Barachois

For other uses, see Barachois (disambiguation).

A barachois is a term used in Atlantic Canada, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Réunion and Mauritius Island to describe a coastal lagoon partially or totally separated from the ocean by a sand or shingle bar. Salt water may enter the barachois during high tide.

The bar often is formed as a result of sediment deposited in the delta region of a river or – as is the case in Miquelon – by a tombolo.

Name

The English term comes from the French language, where the word is pronounced [ba.ʁa.ʃwa].

The term comes from a Basque word, barratxoa, meaning little bar. The popular derivation from the French barre à choir is without historical merit.

In Newfoundland English, the word has become pronounced (and sometimes written) as barrasway.

Examples

Dark Harbour, New Brunswick.

• Dark Harbour, Grand Manan, New Brunswick (photo)
• Barachois de Malbaie on the tip of the Gaspé Peninsula, fed by one of two Malbaie Rivers in Quebec and the Beattie, du Portage, and Murphy Rivers
• Grand Barachois, Miquelon Island
• Grand-Barachois, in Westmorland County, New Brunswick
• Barachois Pond Provincial Park in western Newfoundland
• Big Barasway and Little Barasway, communities on Newfoundland's Cape Shore
• Prince Edward Island National Park has several examples
• Percival Bay, off the Northumberland Strait, is also known as the Big Barachois
• The coves in the lagoon of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean
• Barachois Pond Provincial Park, Newfoundland.
• Topsail Beach Provincial Park, Topsail
• Former settlement of Freshwater, Deadmans Bay, St John's, Newfoundland.
• Great Barachois, near Petit-de-Grat, Nova Scotia