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Southwest Harbor, ME

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Sail Acadia

4.8 (100 reviews)
Closed • 8:00 am - 6:00 pm

Sail Acadia Photos

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Reviews With Photos

Katie J.

My husband and I booked a sunset lobster boat cruise this last weekend, and we loved every second of it. We were aboard the Elizabeth T and both our tour guide and captain were super friendly, and talkative the whole time! We saw seals, porpoises, and even caught several lobsters! It was a highlight of our trip and we will most certainly be back!!

Lila M.

My friends and I had the best time on the sunset lobster boat tour!! Captain Joe and Maxwell were so knowledgeable and kind. We saw so many lobsters, seals, and even porpoises!! 10/10 recommend the lobster boat experience!

Boat

Ben was the best Captain of Linda! He made us feel right at home and navigated the waters with ease - he was a delight to get to know :)

Amazing afternoon on the Alice E. One of our best Maine memories. We had beautiful weather and saw so many different islands. Lots of good info was shared about the ares. Awesome! Thank you!

Bear Island Lighthouse

Great day out sailing on the Alice E from SWH . We so enjoyed our time with Captain Chris and all the history of the friendship sloop. Sailing around the islands on MDI was amazing . We saw dolphins , a baby seal , and a loon. The wind for our afternoon sail was perfect . We highly recommend Sail Acadia, our second trip and was just as amazing and wonderful as our first sail . It's great because it only has a capacity for 6 passengers so it's a more personal and intimate day on the water . We also loved seeing the Bear Island Lighthouse .

Near-sunset views
Colin D.

Took a sunset tour on a lobster boat that was a ton of fun including seeing seals, ospreys, lobsters, crabs, eider ducks, guillemots, and generally enjoying the scenes and even the company. I honestly wasn't expecting that much, but the tour over-delivered in terms of having a guide with some expertise to answer questions, hearing about the local area, seeing lots of wildlife and generally having a great time. You can also bring your own beer and wine, which was a nice touch.

great captain, Teak. A most enjoyable afternoon, very comfy. Highly recommended. Perfect way to enjoy the Maine Coast,

Family photo from the boat - all smiles all day!
Michael H.

We booked an excursion with Sail Acadia on the Friendship Sloop Linda for a 3 hour trip. We chose a morning sailing and had a family of six (the max) on the boat. We had someone who was prone to sea sickness with us and they had zero issues. Our Captain, Ben, was incredible. Kind, knowledgeable, curios (about our family), and attentive (to our anxious son). He was very easy to connect with and we felt instantly comfortable during our voyage. Our entire group agreed that this was the highlight of our week in Maine. Highly recommend booking a sailing if you have six or fewer in your group.

With Captain Chris, captain of the Tall Boats!
Ian M.

It was a beautiful day for sailing on a 127 year old schooner (technically a cutter) with Captain Chris. The boat and captain made for a great time. We was saw porpoise, bald eagles and a lot of beautiful boats. Three hours of really funny conversation even when it was serious. Thanks to Sail Acadia and Captain Chris for a great voyage.

The "Alice" making way past the Bear Island Light.

We took a morning sail on board the "Linda" out of Northeast Harbor. I cannot give any higher accolades to this group than "WOW!" For all the other headboats on MDI looking to make their season this group seems to be of a different mindset. The very idea of "Small groups and personalized experiences" is something that seems to get lost in our world today. We had Ben as our Captain and it is my opinion that if he wants to join you for any future season, DO IT! He is kind, knowledgable, experienced, good with people and kids and is the type of person you can be confident will represent your company in the best ways. The conditions we had were just about perfect. A steady SSW breeze just strong enough to make good way under sail only. Highly recommended!

What a day and a great trip! Excellent captain John and naturalist Arlo! I had an injury and they were very accommodating getting me on and off the boat! I'd highly recommend this trip! All 7 of enjoyed it very much!

On the way back from Little Cranberry Island

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Karl B.

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Karl B.

We love our local guides Jessica and Naomi!

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4 months ago

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5 months ago

personal touch great job,thoughful narration,great sailing trip.Well experienced captain and quite safe,

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1 year ago

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1 year ago

A group of friends & I sailed on the Linda with Carl. We had such an amazing time, I would recommend to anyone!

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Karl B.

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1 year ago

Awesome boat ride and education on lobster fishing...great family outing...Captain and guide were so informative...

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1 year ago

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1 year ago

We had a great trip with Captain John on the Alice E. This was definitely a highlight on our trip to Maine.

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1 year ago

The trip was absolutely beautiful. Liza and the Captain were a pleasure. Fun and informative, definitely recommend.

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Page 1 of 3

Ask the Community - Sail Acadia

Review Highlights - Sail Acadia

“Captain Karl provided a relaxing atmosphere and good conversation on our 2-hour mid-day charter aboard the Alice E.”

Mentioned in 12 reviews

Read more highlights

Acadian Boat Tours - One of the lighthouses

Acadian Boat Tours

4.4(125 reviews)
9.7 mi

When in Bar Harbor, I definitely wanted to do a cruise around the shorelines of Bar Harbor and see…read moreFrenchman Bay, maybe see sea creatures, lighthouses, famous mansions. Well you do see this and more when you go on a nature cruise with Acadian Boat Tours. They have other tours as well like a Puffin or whale watch. We did want to do the Puffin tour but it was filled. I am so glad I got to go in this one. You need a camera, to take lots of pictures.They have drinks and snacks on the boat to purchase. It's clean, you get a narrated tour by professionals. You learn so much you can't come to Bar Harbor and not do it. Highly recommend!

