Whale Watching and Puffin Tours in Maine: Where, When, and What You Will See
Maine's cold, nutrient-rich Gulf of Maine feeds some of the most magnificent marine life on the East Coast. The mixing of currents and upwelling nutrients create feeding grounds that draw humpback whales, finback whales, and minke whales to our waters from spring through fall. Meanwhile, our rocky offshore islands host colonies of Atlantic puffins, those charming little seabirds with their colorful beaks and tuxedo-like plumage, from late April through mid-August. If you're planning to visit Maine and want to see either whales or puffins (or both), here's what you need to know from someone who's lived here long enough to know which tours actually deliver.
Best Whale Watching Ports
Maine has several ports offering whale watching tours, but they're not all created equal. The distance to feeding grounds, the type of vessel, and the experience of the crew all matter.
Bar Harbor
Bar Harbor is probably your best bet for whale watching. The tours here use fast catamarans that can reach offshore feeding grounds quickly, which means more time watching whales and less time in transit. The boats head out to the waters around Mount Desert Rock and beyond, where the combination of currents and underwater topography concentrates the small fish and krill that whales feed on.
Several companies operate out of Bar Harbor, and most trips run three to four hours. The catamarans are stable and relatively comfortable, with indoor heated cabins and outdoor viewing decks. Naturalists onboard know their stuff and can identify individual whales by their tail flukes. When you stay in Bar Harbor, you're also positioned perfectly for Acadia National Park, so you can combine whale watching with hiking, carriage roads, and sunrise at Cadillac Mountain.
Boothbay Harbor
Boothbay Harbor runs whale watches that head out toward Jeffreys Ledge and other offshore banks. The trips are comparable to Bar Harbor, though you're slightly farther from some prime feeding areas. Still, the harbor itself is charming, and the whale watching operations here are professional and experienced. Boothbay is also a good launching point for puffin tours, which I'll get to shortly.
Kennebunkport
Down in Kennebunkport, you'll find whale watching tours that head toward Jeffreys Ledge as well. These trips take a bit longer to reach the feeding grounds than Bar Harbor, but the boats are well-equipped and the crews know where to find whales. If you're staying in the southern part of the coast and don't want to drive all the way to Mount Desert Island, Kennebunkport makes sense. When you stay in Kennebunkport, you get the classic Maine coastal town experience with great restaurants, beaches, and the Bush compound if you care about that sort of thing.
Species and Seasons
The whale watching season in Maine runs roughly from late May through October, but your best months are June through September. That's when the greatest numbers of whales are feeding in Gulf of Maine waters. Humpback whales are the most commonly seen and the most dramatic, breaching and slapping their fins on the surface. They're also the easiest to identify individually because the undersides of their tail flukes have unique patterns.
Finback whales are the second most common sighting. They're huge, second only to blue whales in size, but they're less showy than humpbacks. You'll see them surface, blow, and dive without much fuss. Minke whales are smaller and more solitary. You might also see the occasional pilot whale or white-sided dolphin.
No trip guarantees whales. I've been on trips where we saw a dozen humpbacks and others where we saw one distant finback. The companies will tell you they have a high success rate, and they do, but the whales haven't read the brochure.
Best Puffin Tours
Puffins are a different story than whales. They only nest on specific islands, and they're only here from late April through mid-August. After that, they head back out to sea where they spend the winter floating around in the North Atlantic. You can't see them from shore, so a boat tour is your only option.
Eastern Egg Rock
Eastern Egg Rock, about six miles off the coast from New Harbor, is probably the most accessible puffin colony. This is where the famous puffin restoration project by Dr. Stephen Kress and the Audubon Society began back in the 1970s. The colony now hosts more than 100 nesting pairs of puffins, plus common terns, Arctic terns, razorbills, and guillemots.
Tours to Eastern Egg Rock leave from New Harbor (Hardy Boat Cruises is the main operator) and from Boothbay Harbor. The New Harbor tour is about ninety minutes each way. The boats circle the island slowly while passengers watch puffins flying in with fish in their beaks, landing on the rocks, and generally being adorable. You cannot land on the island. You view from the boat, which stays a respectful distance offshore to avoid disturbing nesting birds.
The Boothbay tours take a bit longer but often combine puffin viewing with lighthouse tours and other scenic stops.
Machias Seal Island
If you want to actually set foot on an island with puffins walking around near you, Machias Seal Island is your only option in Maine. This small island about ten miles off the coast near Cutler hosts the largest puffin colony in the Gulf of Maine, with more than 4,000 pairs.
Tours leave from Cutler and Jonesport, and the trip is a commitment. You're talking about a two-hour boat ride each way in waters that can be rough. The island is disputed territory (Canada claims it, the U.S. claims it, nobody's pushing the issue), and there's a Canadian lighthouse station on it. Tours are limited to a small number of people per day, and you need to book months in advance for July and August dates.
