Bocca Mar — Restaurant in Nice

To the public: My husband and I LOVED Bocca Mar! We are New Yorkers who stayed over a week in Nice and spent an entire weekday relaxing at this beach club in between our other day trips to nearby towns. It was PERFECT! Great service, excellent food (can eat at the restaurant or your beach chair) and comfortable beach chairs right on the water. Everything was new and clean. Centrally located on the promenade. We came right when they opened at 930am and had a reservation which we had made the day before online (it was a little confusing though - we didn't know if one reservation was for one or two chairs but it was for two). You pay extra for the first row (40 euros, vs 30 for others) which you can reserve upon booking. It got full throughout the day. The water is crystal clear and the beach is very clean. Bring beach shoes for the rocks. And bring your own towels since they charge 8 euros for each one.

To the lifeguard and the beach club: Despite my glowing review above, I have one complaint, which I did voice to management but am reiterating here to try and ensure action will be taken. One of your LIFEGUARDS needs to be FIRED IMMEDIATELY. My husband and I sat in the first row just feet away from the lifeguard on duty. As mentioned above, we were there all day from 930-530. We started joking that the lifeguard was lazy and spent his time looking at his phone rather than the swimmers in the ocean. As time passed we became horrified at just how bad he actually was. He spent the entire day looking down at his phone, rarely even taking a moment to glance at the water, let alone do a proper scan. I only saw him look up twice in several hours and I was watching him closely. I wanted to run up to him, grab his phone, and throw it in the ocean but I thought that might land me in French jail lol.

To Mr. Lifeguard (see photo), here are things you should know: BEING A LIFEGUARD IS NOT A JOKE. This is an extremely important job especially on the ocean. Yes the water was calm that day. Yes, the sun was shining and everyone was smiling. But you should know that you do not need storms, big waves, and rip currents to DROWN. Most drownings are SILENT and FAST, without people screaming or obviously flailing. It is YOUR JOB TO LOOK AT SWIMMERS. There are children, elderly, and regular swimmers who can have accidents and you might be their only hope. Last year I was at a large resort in Mexico and a child drowned at a neighboring pool in the middle of the day, surrounded by tons of people and multiple lifeguards like you "on duty".

Please Bocca Mar, take action on this BEFORE a tragedy happens and not after. The children, friends and family of everyone who enjoys the...

Great beach club in Nice. Will come again!

Reservation and bed fee: I really appreciated the very easy to use reservation system on their website and was able to get a reservation for 10 am, even just the evening before. Note that it isn’t clear when you make the reservation that there is a 30€ charge per bed. But I had no problem paying that as it gave us a nice bed with a good cushion and an umbrella (vitally important for my partner who burns easily).

Staff: The staff were very friendly and all spoke great English. Alex took good care of us but all the staff were great and readily available when you wanted a drink. At the same time, they weren’t at all pushy. So if you didn’t want anything, they weren’t bugging you or making you feel guilty for not ordering anything.

Ambiance: The music is not too loud, which I appreciate. So you can choose to listen to their nice chill music or easily put in your own headphones and still listen to your own soundtrack.

Water access: Easy access to the water from their beach front. It is a little treacherous getting in, but that is the way it is all along the beach so no fault of Bocca Mar for that. Water temperature in July was lovely. Just cool enough to give you respite from the sun and humidity but not too cold. Waves are not too big either. Perfect for just floating.

One note is that the beach club next-door has a pier that goes out into the water so you can jump in. That might be a nice addition to this club. But by no means is the lack of it a dealbreaker.

Food: This was the only disappointment. The menu just felt like it was trying a little bit too hard. There were no simple items like a burger and fries or a simple green salad. Everything had some twist of complexity. In my humble opinion, that’s just a step too far. I’m here for a beach day. I don’t need or want complex food. I just want something simple to enjoy. I would suggest they think about adding some simple dishes like burgers, fries, tacos, chicken strips, green salad, ice cream, etc.

Overall: This is a great beach club with friendly staff and a nice atmosphere. I would...

Our troubles began before we even stepped inside. Even though Bocca Mar is a beachside restaurant, we were initially refused entry because of our beach attire. We thought the location called for something casual, but apparently not. After scrambling to change, we were finally allowed in—annoying, sure, but at this point, we just wanted a nice dinner.

As soon as we sat down, the waitress asked if we’d like drinks. We requested tap water, just like several other tables seemed to do. She came back with a jug and, with a less-than-subtle motion, slammed it on our table. The message seemed clear: if we weren’t spending more on pricey bottled water, our business was barely tolerated. I couldn’t help but wonder—if ordering tap water is frowned upon, why offer it at all?

We went ahead and ordered the set menu, expecting a simple sequence: starters first, followed by mains, and then dessert. Instead, our mains showed up first, starters came after, and the salad made its debut last. The meal order was upside down, which set the tone for the rest of the service.

Things only got stranger when it was time for dessert. Without even offering it, the waitress told us we had to vacate our table so it could be handed over to the next diners at 9:15 pm. This rule was never mentioned until the exact minute arrived, leaving us very confused. To add insult, when the supervisor came to check, they admitted that we hadn’t been informed about the time limit—but somehow, it was "our responsibility" to know when to give back the table, and that "NEXT TIME" we should know.

To finish it all off, when we asked for the bill, the waitress brought the card machine with the grand total already punched in—no itemized bill, no chance to review what we’d actually ordered or check for errors. As a tourist, I felt like I was expected to blindly pay and move along.

For all the fuss, the food was just okay and certainly didn’t justify the price. The atmosphere was the only redeeming quality, but it’s not enough to make me want to return. To pay this much for this service? There will be...