My husband has always wanted to see the Bay of Fundy. I have decided that 2009 is the time to do it; we are not getting any younger!

A friend of his had a photograph of a boat at dock, toggled to a very long rope and sitting on bare ground. He wants one of those shots in his travel album! Of course, getting that shot implies the obvious reason for going...to experience the rise and fall of the tides.

A. Where can I go to get that shot?

B. Can you suggest other picturesque places where we might experience this phenomena?

C. Given 7-10 days, what else would you view on this trip?

We are not hikers, being best described as drive-by tourist, but we are up to short walks. History bekons us as we travel, but our primary travel objective is to enjoy the diversity of nature.

Any suggestions/observations?

Rest asured you'll be able to get photos of the same boat floating at eye level and sitting on the mud or sand where the water used to be, at lots of places in New Brunswick.

You need to learn about Fundy National Park, and the Hopewell Rocks, which are up the Petiticodiac River between the Bay of Fundy and Moncton.

There are a number of fisihing vilages along the shore of Northumberland Stait, which is the water between New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.

There's lots to see on the Nova Scotia side of the Bay of Fundy, too.

BAK

Tides vary from place to place, and by the season.

When you get closer to your departure time, you can look up tide tables on the web, and see the range at various locations.

It's about six hours between high tide and low tide, so you get two chances a day to see the differences.

BAK

hopewell rocks - your admission is good for 24 hours. i recommend going to see it at high tide (budget about 1 hour) and then return for low tide where you'll want a few hours to explore.
fundy national park is beautiful even just to drive through.

Pollyvw
We went to St Andrews last year and stayed at our friends inn, the
Rossmount. While it in itself is a
fabulous place, the dining and the
accomodations, we had some great day
trips. One of them was a whale watching trip. Several times we saw them, beautiful sunny day, yet a bit
cold on the water.
We were really fascinated by the
tide.
THere is a website for New Brunswick travel. From memory I am thinking it is www.nb.ca.
Site for the inn is www.rossmountinn.com if you want to take a look. I wish I worked about 2 weeks a year and had 50 for
vacations. I would go back to that
area in a heartbeat and EXPLORE !
Sherri

Suggest getting the tourism materials from both New B. and Nova Scotia.
Crossing into N>B> from Maine
i would recommend in NB St. Andrews,
Fundy National Park, in NS Halifax,
Evangeline Trail, and Lighthouse Rte.
including Lunenburg, and Shelburne
if you have more time then Cape Breton
is breathtaking and worthwhile.
August and Sept are the most idyllic
months without fog. You can let
serendipity guide you for reservations
and there are many b and b's .
My family is from Grand Manan Island
in the Bay of Fundy and that is a step back in time. The 40ft. tides
are amazing to see. Enjoy your trip.

In Nova Scotia, the Annapolis Valley, around Hall's Harbour, is certainly a great spot to see the tides. You can sit and have a lobster dinner on the wharf at picnic tables. Or choose the Glooscap Trail towards Parrsboro, check out the Fossil Centre at Joggins a UNESCO site. NB has the same coastline - Hopewell Rocks is great but when it is high tourist season, the place is way toooo crowded. The Fundy National park is beautiful and Alma the small village is a great spot to spend a night. Wherever you decide, you won't be disappointed.

I took photos similar to what you describe - one the boat afloat tied to the dock, another the same boat at low tide on bare ground - in Alma which is a gateway town to Fundy National Park. Other picturesque locations to enjoy the Bay of Fundy (some of which have already been mentioned by others):
- St. Andrews - quaint town, lots of little shops and cafes, etc.
- Hopewell Rocks
- The Fundy Trail Parkway www.fundytrailparkway.com
- for nature - Grand Manan Island (famous for bird and whale-watching, very off-the-beaten path)

If you have 10 days, you might want to spend some time in Nova Scotia also. We've enjoyed the NS Fundy shore in the Parrsboro area and on the scenic drive along the Digby Neck chain to Brier Island. Cape Breton may be a little far for this trip, but the Cabot Trail scenic drive through Cape Breton Highlands National Park is spectacular and well suited to "drive-by tourists". Otherwise, if you have time and want a change of scenery you might spend a couple of days in Halifax, visit the Citadel as well as the vibrant Harbour area, and do a day-trip down the Lighthouse Route to relatively nearby scenic and historic spots such as Lunenburg, Mahone Bay, Peggy's Cove.

