Bay of Fundy

[XXX21XXX]

I would like to know where the best place in Saint John's would be to see the tides going in and out. We will not be on a tour just on our own touring the City. SO where is the best place to go to see this Bay of Fundy do its thing????

[MarylandLady]

When we were there 2 years ago, it was right at the dock! We were on deck 2 and our window was even with the sidewalk outside the window. After the tide came in we were like 40 feet in the air! There are a lot of buildings on the other side of the water and you can watch the water go up the walls that they have built along the waterfront. Very interesting.

[baseball921]

I have friends in Saint John, so I've been a few times. The tidal change is so great, you will be able to notice it anywhere you are. I also highly recommend the reversing falls.

 

~Kristie

[katiecat]

It takes 12 hours for the tides to change from high to low. If you would like to see a beach other than the waterfront where your ship comes in you could take a taxi to the west side of the city around the digby, Nova Scotia ferry terminal.

[cruzzza]

Oh my, I'll have to look back and see if I can find my old review, but there was a place we went to by cab. It took about 1 hr to get there, but it was this beach where we walked in a sea cave while the tide was out. It was cool. The water was way out there and this huge stretch of ocean floor. You couldn't walk on it because it was all muddy and icky, but you could walk over a little trail they had made to the sea cave and look out on some rocks. Before we left, the tide was noticeably coming in. It was weird because there were some fishing boats completely out of water, by a long ways by a covered bridge. It was worth the trip. We hired a taxi driver right at the tent beside the ship. They had private tours there, but we just wanted a driver to take the four of us exactly where we wanted to go, without being part of a tour.

 

p.s. The lobster restaurant across from the ship was awesome. We ate there right before boarding that afternoon. Steamer's is the name.

 

Edited to say that I'm 99% sure that it was St. Martins, which is about an hour from the ship. It has a beach called Mac's Beach which has sea caves. They say that the window for viewing is about 2 hours each side of low tide. I found this online doing a search and am pretty sure this is where we went.

 

Also, I meant to say that we went to Fallsview Park on the way out there. It was a quick stop. Unless you are doing a boat tour, there's not much to see other than to watch the poor souls who are in the water! We were there when the reversing falls were just getting good. The timing was great because we did that and a tour of the highest part of Saint John, which was some historic tower which was cool. Great photo ops of the ship, too! I had carefully timed it so we could get to St. Martins when we could do the sea caves. I don't remember how I got the times, but I found them online somewhere posted the time frame where you can go in the sea cave. You have to time the caves and Fallsview park just right to get the most out of them. I did a lot of research prior to this trip, but it's been a while so I don't have my sources.

[katiecat]

you are right about St. Martins being a hour away from Saint John. New River beach is 30 minutes away it's a provincal park also. And yes you should try our lobster it's the best!

[crusinsusan]

We got info on the destinations boards. Someone local told how to get to the reversing falls via the local bus. We took the bus and really enjoyed the ride and the falls. There is a walkway to go down near the bank. There is a restaurant and gift shop there too. We came back via the bus, stopped in town for a little shopping and returned to ship after taking a few photos.

Enjoy your cruise.

[sept10dsm]

Is there also a city bus that you pay one price and can hop on and off all day? I seem to remember seeing one after it was too late to do on our last cruise. Thanks!

[sept10dsm]

We got info on the destinations boards. Someone local told how to get to the reversing falls via the local bus. We took the bus and really enjoyed the ride and the falls. There is a walkway to go down near the bank. There is a restaurant and gift shop there too. We came back via the bus, stopped in town for a little shopping and returned to ship after taking a few photos.

Enjoy your cruise.

I just wrote a question on the on and off type bus. Was this that type and do they give a time schedule? Thank you!

[sapper1]

It takes 12 hours for the tides to change from high to low. If you would like to see a beach other than the waterfront where your ship comes in you could take a taxi to the west side of the city around the digby, Nova Scotia ferry terminal.

There are actually two complete tidal cycles in each 24 hour period. There are two highs and two lows with six hours between each extreme.

[sapper1]

http://www.lau.chs-shc.gc.ca/cgi-bin/tide-shc.cgi?queryType=showFrameset&zone=30&language=english&region=5&stnnum=170

 

This is a link to the Fisheries and Oceans Tide Tables. There is a window to the left where you can input the seven day period you want information for. It is for the St. Martins area where the Sea Caves are. The difference in tidal time between here in Saint John and St. Martins would be very little.

[sailaway5]

Thanks for all the helpful information. We are deciding if we want to take the ship tour to St. Martins in October when we are there. We are starting to research now. Any input is appreciated.

[PennyAgain]

The times of the tides change every day. The ship tour may not get you to where you want to be at the right time. We stayed at a Hilton (I think) hotel right down on the harbour and had fantastic views of the tides changing. You don't have to pay money to see the tides.

[Shipshape7]

Thanks for all the helpful information. We are deciding if we want to take the ship tour to St. Martins in October when we are there. We are starting to research now. Any input is appreciated.

 

We are going to take the ship's tour to St. Martins in a few weeks and I'll post a cruise review on the main review board (Carnival Triumph). The tour operators DO adjust the timing of their tours so that passengers will be able to walk out to the sea caves if it is at all possible. I checked into that carefully before booking. The tour to St. Andrews by the Sea looks very nice too. You might want to consider that one.

[PennyAgain]

I wish you are well in your visit to one of my favorite places in the world. The Bay of Fundy is astonishing. I love it so much that I've made several trips to Canada in order to spend time in that area.

[whale-watcher]

We rented a car from Avis and drove to the nearby Irving Nature Park to hike, birdwatch, look for seals, and play in the tidepools. Also stopped to see reversing falls on the way there AND the way back, so we could see the water flowing in both directions. Overall an very inexpensive and fun day.