Sea Kayaking in the Bay of Fundy
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The Bay of Fundy offers a one-of-a-kind opportunity: To immerse yourself in the rich history, culture, wildlife, and culinary delights of the Canadian Maritimes, all while wondering wildly at the highest tides in the world!
The high and low tides that occur at the Bay of Fundy draw in thousands of visitors worldwide to marvel at the spectacle — and not to mention over 150 billion tonnes of water during each tide cycle. You can literally walk the sea beds at low tide and then climb into a kayak to experience high tide later that day.
If you’re traveling in New Brunswick and wish to experience the Bay of Fundy, then there’s no better way to experience it than from the seat of your kayak or with a scenic boat tour of the Fundy coastline.
Read more below about my memorable adventures sea kayaking the St. Martins sea caves and viewing the spectacular Fundy coastline thanks to the guys over at Bay of Fundy Adventures (formerly Red Rock Adventure).
Sea Kayaking in St. Martins, New Brunswick
About Red Rock Adventure
After a leisurely morning chatting over hot-smoked salmon and a map of the Fundy coastline, I gathered quite a bit of information that makes Red Rock Adventure not your ordinary brick-and-mortar business.
Red Rock Adventure is the result of a combined passion for the great outdoors. But more than just an outdoor adventure company, Red Rock ties together education WITH adventure to create unforgettable opportunities for folks to experience the Bay of Fundy and the gorgeous Fundy coastline.
Like Jordan, the friendly Operations Manager (and unofficial middle man for the precious salmon snacks) said, Red Rock Adventure bases its mission on these unique pillars:
Outdoor Education → Whether it’s through their sea kayaking trip or Zodiac boat tour, Red Rock Adventure always provides an interesting combo of historical, environmental, and cultural information to the adventure.
The hunt to bring new, safe, and exciting ways of conscious tourism to the community is constant. They even offer several outdoorsy courses ranging from wilderness remote first aid to Paddle Canada!
Adventure and Travel Trade → New Brunswick, and specifically the Bay of Fundy, has endless opportunities to experience adventure at its finest. Red Rock just bridges the connection between you and your ideal adventure.
Go sea kayaking, hiking, view the Fundy Biosphere by a whipping fast Zodiac boat tour, go camping while not lifting a finger for your bags, meals, or overnight accommodation on a multi-day trek, or simply reach out and get a custom adventure package just for you.
Wilderness Catering → Beach-cooked luxury dinners with fresh, seasonal, local ingredients or consciously-cooked meal preps? Red Rock is bringing a whole new adventure TO the adventure by bringing delicious foodie experiences to unique locations.
Fancy eating a 5-star meal prepared by world-class chefs on the seabed during low tide? Red Rock Adventure offers that too. Now, how cool does that sound?
What Do You Get From Red Rock Adventure?
Unparalleled experiences of the scenic Bay of Fundy and a family-like team of “Yes Men” where anything is possible.
Also, I must mention the access to adventure isn’t just for the young and fit but is open for all ages. Red Rock Adventure urges all to come to experience the Bay of Fundy and Fundy Trail Parkway like no other!
What you get from Red Rock Adventure, above any adventure activity, is ultimately a warm welcome – typical of the genuine hospitality both the village of St. Martins and the province of New Brunswick are proud to offer.
Our Experience Sea Kayaking the St. Martins Sea Caves with Red Rock Adventure
One of the best things to do in St. Martins is no doubt visiting the sea caves. People flock off the cruise ships to visit this sleepy little fishing town with a wildly rich history.
Just a skip and a hop away from Red Rock Adventure are the St. Martins sea caves, which you can explore on foot during the 6-7 hour period that marks low tide. But don’t get caught out there when the tides rise or you’ll quickly find yourself stranded on a barely-visible patch of sand off in a cove somewhere with only a rope ladder for escape (it happens!).
Traveler’s Tip: Visit the sea caves in the morning when the tide is low to experience the view from below. Later on, when you go sea kayaking with Red Rock Adventure, you’ll be amazed to see you’re now 25-28 ft above where you stood earlier!
The sea kayak trip with Red Rock Adventure includes a 2-hour tour of the caves and just beyond.
