Private Sightseeing Charter

Create Your Own Private Sightseeing Charter in Maine

Our private sightseeing charter allows you to enjoy the beauty of Acadia National Park from the water! View lighthouses, Cadillac Mountain, and wildlife such as seals, eagles, porpoises, & more. Our local captains will help you customize your trip for a wonderful day on the water.

What is our itinerary?
When you charter a boat, it’s all yours. Our local captains know all the best spots in Blue Hill Bay; we will create the perfect trip for you. Our boats Fifinella and Monterey are completely outfitted to be the perfect boat for your group of up to six passengers.

If you’d like to add in a bit of fishing and reel in a good time, we are happy to accommodate that as well! The only thing that is required for a perfect trip is a brief conversation with your captain when you meet up about what you’d like to do.

Charter the boat for 4+ hrs, and we can tow a powered inflatable and land you on one of countless islands, or stop for a dockside meal — it’s like having Acadia National Park all to yourself! Enjoy pristine sand beaches, granite cliffs, popple stone beaches, island meadows, and miles of hiking trails.

What wildlife do we look for?
Seals (harbor and grey seals), eagles, sea birds, porpoises, whales, otters, deer, and ocean sunfish are some of the species we encounter.

Will we see lighthouses?
You will pass Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse as you leave the harbor, no matter your trip plan. Bear Island Lighthouse, Duck Island Lighthouse, Blue Hill Light and Burnt Coat Lighthouse are all in the area as well.  If lighthouses are your thing we can reach several others with a longer trip.

Do you offer whale watching? 
Whales are most often fairly far from our harbor, but we can take you out to the open ocean to look for them. We have the best luck from Mid July to August. A four hour minimum trip is needed to book if you’d like to specifically look for whales. As with any wildlife, we cannot guarantee a sighting, but we always have a great time looking.

What about puffins?
Puffins have two large nesting colonies on the Maine coast, which are 25-30 miles from Bass Harbor (so you have a long run down the coast to visit one of those areas). They are typically there nesting from June until  first week in July. A four hour trip is recommended to visit the nesting islands. During our 2022 and 2023 seasons, we were able to see some puffins on a nearby island. There were 12-20, and we are hopeful they are beginning to nest here regularly. If they return in 2024, this will allow a chance to see puffins with just a two hour booking.

What should I bring?

• Bring layers of warm clothing. Even if it’s hot on land, it can be up to 20 degrees cooler on the water.
• Bring any food or drinks including alcohol you wish for the trip. There is a cooler on board, bring ice if you wish.
• Other items you may want: camera, sunscreen, binoculars, hat, sunglasses.
  
• You may bring your well behaved pet.

How do I find you?
We are located at 12 Little Island Way, in Bass Harbor, just 30 minutes from Bar Harbor, ME. Meet your captain down on the dock at the time of departure, our office may be unmanned and the boat may be returning from another trip.

Island Explorer Bus: Bus 7, stop H
More info about how to find us, maps and address on our Contact page

What about the weather?
We will cancel your trip due to poor weather and we try to reschedule, if that doesn’t work you will receive a refund. Rain, fog, wind and swells are taken into consideration as we want you to have an enjoyable trip. Weather is often drastically different on the water than on land, trust your captain to make the call.

Is there a restroom on the boat?
There is a clean port-a-potty at our office and a Marine head on the boat (no sink).