Mist, legends and basalt pillars
Isle Haute Boat Tour
- Duration 3 hours
- Group size 4–8
- Difficulty easy
- Season May to October
Eight kilometres offshore, Isle Haute rises out of the Bay of Fundy behind 100-metre pillars of basalt. A National Wildlife Area, a seabird and seal sanctuary, and on a foggy day it looks like it is floating.
Distant enough to be somewhat mysterious, this tour takes you to Isle Haute — an island surrounded not only by Bay of Fundy tides but by mist, legends, and 100-metre-high towering pillars of basalt lava emerging out of the water.
Isle Haute is a rich sanctuary for seabirds and seals, and has an appearance that is anything but ordinary. Three-hundred-foot rockface cliffs are topped with lush forest. Eight kilometres off the coast from Cape Chignecto, the island is three kilometres long and 400 metres wide. It is culturally significant, a National Wildlife Area, and a geosite within the Cliffs of Fundy UNESCO Global Geopark.
If you are lucky enough to travel on a foggy day, the island is known to look like it is floating on the water. We stop at coves and near the basalt pillars for photographs as we get up close. Visitors cannot go ashore to this National Wildlife Area, but a tour of Isle Haute is a once-in-a-lifetime experience that will not soon be forgotten.
On the way back, you get a full tour of Spencers Island from the water, another significant geosite within the Geopark.
Highlights
- 100-metre basalt pillars emerging from the water
- A National Wildlife Area and seabird sanctuary
- Local legends of the island
What's included
- 3-hour boat tour to Isle Haute
- Local stories and legends surrounding the island
- Use of a cold-water survival suit (required)
- Tour of the Spencers Island geosite from the water
What to bring
- A change of clothes
- Layers for warm and cool temperatures
- A change of footwear
- Sunscreen and a sunhat
- Water bottle and snacks
When it runs
Departs around 1 hour 30 minutes before high tide, rounded to the nearest half hour — so the time changes daily.
Next available
- Tue, Aug 25 9:30 AM arrive 9:00 AM High water 11:01 AM, 9.6m
- Wed, Aug 26 10:00 AM arrive 9:30 AM High water 11:44 AM, 10.0m
- Thu, Aug 27 11:00 AM arrive 10:30 AM High water 12:23 PM, 10.5m
- Fri, Aug 28 11:30 AM arrive 11:00 AM High water 1:02 PM, 11.0m
- Sat, Aug 29 12:00 PM arrive 11:30 AM High water 1:40 PM, 11.4m
Before you come
- Meeting point
- Spencers Island wharf
- Arrive
- 30 minutes before departure, to get fitted with equipment. For the next departure on Tue, Aug 25 that means 9:00 AM for a 9:30 AM start.
- Cancellation
- Free cancellation up to 48 hours before departure. If we cancel for weather there is no charge and we will rebook you. Full policy
- Availability
- Seven days a week, weather dependent