A Bar Harbor Boat Tour
You can’t come to Maine and not see the puffins. These small, brightly beaked birds nest on the island of Petit Manan, a boat ride away from Bar Harbor. Although several tour companies go out there, we chose Acadian Boat Tours because they’re dog-friendly. They were great with Whisky, who had never been on a boat before (and who doesn’t really care for the water)—and she had an awesome time!
Whisky becomes a sailing dog!
The weather will make or break this trip, so choose a sunny day if you can. We waited to scoop our tickets until the Tuesday before our Wednesday trip and were lucky to score two of the four seats left … so there’s *some* wiggle room, but those late to the game won’t make it. Acadian Boat Tours leave from a pier at the Atlantic Oceanside Hotel. There was enough free parking, but we still arrived forty-five minutes early and I’d suggest you do, too.
The open Gulf of Maine as seen from an Acadian Boat Tour, Bar Harbor.
I expected better seats, the kind with back rests. Instead everyone sits in a ring facing each other up top. Views are far-reaching and unobstructed. The sun is unrelenting and the winds cool, so wear long-sleeves, sunscreen, and a hat—or plan to sit inside. At times, there’s so much to see you can hardly take it all in, and then there are stretches of quiet motoring during which you’re left to your own thoughts. Our “Puffins, Lighthouses, and Seabirds Cruise” took 3.5 hours total. The tour guides were funny and knowledgeable; make sure to tip them.
Whisky’s GPS-enabled Fi Collar mapped our route for us.
As for the main event—circling the island of Petit Manan—it did not disappoint. It’s just remote enough to feel like the end of the flat world, if said world was entirely populated by birds and seals. We saw more puffins, razorbills, terns, and laughing gulls than we could count, and several gray seals, too. The lighthouse is beautiful; truly, a “little island out to sea.”
Petit Manan Light.
Other Things To Do in Bar Harbor, Maine
Eat at the Reading Room in the Bar Harbor Inn, once a speakeasy posing as a gentlemen’s “literary club.”
Patronize the Main Street shops and chill on a park bench in the Village Green.
Summit Cadillac Mountain (requires reservations during the high season).
Village Green, downtown Bar Harbor, Maine.
Jess’s parents at the summit of Cadillac Mountain, 2022.
Bonus
Either on your way out to Mount Desert Island or on your way back, depending on the time of day, you might stop at Timber Tina’s Great Maine Lumberjack Show in Trenton. It’s a legit lumberjack show and as goofy as it sounds, but also genuinely entertaining and even educational, as Tina goes on long monologues about the history of the logging and lumberjacking industries in Maine. Family (and dog!) friendly!
