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Quietside Aqua-Safari (Southwest Harbor Shop)

Quick Details

Embark on an Aqua-Safari Kayaking Tour! Meeting in Southwest Harbor!

Our Aqua-Safari excursions are exactly what the name leads you to believe, in fact, it’s the tour chosen by Jeff Corwin when he visited Acadia. Our Registered Maine Guides are master interpreters of the natural world, and their goal is to share their passion with your party. This tour is catered to all ability levels. Using the wind, tides, and dynamics of the group to ensure the most enjoyable paddling experience.

We feel that a four hour tour gives adequate time for relaxation, wildlife viewing, and interpretation from our professional Registered Maine Guide staff. Your guide will decide which route will be the most enjoyable and safest based on wind direction/velocity, visibility and tides. We paddle Western Bay (Pretty Marsh), Blue Hill Bay, and Somes Sound. Most Safaris are one-way. Occasionally, a tour might be round trip. Your guide will stop on a coastal beach for a short lunch break, We highly recommend packing a light snack! Maine State Sea Kayak specializes in quality Ecological Sea Kayak Tours. Tandems are most commonly used versus single kayaks

All participants must be checked in 40 minutes prior to trip time, this is for safety purposes.

This excursion begins in Southwest Harbor, so please allow ample time for unexpected traffic if traveling from Bar Harbor. In order to maintain a quality experience for all of our guests each tour will leave promptly at the scheduled time…no exceptions or refunds will be made. Please come enjoy the quiet-side activities prior to your trip to reduce travel frustrations.

Each child under the age of 16 must be at least 4’8″ and accompanied by an adult. (Please call to see if accommodations can be made)


Participant Testimonial

“Wildlife Galore!”

“We went out on the 4pm-8pm, 6.5- mile tour with a group of 11 people, launching near Bartlett Island and ending at Clark Cove. Our guide, Brad, was fantastic. He has an uncanny and super human ability to spot wildlife from a quarter mile away. We saw harbor seals, 5 bald eagles (including a fledgling!), porpoises, osprey, crabs, sea stars, and more. The equipment was good and the tour very safe. It was a one-way trip, where they drove us to the start and back from finish. They strategically planned the paddling direction to have the current and breeze at our backs, making for a really pleasant ride.”