If you do get to land, you'll spend about three hours in a blind with puffins mere feet away. It's an incredible experience for bird watchers and photographers, but it's not a casual day trip. The boats are small fishing boats, the seas are often choppy, and the schedule is weather-dependent.
Petit Manan
Petit Manan Island, off the coast near Milbridge, hosts another puffin colony. Tours here are less frequent and the island is farther offshore, but it's another option if you're exploring Downeast Maine. You cannot land on Petit Manan either, it's a viewing-from-the-boat situation.
What You Will Actually See
Let me be straight with you about expectations. Puffin tours are more predictable than whale watches. If you go to Eastern Egg Rock in June or July, you will see puffins. You might see dozens or you might see a handful, depending on weather, time of day, and feeding patterns, but you'll see them.
Whale watching is less certain. Most trips do see whales, but you might see one whale from a distance or you might see ten whales up close. I've been on a trip where a humpback breached repeatedly right next to the boat, and I've been on trips where we saw distant blows and that was it. The naturalists onboard do their best, communicating with other boats and heading toward reported sightings, but whales move around.
What you will definitely see on either type of trip: seals. Harbor seals are everywhere along the Maine coast, hauled out on rocks or swimming near shore. You'll also likely see harbor porpoises, which are small and quick. Seabirds are abundant, guillemots, razorbills, terns, shearwaters, and various gulls. If you're lucky, you might see an ocean sunfish (mola mola), those bizarre giant flat fish that float on the surface. Very occasionally, boats spot basking sharks, which are huge but harmless plankton-feeders.
Bring binoculars. The boats provide some distance from wildlife deliberately, and binoculars make a huge difference. Even a cheap pair is better than nothing. A camera with a decent zoom helps too, though you'll never get the photos you imagine unless you have serious gear and experience shooting from a moving boat.
Timing and Booking
Puffins leave Maine by mid-August, sometimes earlier. If you want to see them, plan your trip for June or July. Early June can be a bit iffy if spring weather is lingering, but late June through late July is prime time. After early August, the adults and chicks head out to sea and won't return until the following spring.
Whales stick around longer, well into September and even October, though the number of boats running tours drops off after Labor Day.
Morning trips are almost always calmer than afternoon trips. The seas tend to pick up as the day goes on, especially in summer when afternoon winds build. If you're at all prone to seasickness, book the earliest trip available.
Weather cancellations are common. Fog, high winds, and rough seas can scrub trips with little notice. Most operators will rebook you or refund your money, but it's something to plan for. Don't schedule your whale watch or puffin tour for your only day in a location if you can avoid it. Give yourself a backup day.
July is peak season for both whales and puffins. Book ahead. Popular trips, especially to Machias Seal Island, fill up months in advance. Even the more accessible tours like Eastern Egg Rock and the Bar Harbor whale watches can sell out during peak summer weeks.
Not Getting Seasick and What to Bring
Seasickness is real and it's miserable. Here's what works: take your motion sickness medication before you leave your hotel, not when you get on the boat. Dramamine, Bonine, ginger pills, whatever you use, take it at least an hour before departure. The medication works best as prevention, not treatment.
Don't eat a heavy breakfast. A little food in your stomach helps, but a big greasy meal will come back to haunt you. Toast, fruit, maybe some eggs. Skip the bacon and pancakes.
Where you sit matters. The stern (back) of the boat tends to move the most. The bow (front) is second worst. Midship, ideally outside where you can see the horizon, is the most stable. If you feel queasy, stay outside, keep your eyes on the horizon, and stay in fresh air. Going inside and staring at your phone is a recipe for disaster.
Dress in layers, more layers than you think you need. Even on a hot July day, it is cold out on the water. The wind, the spray, and the temperature drop add up. I've seen people in shorts and t-shirts shivering on August whale watches. Bring a warm fleece or jacket, a windbreaker, and long pants. You can always take layers off, you can't add what you didn't bring.
Wear sunscreen and bring more to reapply. The reflection off the water intensifies sun exposure, and you'll be out there for hours. A hat that won't blow off is smart too.
Bring water and snacks. Most boats have some refreshments available, but having your own is better. Stay hydrated.
Rubber-soled shoes with good grip. Boat decks get wet and slippery. Flip-flops are a bad idea.
If you're booking any of these trips, think about where you want to base yourself. Bar Harbor gives you the best access to whale watching plus Acadia. Kennebunkport puts you on the southern coast with beaches and easier access from Boston or Portland. If you're trying to decide where to stay and what kind of Maine experience you want, take the quiz to find your Maine town and get some ideas beyond the usual tourist spots.
Whale watching and puffin tours are genuinely special experiences when conditions cooperate. There's something about being out on the Gulf of Maine, watching a humpback whale surface twenty feet from your boat or seeing a puffin fly past with a beak full of silvery fish, that reminds you why people come to Maine in the first place. Just dress warm, take your Dramamine, and keep your expectations realistic. The ocean doesn't perform on demand, but when it delivers, it really delivers.