Yup, been "through" it a few times. I'm not a big fan of Les Landes or that stretch of the Atlantic coast, but it's a pretty enough place and has a nice beach (which gets fantastically crowded in summer) and apparently some good golf courses. It wouldn't be a vacation target for me, personally, but I can see its appeal for some...better by far than, e.g., Biscarosse.

I love St-Jean-de-Luz, but other than that and parts of Biarritz, off season, and Bayonne, I can take a miss on this part of France.

When our children were young (15+ years ago!) we stayed twice on a camping site at Messanges which is just south of Moliets-et-Maa and once at Moliets Plage on one of the multitude of holiday villages.

If you want surfing beaches, sand dunes and pine forests then this is the area for you. There are miles of cycle tracks and walks and the golf courses that StCirq mentions but not much in the way of sites to see locally.

We loved the huge beaches although the seas are often too rough for children to swim and even adults only swim in the very small patrolled sections. We made sure we always stayed somewhere with a pool so the kids could swim. The local attractions were the usual seaside child focused activities. Seafood was good but nothing like that in the Vendee or further North

Last year we called into Messanges and Vieux-Boucau when we were staying in the Pau region. The area seemed only slightly more developed and the beaches seemed as clean as ever. There seemed to be even more campsites (with loads of mobile homes) and in late July and through the first three weeks of August there are masses of people and the coast roads become very crowded.

Overall this is an area which caters for the families from Northern France and Northern Europe who want a reasonably priced beach holiday and drive down for the better weather and the huge beaches.