Visiting Hopewell Rocks

The province of New Brunswick is home to one of the most breathtaking natural sights – the Hopewell Rocks. On my recent trip to NB, I made this a top destination to visit as the Hopewell Rocks are home to the world’s highest tides. Experiencing the high and low tides was truly a sight to see and was definitely the highlight of my trip!

So what exactly are the Hopewell Rocks? The Hopewell Rocks are a famous, natural rock formation located in the Bay of Fundy. It was formed by natural tidal erosion over many, many, many years and has the world’s highest tides, over 50 feet. Although you can witness the change in tides all along the Bay of Fundy, seeing it at the Hopewell Rocks is the best spot. Why? Because depending on what time low tide is, you can walk out on the ocean floor for the most amazing view. And if you wait about six hours, you can then come back and see the stunning, almost magical, sight of the high tides. Seeing both the low and high tides is an absolute must in order to appreciate this natural phenomenon.

You can plan to spend at least 3-4 hours here in one day. In addition to walking along the ocean floor and being mesmerized by the change in tide, there are additional lookouts, a visitor’s centre, restaurant and cafe, and kayaking available to keep you busy.

There is also a small entrance fee of $10 per person which is good for two consecutive days so you can experience both the low and high tides. However, it’s important to note when the park opens and closes, as depending on the time of high and low tide, the park may actually be closed. Now with that said, you can still enter onto the park grounds after it has closed. Of course, this is at your own risk. However, we noticed quite a few people doing this, and we decided to as well. We initially thought we could still catch the low tide and thought the park closed at 8:00pm, but it actually closed at 7:00pm that night. It actually worked out well, as there were less people and we got to experience walking on the ocean floor at the exact time of the lowest tide that night. It was incredible! You can see the tide times here.

During low tide, you can walk along the Flower Pot Rocks through the giant rock formations. Make sure to bring rain boots if you can! The sea floor is quite muddy and you may risk getting your shoe stuck. However, don’t stress if you don’t have rain boots, as there are washing stations to hose off the mud. I couldn’t help but laugh at one woman who was covered almost head to toe trying to get her shoe that had been stuck in the mud.

You can spend so much time wandering around on the ocean floor during low tide. But we warned! Make sure to check when high tide is or risk getting stuck out on a rock for someone to rescue you. Before you know it, the three storey staircase that you walked down to reach the floor will be immersed in water.

Kayaking during the high tides is one of the best ways to experience this amazing sight. We opted to kayaking with Baymount Adventures for a 90min kayak tour. They are located right inside the park. It was amazing to see how the tides covered the floor that we had just walked on the night before. The tour guides were even impressed with that days tour as the tides were the highest they had seen that season.

Hopewell Rocks was absolutely breathtaking and I can’t recommend it enough to anyone who is traveling to the East Coast. Here’s a photo of the low tide and high tide for you to see the comparison!

Have you witnessed the wonder of the low and high tides at Hopewell Rocks? Tell me what you think down below! If you liked my post, make sure to pin it!