The Extreme Tides of Bay Of Fundy

When it comes time for a vacation, our own backyard is usually excluded. For some reason, our own country doesn’t sound as exotic for a vacation location as other places… I myself am guilty of thinking that way. I have visited many amazing countries in Europe, places like Norway, Ireland and Iceland…I have also visited our southern neighbours more often than I can recall. Recently, I promised myself that I would explore my own country more in 2025 and 2026.

A friend was going on a family trip to New Brunswick so I decided to add myself to their group and went to explore a part of my country which I had yet to see. Their basecamp was going to be in Fundy National Park so I rented a room at the same lodge and started with my own journey to explore the area. Since my friend was there to enjoy quality time with his family, I knew he wouldn’t be able to join me every single time I went out. I was 100% ok with that, we all have family obligations.

WHAT IS THERE TO SEE?

Fundy National Park is a lovely park located on the eastern side of New Brunswick, along the shore of the Bay of Fundy and it is approximately 200 square kilometers in size. A large part of it is in the highlands. It was one of the key features I wanted to see in New Brunswick.  It has countless amazing trails that lead to some breathtaking waterfalls. But sadly, on the exact evening of my arrival, Parks Canada went ahead and closed every hiking trail and most view points due to severe drought. Due to the lack of precipitation for the past two months in the entire Eastern part of Canada, the danger of wildfires was dangerously high so for safety reasons, they closed everything. Sad since I drove some 12 hours from home to hike and see lovely waterfalls…

The second upmost important attraction on my list was Hopewell Rocks Provincial Park. Hopewell Rocks is a small park but it packs so much beauty along its rugged cliffs. There, you will find some of the most amazing sea stacks and much more…keep reading below!

HOW DID THEY FORM?

Geologists agree that Hopewell Rocks probably took millions of years to form into what they are today. Over an extremely long period of time, mud, pebbles and sediments slowly washed down the mountains in a very long erosion process, got compressed to form solid cliffs and stacks and then again later started eroding with the waves and the pressure from the water of the Bay of Fundy. We are talking about over 100 billion gallons of water every year! We can all agree that a storm will definitely stir a fairly good amount of water around those sea stacks.

Since the sea stacks are made from a mix of pebbles, mud and sediments, the weakest part of each stack will eventually break apart leaving behind the more solid rocks, forming such interesting random shapes. You look at some of them and wonder how in the world they can still stand without falling apart…when in fact, it is only a matter of time before they actually collapse. When will they collapse? That is unknown… Each stack has its own name…and when one breaks, they will give it a new name and give it a second life. Cute!

WHEN SHOULD I GO?

You may ask yourself when is the best time to go to Hopewell Rocks? To me, that location is of upmost interest at low tide and at sunrise. The direction of the light at sunrise is really great during the summer season all the way to the fall equinox. The toughest thing is that the sun rises quite early during the summer season. That involves getting up at 3:30 to 4:00AM in order to eat breakfast, get dressed up, drive to the park and hike to the location on time for the sunrise. One thing to remember is that the park technically only opens at 8 o’clock. This didn’t stop me from going…no, the parking lot was not open yet but there was a tiny gravel lot just outside of the official parking where I could safely leave my car and walk into the park.

Since the park opens at 8 o’clock, that also means that you must be well informed of where to go and what to expect with the tide. I downloaded the tide charts and I knew that low tide was going to be just after the park opens so I had plenty of time to walk on the beach and fully enjoy the place by myself! This place can be so busy during the daytime…there can be a few hundred tourists all together down there on the beach which makes photography a real pain. And we both know that mid day light during the summer season is far from being flattering for any landscape image.

WHAT CAUSES SUCH TIDE SWINGS?

Did you know that the Bay of Fundy has the highest tidal swings in the world? Did you also know that it can swing by up to almost 12 meters on a normal day? In the United States of America, that means well over 30 feet which is wild when you think about it!

But what causes such tide swings! There are in fact two main factors that will cause the tides of the Bay of Fundy to swing that much. The first factor is in fact what is called resonance or seiche. How do I explain that with simple words? The large tides in the Bay of Fundy result from tidal resonance. Tidal resonance occurs when the amount of time it takes a large wave to travel from the mouth of a bay to the far shore and back to the mouth is the same, or nearly the same, as the time between the high and low tides. This coincidence means that the general sloshing of the water around the bay can become synchronized with the lunar tides, amplifying their effect. When other factors come into play, such as storm surges, the tides in the Bay of Fundy have exceeded 20 meters.

TIDE SWING CAN KILL YOU

This might sound extreme but tide swing can kill you if you are in the wrong place anywhere around the Bay of Fundy. Since I went on the beach by myself two hours before the park opened, I had to know fully what I was getting myself into and be extremely well informed of the tide charts which I had downloaded on my phone prior to my visit.

If you look at the tide charts, you will notice that the tide can go up by over 2 meters in a single hour! When it comes back, it comes back quick. That means you have to be extremely careful and aware of what you are doing. Don’t tell yourself: I have enough time for an extra image… That extra image could potentially cause a lot of trouble. When it’s time to get out of there, just go!

At Hopewell Rocks for example, there is an elevated platform accessible from the beach in case of an emergency. If you feel like you don’t have enough time to walk back to the main stairs, don’t risk it! Use the emergency platform and wait until the tide goes back down because no one will save you there. You decided to put yourself into that situation? You are on your own until the tide goes out again. …unless there’s a severe storm, then I assume the coast guard will get you out of there.

WATCH YOUR STEPS!

I saw countless pictures of people getting their feet completely covered with mud after going down onto that beach and to be honest with you, I don’t know how they managed to do that! The part of the beach on which I walked was mostly coarse sand and small rocks…if you go there, avoid at all cost to walk on the wet muddy part of the beach since there is a whole ecosystem is happening there. There are millions of small baby shrimp in that mud and if you step on it, you will kill hundreds of baby shrimp.

If you get your feet muddy, that means you went too far! I only had a few grains of sand on my hiking shoes and they were easily cleaned at the shoe cleaning station  back up the cliff.

…IN CONCLUSION

In conclusion, even though Fundy National Park was mostly closed and I returned home after only two days, was the trip worth it? OH MY GOD, yes it was worth it! Hopewell Rocks Provincial Park far exceeded my expectations. Just Hopewell Rocks on its own made the whole trip an experience I will remember forever! My two mornings in a row photographing the sunrise were so peaceful and fruitful all together. Yes, I went two mornings in a row! Will I go back in the near future? Oh you can count on it!

And even though I went there before the park opened to the general public, when I was done photographing, I went to the ticket desk and bought my park entrance. That ticket is good for two days and only costs 19$…19$ for such a wonderful time with my camera around the coolest rock formations I have seen in a long time!