Polly,

I haven't enjoyed a single post at first read on Fodor's as much for a long time!!

Your husband's vision is EXACTLY what fueled my lifelong intrigue over The Bay of Fundy. Except for me it happened when I was about 8 years old and seeing the same sort of a photo in the Guiness Book of World Records - under "highest tide".

(Before I go further, I want YOU to get it into your mind that one must often find clever ways to kill SIX HOURS between high and low tides - or, of course, arrange trips so they criss-cross back the same way. Not only that, but it is great advice for you to have the TIDE TABLE at the following website http://www.lau.chs-shc.gc.ca/cgi-bin...=5&zone=30 ... PRINTED OUT for the WINDOW of your trip. You never know when you'll be tooling around the backroads of NS and wishing you had the tide info in your glove box.)

(for the website, click on the location nearest your point of interest, and then apply the window of dates of your trip, before printing the results. I'd have maybe 3 or 4 locations printed for the ENTIRE window of your journey. 1 near Hopewell Cape, another near Burntcoat Head, and a couple of more)

You MIGHT even arrange your trip a little bit based on the RANDOM times of those tidal extremes (high and low). The point being that it doesn't do much good to see one extreme at 6:20pm if your only chance to see the other extreme would be 6 hours later, past midnight!

If you go to Hopewell Cape only ONCE... go at LOW TIDE.

Nowthen, as someone mentioned, my very first encounter with the vision your husband mentions was also at ALMA... drove in from Maine to NB and then down through Fundy N.P. and got down to the water and the tide/beach was out incredibly far! That left boats low and dry.

There are other spots around the Bay to witness that image, but I'm forgetting exactly where right now.

I urge YOU to really buy-into your husband's interest in this - for it is a lot more fascinating than you might be thinking. (I don't just mean the barnacles stuck on the bottom of some ocean-worthy hull in your camera lens).

I don't know how old you are, or if your lack of "hiking" is mandatory and not merely a personal choice, but:

I myself clearly do NOT qualify as a "hiker" per se, yet when in NS I was very keyed-up to hike to the end of "Cape Split" (which juts out into the middle of the Bay of Fundy, from the NS side).

You drive as far as you can, then park the car, and take a walk of perhaps 2 1/2 hours EACH WAY. When at the end, you're up on a (windy) bluff overlooking much of the Bay... and it is mind-boggling to think that, during an average 24-hour period, as much water travels between where you are and the other side, as travels down ALL of the rivers on EARTH during that same 24 hours.

Anyway, when I went it was chilly and there was a little snow on the ground in March. If the weather is better, and you could possibly hack it, give Cape Split some thought.

Oh, and I've read that the province finally bought Cape Split from private land owners, so perhaps the path and footing might be a little better now than it was 5 years ago.

Another thing about the area, about 3 hours beFORE the point of high tide, many of the RIVERS turn around and run UP STREAM because of the force of the incoming tides. This too is predictable, and is called the "Tidal Bore". (Moncton, NB is one decent spot for viewing it, and it happens right on a set schedule)

The whole area is awesome! With 7 to 10 days you can also go up north and get your fill of Cape Breton. Drive the Cabot Trail on a day or two and visit Sydney and other spots in that area.

A good idea is to have some flexibility in your daily planning because FOG like you've never seen can at times render the scenery moot.

(for example: IF you allocated 3 days to Cape Breton, you might have a 'base camp' (Hotel) in/near Baddeck, and then early on the first clear and sunny day, you haul a** toward the Cabot Trail... arranging the rest of that leg according to weather)

I have written a number of things about NS here in the past, and if nothing else, clicking on my name and looking back over the years would bring you to some good NS posts.

I hope this helps to inspire you as well as your husband.

TY all so much. I appreciate your guidance more than you can know. I will be printing all of this (and anything that follows this post) and the tide tables when we do take this trip.

Let me clarify: I am just as interested in my husband's vision as he is. We both love nature and this is one of the most fascinating natural phenomena that we can imagine...oh, well...northern lights, maybe, which we have been fortunate enough to see. I have read of the 'reverse tides' and hope we can experience that also. Planning on early September 2009 now. Any reactions to that time span?

Northwest...that sounds like a terrific hike/view, but my husband's heart condition allows him to walk slowly for only a very short period before taking a rest. I fear even 1/2 mile one way will be too much. This is a trip we should have taken 5 years ago...but you know how it is.

TY all again.