Coastal Newfoundland offers a wealth of scenic (and enlightening) boat tours

Few places on the planet are able to offer boat tours that will take customers up close and personal with whales, dolphins, ice-bergs—and such spectacular coastal scenery. In recent years, we have sampled a number of boat tours in Newfoundland and Labrador and, frankly, have enjoyed every single one—each for different reasons.

Whales up close

One of our favourites is Paul Alcock’s Northland Discovery Boat Tour in St. Anthony, near the tip of the Northern Peninsula. We have enjoyed this tour on multiple occasions over the years, and have always been impressed. On one trip, a pod of killer whales (yes, we have orcas here) were suddenly all around the boat. A quick change from a telephoto lens to a much wider angle was necessary, since the whales were so close.

Alcock’s biology degree certainly helps when it comes to identifying marine mammals and seabirds. This area also has the longest iceberg season on the Island, so visitors can view bergs here when they are long gone elsewhere.

Another memorable trip with this tour took place in the summer of 2011 when the Petermann Ice Island (from the Petermann Glacier in northern Greenland, which has been breaking up for more than a decade) sent hundreds of icebergs into the bays and coves of the St. Anthony area. Not only did we see dozens of icebergs but we also saw many Humpback whales.

More close encounters

For exploring Bonne Bay in Gros Morne National Park, we recommend the Bontours Boat Tour, based in Norris Point. We have taken this tour on a couple of occasions and have always seen wildlife—most recently in late June last year, when a minke whale swam right beside the boat; there was also a pod of white-sided dolphins. We lost count of the number of bald eagles sighted, and the interpreters on board did a very good job of explaining the geology, wildlife and human heritage of the coastline we were travelling along. The staff even got together to sing a few traditional songs as we steamed back to the dock.

Undiscovered area

A brand new tour that we also checked out last summer is the Ocean Quest Zodiac tour of Trout River Pond. “This southern part of Gros Morne National Park remains undiscovered by many visitors—which is really too bad since it is a spectacular area,” manager Ryan Young told us, as we skipped over the waves in the shadow of the impressive Tablelands.

At times, Ryan would stop the engine and unroll excellent foam props to describe the action of tectonic plates and the structure of the earth’s crust, in order to help us understand how the unusual landscape of Trout River Pond came into being. “This area was caused by the collision of tectonic plates millions of years ago, and subsequent glaciation has created one of the most dramatic exposures of the earth’s mantle found anywhere in the world,” he explained.

We had to agree. Trout River Pond is amazing—surrounded by steep cliffs, an astounding 550-600 metres (1,800-2,000 feet) high; the Tablelands seem to change colour as the late afternoon light streaks between the clouds.

Hot fishing spots

Still on the west coast, Darren Park runs a very different boat tour out of Cox’s Cove in the Bay of Islands, near Corner Brook. His Crazy About Guiding boat tour is a must-do for anyone interested in ocean fishing and sightseeing.

It’s different, because Darren offers an authentic tour using a traditional Newfoundland dory. That means you get personal attention, and Darren knows all the hot spots for fishing. We have sailed with Darren on several occasions, and on our most recent trip we caught cod, mackerel, redfish and flounder. We saw several eagles (Darren seems to know them by name) and we even had a mussel boil-up at his seaside cabin.

The largest fish ever caught on his tours was a humongous 16-kilogram (35-pound) cod, but he always seems to catch something on his fishing trips. This past summer, we went out with Darren during the recreational fishery and easily caught our limit of 15 fish. Afterward, Darren did the filleting honours, and that night for supper, we had freshly caught cod. If you want to try your hand at fishing with a first class guide, Darren’s your guy.

And last summer we also joined Coastal Connections for a boat tour of Newman Sound, in Terra Nova National Park. The Coastal Connections boat tour is unique, in our experience, with its emphasis on interpreting the marine environment.

Part of the tour includes hauling several traps in different locations to illustrate what type of marine life inhabits these waters. The kids onboard loved helping pull up the various traps, and everyone wanted to see what fish, starfish, sea urchins or other creatures might be inside.

The highlight was the crab trap in about 120 metres (400 feet) of water, which everyone on board helped haul. It held about 15 snow and toad crabs; captain Lloyd Phillips noted that it was about one tenth of their normal haul. Depending on the tour, you may also see whales and eagles.

Iceburg maze

Still on the north coast, in the Twillingate area of Central Newfoundland, we recommend a trip with Cecil Stockley of Twillingate Island Boat Tours.

On one memorable trip a couple of years ago, we travelled through a picturesque maze of icebergs. Cecil Stockley is locally known as the “iceberg man” and has been in business for close to 30 years. He does a personalized style of tour and we really appreciated his comments and dedication in setting us up for good photo opportunities.