Depending on the weather and the tides, you’ll get to paddle to a beautiful vista opening up to the Fundy coastline. There, you’ll paddle to the cliffs to marvel at a visible 250-million-year-old seabed that formed after the Pangaea continent split apart.
On your way back to the harbor, you’ll take a well-deserved break on a cove’s private beach. Your guides will surprise you will a fresh, tasty snack of hot-smoked salmon with goat cheese, cucumber, grain crackers, and mustard! It’s a bite of the Canadian Maritimes you don’t want to miss.
Sea Kayaking Vs. Zodiac Boat Tour
As I mentioned earlier, Red Rock Adventure offers various other adventures to experience the Bay of Fundy. One such adventure is going on a scenic Zodiac boat tour of the Fundy coastline as you learn about the Fundy Biosphere.
On our third and last night in St. Martins, Paul and I joined the Zodiac tour and are so glad we did.
The waves and choppiness of the Bay that we experienced on our sea caves kayaking trip were nothing like the calm, cool waters of the Bay during our Zodiac tour.
Our Zodiac Boat Tour Experience with Red Rock Adventure
If you want to experience the Fundy coastline like never before, a speed boat tour might just be for you!
Unlike with sea kayaking, the Zodiac boat tour with Red Rock Adventure is a relax-sit back and enjoy the ride sorta deal.
Our friendly guide and licensed boat captain Joe was one of the highlights of our tour. He reminds me of both an old friend and a caring parent who loves to tell stories, and you can see he enjoys telling them!
His story of how Glooscap, the Giant Beaver, and the Whale formed the Bay of Fundy will have you smiling wide.
The scenic boat ride will take you all the way past the Flowerpot Rock as seen along the Fundy Trail Parkway up all the way to the mouth of the Big Salmon River, where the Interpretation Center sits inside the Parkway.
Along our scenic tour, we spotted several grey seals with long snouts who were peeking at us from a distance, curious as to what we were up to.
At several points, we took short pitstops to see several rock formations up close, from volcanic basalt rock to weird honey-comb rock and more. The tour is flexible so you can stop for pictures at any time but be sure to ask first!
The wind on the speedy boat does get cold, especially at night so you have the option to wear a warm bodysuit or only a life-jacket. Both are provided to you at the beginning of the tour. I opted to wear a life jacket, along with my toboggan, leggings, and boots and I ended up being a little frozen by the time the sun went down as we arrived back to the harbor.
So if you’re hesitating between seeing the coastline via Zodiac boat or kayaking the sea caves, know that both adventure activities cost the same.
Here’s a simple layout of what you get with the Zodiac boat tour versus the sea kayak tour.
Red Rock Adventure Zodiac Boat Tour:
- Relaxing 2-hour+ group tour of the Fundy coastline up to the Big Salmon River on a speedy Zodiac boat
- Story-telling and in-depth historical explanation recounted in a fun, interesting way by your guide
- Incredible sunset views (if you book the evening tour) and maybe seal-spotting!
Red Rock Adventure Sea Kayak Tour:
- Active ~2-hour group tour of St. Martins sea caves with brief explanations
- Hot-smoked salmon snack on the shore of a sandy cave beach
- Weather-permitting (Partial refunds are issued if you aren’t able to make finish the tour due to Bay of Fundy conditions).
Don’t ask me to pick a favorite because I wouldn’t be able to! Both activities offer different types of adventure.
If you love to be active and want to have a sweet coastline experience, then book the kayak trip. But if you want more depth and vistas of the Fundy coastline from the sea, plus the chance to see some seals or other wildlife, book the Zodiac trip!
We’re so pleased with both of our adventure activities with Red Rock Adventure. And not only that but the staff made a strange place oddly feel like home with their warm hospitality and of course, Kim’s homemade blueberry scones at their coffee shop in town.
Three days in the little village of St. Martins was the perfect place to find both adventure and tranquility.
A special thanks to the team at Red Rock Adventure for this partnership! All content written here is a reflection of my honest experience participating in Red Rock Adventure activities.
This looks like such a dream Brittany! I totally would love to do this one day.
Definitely you should, we had so much fun!
This trip looked like so much fun!! We love kayaking so this would be something we would love to do! Definitely saving for later! Thanks for sharing Bri!
Awesome to hear that, Marisa! Thanks so much xx