St. Martins and the Bay of Fundy

Our border crossing into New Brunswick, Canada, was swift and easy.  From there, we traveled on to St. Martins, a beautiful little town on the Bay of Fundy.  A lady at the visitor’s center in St. Stephen said that St. Martins would be well worth the drive.  Known for its sea caves and the Sentier Fundy Trail, we were anxious to see what the town had to offer.

Although it was late in the afternoon, we hadn’t had lunch, so we stopped for lobster rolls (of course!) at the Cave Restaurant and had them wrapped “to go” so that we could enjoy a picnic lunch.  We headed out to the Sentier Fundy Parkway.

The views were amazing as we caught our first glimpse of the Bay of Fundy.  The bay is world-famous for its tides.  In some areas, low tide drops some 45 feet below high tide... the widest margin of any other bay in the world.  Over 100 billion tonnes of seawater flow in and out of the bay each day.  The gentlemen at the Fundy Trail interpretive center said that it was enough water to fill the Grand Canyon five times each day!

Sentier Fundy Trail scene

We had our picnic at the picturesque Fownes Head picnic area, then traveled the length of this beautiful stretch of road with its red sea cliffs and lovely beaches, all the way to the Long Beach Lookout.  The road stretches along a ridge, with walkways alongside, and trails down to various beaches.  Folks are invited to drive, hike, or bike their way along the trails.

On our way back to camp, we stopped by the sea caves, but the tide was still too high to enter them. 

Sea Caves at St. Martins

We did, however, watch a bald eagle flying overhead.

Bald eagle over Bay of Fundy

We camped right on the bay at Century Farm Family Campground, enjoying the evening sea breeze and strolling along the lovely beach.

Campsite at Century Farm Family Campground in St. Martins, NB

This morning, we checked out the sea caves again.  While the sky was a bright blue yesterday, this morning we were engulfed in a thick fog.  Although we were still several hours before low tide, we were able to venture close enough to photograph the inside of the caves.  A fairly deep channel that drained the harbor kept us from entering the mouth of the caves.

Sea caves at low tide in St. Martins, NB

Today we will travel deeper into the bay and camp at Fundy National Park.

New Brunswick on Dwellable