Advance payment is required to secure reservations cash, VISA, American Express or Mastercard, refundable for cancellations until 2 days before the departure time of the trip.
(Note that nobody is permitted to land on Seal Island.)įares are $80.00 for adults, $45.00 under age 12. The trips last between four and five hours, depending on weather and viewing. Make sure you take the trip that allows you to go onto the island. On board our crew will provide descriptions of the avian and ocean wildlife along the way. With a decent camera and cooperative weather you will come back with puffin pictures that will knock the socks off all your friends. Our fully licensed and inspected Downeast built boat will carry you from Stonington to the Seal Island shores where the puffins nest. Their short wings are adapted for swimming with a flying technique under water. They feed primarily by diving in the water, and breed in large colonies on coastal cliffs or offshore islands, nesting in crevices among rocks or in burrows in the soil. They have brightly colored beaks during the breeding season. I am not even a bird watcher and I found the experience a once of a lifetime.īook early as space is limited, and due to the weather in Maine trips can get cancelled, but that is for safety reasons.Seal Island, south of Isle au Haut, is home to a summer colony of nesting puffins.
There was even National Geographic veterans on the trip (30+ years with NatGeo I believe).ĭefinitely a bucket list. We were so close to them you could almost touch them. Since this is a nesting place there are rules, but he is an expert. Captain Andy made us as comfortable as possible also with explaining everything that was going on and what was going to happen. I believe he is one of the few from the US that has permits to do so (officially Seal Island is in Quebec, but don't quote me) if not the only. Captain Andy from Bold Coast Charter in Cutler has a great boat to take a group of people out to Seal Island to see the puffins up close. We finally made a trip to Maine in June 2017. My wife has wanted to see the puffins for 18 years. In retrospect I think this option may have possibly been cooler. A couple of people weren't allowed on the island and had to do a skiff ride around the shore instead due to regulations of numbers of people. It's all about the photos as you aren't interacting with them at all, just watching from the huts. Bring a zoom lens for your camera as the situation without it isn't great. Regardless it's worth it to see these Puffins. People were more than willing to obey the rules for the sake of the birds but we felt like we were being treated a bit like kindergarteners.
The only complaint I have is that the tour guides really emphasized the rules almost like we were all children and were strict to the point of being almost rude at times. It is pretty uncomfortable and limited but if its what the birds need to keep them surviving it makes sense. Once you step on the island you only get to stand in an enclosed hut called "The Blinds" where you put up a little blind to see the birds close up. They are extremely careful about maintaining the nesting environment for the birds which is great for the species, but unfortunate for the visitors. Went with Seawatch Tours from Grand Manan to see the puffin nesting area on Machias Seal Islands Really cool sea birds that are amazing to watch.