A boring boat ride with no narrative as to what we are seeing. Only a guitar player who loudly plays obscure music a mostly older crowd has never heard of. Truly a waste of time and money unless you enjoy riding in circles mostly around a working waterfront. read more

If you're not from the Maritimes, another coastal equivalent, or a band of scurvy-ridden pirates, you might never have had the chance to sail on a true tall ship. If you ARE from the Maritimes, another coastal equivalent, or a band of scurvy-ridden pirates, you're probably well aware of the value of a day out on the water with a fully stocked bar slash the need for a first mate who doesn't know the meaning of 'mutiny'. The Tall Ship Silva is a local standard on the gorgeous Halifax waterfront, bringing regular boatloads of tourists and locals alike through tours of the habour, the Bedford Basin, and even the luxurious backyards of the houses on the North West Arm. That last one sounds creepy 'cause it kinda is. The Silva is roomy enough for a large crowd including a little jam space for a small band (if your party brought one along or booked them) and rocking out to Barrett's Privateers and Great Big Sea covers. A small room with a bar has comfortable bank seating for those who don't quite have their sea legs or weren't told that they probably shouldn't try to rock heels while soaring the high seas. Plus it has all the booze - you'll want to make note of this. The larger downstairs dining room is pretty basic but can be fully decked out with custom meal menus and catering for longer treks and can be particularly useful as one of two covered rooms (the bar is the other) for those times when the weather makes you want to just throw yourself overboard to put yourself out of your misery. Based on what they do and how they do it, the Silva definitely earns its four stars from me. The only thing is that your experience entirely depends on who goes with you, and how the weather is while you're out. If you can't nail down at least one of these two, you're probably not going to love it. Otherwise, it's a great venue for theme, office, or fundraiser parties! read more

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Before coming to Halifax I was intrigued by the idea of taking a tall ship harbour tour. My girlfriend and I were lucky enough to take a special tour of the harbour and Bedford Basin while The Queen was conducting her International Fleet Review. It was an unforgettable experience! The boat ride was great, the crew was friendly and helpful, pointing out the various ships arrayed throughout the harbour and the captain got us as close as he could to the ships ... too close in fact, as we were chased off by harbour police on numerous occasions and even had to rush back to the dock in order to avoid getting too close to the Queen's ship! Awesome. read more

Tall Ship Silva - Tours Near Me - Halifax, Nova Scotia

My wife and I joined the Silva crew for their Friday night booze cruise. Unfortunately, our trip started 30 mins late without any explanation. The bar was still open once we boarded and the live band did start the entertainment at the scheduled time, so it wasn't that big if a deal. All in all we are happy to have made a booking for this scenic event. The tour gives you a wonderful evening view of the Halifax & Darmouth skylines and the Atlantic fleet shipyards. Definitely designed for an older (25+) crowd. read more

What a great way to spend an afternoon my fiance and I went sailing for 1.5 hrs you can help them put the sails up the staff are very informative and there is a bar on the boat we will be returning read more

The tall ship Silva is beautiful and it's fun to sail around the harbor, but as previously said, it's pretty disappointing there is no commentary on the history of the harbor or any highlights of the buildings and island you are looking at (St. George). We lucked out and the boat wasn't too crowded but I saw an early tour and the boat looked too packed out to really enjoy the ride. There is a bar and the prices of the drinks are reasonable ($5 for wine). It's only $19.50 to ride the Silva so it's not a bad value for 1.5 hours (although we came back about 10 minutes early). I took a tour of the Norfolk, VA harbor and the commentary was very interesting and made the tour, which the Silva is lacking. read more

As a local I didn't find the loop around George's island to the bridge and back very exciting, since I get to see that every day I would have rathered a trip past the mouth of the harbour. We got an excellent price from groupon and the staff was lovely. read more

Horrible service. I booked the cocktail cruise back in 2017 to have it cancelled 2 days before. Forward to 2019, booked the cruise for a work function yet again, cancelled. Re-booked for the third time with these guys and cancelled again. All they could offer was for me to re-book and give a 10% discount. I got the full refund and will never book again. Why bother when it would be cancelled. My bets are they got a better offer since the excuse they gave was only 2 people cancelled which is complete BS. Don't waste your time with these guys. read more

Waaaaaay overpriced for captains cocktail cruise. Over crowded and only few meager trays of OK food (only 2 small hot food trays) that was not nearly enough for number of people onboard. The cruise itself was nice enough but not worth the $44.00 price, only worth maybe $25.00. Would not recommend. read more

We are from the area too and we agree with Megan that the trip was okay but we would not really call it a 'tour'. The tourists we chatted with were surprised and disappointed that there was no commentary. They played rock music loudly but it would have been more interesting if there had been some sort of commentary instead. (The fellow steering couldn't even tell me where the Coast Guard were located. ) We sailed around George's Island and up to the MacDonald bridge where we turned around. We left at 3:10 and arrived back at the dock at 4:20, not quite the 1 1/2 hours we were told but it was a beautiful day and we did enjoy the ride. It was simply a ride in a tall ship and we felt we had good value with the Groupon but it would not have been if we had paid the full price. read more

I took my 9 & 10 year old grandchildren in August and after 15 minutes we were all ready for the cruise to be done. We were told that books with things to do for children to do along with a prize if completed during the cruise. Sadly they were out of them and I think the children would have enjoyed it much more. My money would have been better spent on the ferry. read more