Hyères Archipelago constitutes a kind of discontinuous rampart in front of the Var coast of the Maures Massif, from which it is separated by a strait. Although baptized the Stoechades (those which are in a straight line) by the Greeks, these islands are shifted in successive notches westward. The island of Porquerolles is thus further back from the alignment of the islands of Port-Cros and Levant from which it is separated by the Grande Passe.