My wife and I went on a private fishing charter with captain Kelly. We had an amazing trip. On the…read moreway to the fishing hole we saw seals which was very cool. Once we arrived at the spot we dropped the lines. The second the baits hit the bottom we had fish on . We caught a variety of fish. Cod, mackerel, pollack , and something she called a Conner. She also said that fish was her family's favorite because it tastes like crab. The other weird catch was a squid.Captain Kelly was a great guide. She was full of so much information about the fish in the area. We so enjoyed her company that it made the trip seem like fishing with an old friend. The scenery was awesome as we fished near some sea cliffs . I will gladly take another trip with Kelly the next time we are in Bar harbor.

Photos
Acadian Boat Tours - Harbor seals basking on a rock

Harbor seals basking on a rock

Acadian Boat Tours - Our ship

Our ship

Acadian Boat Tours - Egg Rock Island lighthouse!

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Egg Rock Island lighthouse!

Blue Claw Boat Tours - Sightseeing aboard Blue Claw

Blue Claw Boat Tours

5.0(49 reviews)
57.2 mi

i Yelp a lot. like, a LOT. it's not often you happen upon a business that has so many excellent…read morereviews. i'm here to confirm that the excellent reviews are accurate. my husband and i have been on many a whale watch, but never a seal watch. knowing the weather yesterday was going to be amazing, we decided to give it a go. what to expect: free parking in a grassy area that abuts the dock. there are no bathrooms on site, but there is a port-a-potty which is very clean and easily accessible. there is some bench seating where you can hang out while waiting for your tour time. the website states you should arrive half an hour prior to your time, and that anyone who isn't there twenty minutes prior, is probably going to be left behind. knowing that, we were there promptly at 10, for our 10:30 tour. our captain (Captain Rob) started calling out party names at ten after, and, since we were all assembled, we actually ended up leaving a little early. he sat us by party in the boat, but was deliberate about instructing us where to sit, ensuring that the boat would be balanced. a note regarding the boat: at most, i would guess that the boat can seat about 12 - 14 adults comfortably. we were a party of 6 adults and two kids, so this is a pretty intimate tour. i've been on a bunch of different boats, but this was the smallest. if you are not used to being close to the water, this is a great introduction. you can expect to go at a pretty low speed as you are exiting the harbor, but you'll be going at around 25 mph when you are out, and heading toward the seals. the seals! there were so many! we did see several just bobbing in the water, as well as swimming, but we also saw huge crowds of them just hanging out on some sand bars. we could hear their braying and howling (a sign of contentment, according to Captain Rob), especially as we got close and the motor was turned off. the tour was a nice balance of history about the area, and the beautiful houses lining the shores, as well as information about the seals. you do get up close and personal, as they're often curious about the boat, so we had seals who were just feet away from us. Captain Rob- i can't say enough good things. he was incredibly nice, and developed a great rapport with not only the adults, but the two little kids (who, credit to their parents, were incredibly well-behaved). he just had such a gentle manner about him, and i felt very safe in his care. if you've never been on a seal watch, or you've never been out with Blue Claw, i highly, highly recommend. my husband and i will definitely be back, we enjoyed ourselves so much. this is a great way to spend around two hours out on the water, and appreciating a little slice of the beautiful Cape.

Made reservations for four about an hour before the 10:00AM seal trip. Met at the dock by Captain…read morePhil, we boarded with four more adults and a few kids. This was a nice trip. On a low tide the captain was still able to gets us pretty close to the seal herds. Learned a bit about them too. On the way in and out there is decent scenery, big oceanfront mansions and more to see. For $45 this trip is a bargain.

Photos
Blue Claw Boat Tours - Sunset on the Water

Sunset on the Water

Blue Claw Boat Tours - Capt Rob with passengers on a Seal Cruise

Capt Rob with passengers on a Seal Cruise

Blue Claw Boat Tours - Swimming Seals

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Swimming Seals

Robertson Sea Tours - Petit Manan lighthouse (the second tallest in Maine), where the puffins had gathered, and first mate Mack.

Robertson Sea Tours

4.9(19 reviews)
28.8 mi

This'll be odd, but we never got to cruise with Robertson because the fog rolled in, but rarely am…read moreI so impressed with how a company reacts when things go wrong, I'm willing to rate them solely on that! I had signed up for the puffin cruise for a Tuesday and, in the process, apparently put my phone number in wrong. So since we weren't contacted, we headed for the meet-up point despite the thick fog. We were met by Jamie, I believe, who told us they weren't sailing because of the fog; keep in mind he had to actually come meet us because of the phone number issue. He offered us a Saturday sail and to keep us on standby for other sails for the week, but also was very honest in stating that there were no puffins because they had migrated the week before, so he also offered to refund us (the other tours I looked at only offer a credit, which doesn't work when you rarely go to Maine). In the end, Saturday was a washout, too, because of the weather, so we never got to go out, but the refund was again offered and made and when and if we get back to Maine, we'll be booking with Robertson. The level of communication and honesty is top notch, and that's the kind of business I'm always happy to support.

We went with a couple friends of ours and one other couple. Plenty of room in the boat with…read morecomfortable deck chairs. Close to three hours on the water with our Captain and his trusty four-legged first mate, Mack. It was a beautiful day. We saw puffins and seals, osprey and an eagle and other seabirds. Captain was very friendly and knew the bay very well. We all had a great time.

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Robertson Sea Tours - Puffins near Petit Manan light

Puffins near Petit Manan light

Robertson Sea Tours - Seals relaxing in the sun.

Seals relaxing in the sun.

Robertson Sea Tours - Puffin

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Puffin

Sail Acadia - fishing - Updated October 2026

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