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Our research approach to vulnerability is based on four main components: hazards (marinemeteorological factors and climate change, geomorphological processes, etc.), assets at stake (identification and valuation, market and non market goods, damage valuation, etc.), management (public prevention and restoration policies), and perception of risk. Risk perception is a central feature in systemic vulnerability evaluation as it provides invaluable information on the diversity of stakeholder viewpoints, the degree of awareness and susceptibility of the exposed inhabitants, their attachment to the territory, their response to the hazard, etc. and thus gives indications on their adaptation capacity. Our paper analyzes the results of a wide survey of 563 inhabitants of a low and very urbanized stretch of the French Mediterranean coast (Palavas zone, Hérault) conducted in 2009, before the Xynthia storm. Results show, for example, that when respondents were asked to choose from a wide range of risks of all types, they expressed greater fears regarding non-environmental risks. When we concentrated on environmental risks and asked the respondents to choose the three they considered to be the most important for their coastal area, “sea and pond pollution” was most often selected followed by “water or air pollution”. The modalities related to an increase in sea level (45.5%) and flooding by the sea or ponds (43%) came last. This relative indifference to the danger of coastal flooding is not without consequence for home planning throughout the area considered.