Staff Pick
Road Trip Digby Neck – Brier Island, Whale Watching
Digby
Brier Island
45
km
1h30
drive
Summer
season
The Itinerary
Digby Neck, a 50 km peninsula jutting into the Bay of Fundy, is one of the world's best shore-based whale watching sites on Canada's east coast. Three successive islands — Long Island and Brier Island, linked by free ferries — host the cruise departures.
Digby, the port most famous for its scallops, is the starting point. Highway 217 crosses Sandy Cove and Tiverton villages, then the ferry to Long Island. East Ferry and Tiverton are the whale-watching hubs. At Brier Island (3 more km by ferry), packs of fin whales, humpbacks, minke whales and even North Atlantic right whales are near-guaranteed from June to October.
Balancing Rock — a strange geological formation where a basalt block stands vertically in equilibrium — is Long Island's signature attraction (1.5 km trail). Brier Island is also a top fall bird-migration spot. Joshua Slocum, the first man to sail solo around the world (1898), was born here.
Digby, the port most famous for its scallops, is the starting point. Highway 217 crosses Sandy Cove and Tiverton villages, then the ferry to Long Island. East Ferry and Tiverton are the whale-watching hubs. At Brier Island (3 more km by ferry), packs of fin whales, humpbacks, minke whales and even North Atlantic right whales are near-guaranteed from June to October.
Balancing Rock — a strange geological formation where a basalt block stands vertically in equilibrium — is Long Island's signature attraction (1.5 km trail). Brier Island is also a top fall bird-migration spot. Joshua Slocum, the first man to sail solo around the world (1898), was born here.
Points of Interest
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Whale CruisesFin, humpback, right whales, June-Oct.
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Balancing RockVertical basalt balance rock, 1.5 km trail.
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Brier IslandJoshua Slocum's birth island, fall bird watching.
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Digby ScallopsWorld capital, signature restaurants.
Protected areas along the route
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Brier Island Conservation Lands
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Peter's Island Conservation Lands
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Toymakers Marsh Conservation Lands
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Belliveau Lake - La Grande Ile Conservation Lands
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Acaciaville Conservation Lands
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Sissiboo River Wilderness Area
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Tiddville Nature Reserve
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Porcupine Lake Wilderness Area
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Boar's Head Conservation Lands
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Silver River - Long Tusket Lake Conservation Lands
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Allain River Marsh Conservation Lands
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Wentworth Lake Nature Reserve
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Take this route offline
Cell coverage thins out fast once you leave Digby. Export the map as a geo-referenced PDF before you go and open it in BorealMaps — your GPS position shows on the map with no signal at all.
Try PDF Export How geo-referenced PDF maps workPractical info
- Departure Digby
- Destination Brier Island
- Distance 45 km
- Duration 1h30
- Category Short (< 100 km)
- Best season Summer
Plan your adventure with our interactive map
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