spanish Edition on April 5, 2019.Y: Hey Don. Be careful, though, because the waves are spectacular but dangerous. That is to say, regular waves that adopt a quadrangular shape, in this case as a consequence of the collision between two oblique bottom seas.īottom seas originate at depths of kilometers and, together with other factors (wind, for example) make the waves travel long distances, adopting the sea surface this unusual formation in checkerboard. These are sine waves, which have constant amplitude and well-defined periods of length and wavelength. The incentive is threefold: there is no entrance fee, the panoramic views are magnificent and from there, with a little luck, it will be possible to appreciate one of the most surprising natural phenomena on the island, the one I mentioned at the beginning. The lighthouse was built in 1854 and measures fifty-five meters high, which can be climbed up a spiral staircase of two hundred and a half steps. However, without a doubt, one of Ré’s greatest attractions is located in the northwest of the island: the Whale Lighthouse, named after the large number of cetaceans that used to visit the area in the past. German bunkers on the island of Re / photo ile-de-re-commonswiki on Wikimedia Commons The salt flats occupy up to twenty percent of the total surface area and produce around two thousand five hundred tonnes per year (a minimum part compared to the beginning of the 20th century), although they are no longer all used to extract salt they are also used to maintain the rich native flora and fauna. There is also their traditional business: the salt industry, which dates back to Roman times, when Ré was made up of three islets and the channels that separated them were used to collect the product. Therefore, the island has many tourist infrastructures, from hotels to restaurants through campsites, shops, a port, leisure and adventure companies … It is not surprising that many celebrities choose the place for some of their escapades and have built homes there, such as the politician Lionel Jospin (who was also born there), singer Charles Aznavour, actress Carole Bouquet, Princess Carolina of Monaco, and so on. In the first place, because it is an outstanding holiday centre that in summer multiplies its usual population by ten, reaching a total of one hundred and sixty thousand people. Today, however, it stands out for other things. Due to the proximity of La Rochelle, it was involved in the French and English wars for its possession, just as in World War II it was fortified by the Germans with bunkers from its famous Atlantic Wall that are still preserved (part of the film The Longest Day about the Allied landing in Normandy was shot there) also, because of its insular character, Ré also served as a prison in the second half of the 17th century. These modest dimensions have not deprived it of an interesting history. Map of the island of Re / photo Pline on Wikimedia Commons The island is small, about thirty kilometres long by five kilometres wide, with an area of eighty-five square kilometres, and practically flat, as the highest point does not exceed twenty metres.

The island of Ré is a piece of land located off the French west coast, in the Cantabrian Sea, connected to the mainland by a long bridge of almost three kilometers inaugurated in 1988.

Whimsically eroded rocks, clouds forming silhouettes, lakes of unusual colours… In France, for example, there is a coastal spot where, sometimes, the sea surface is geometrically articulated forming something very similar to a chessboard. Sometimes Nature is entertained in playing with shapes and textures, as if, boring and mischievous, it wanted to attract our attention.

Square ocean waves in france