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Your Halifax Harbour Tour is unique every single time! Your captain will chart a course for your tour based on factors such as weather, marine traffic, special events, and many others, with one goal in mind: to give you the most enjoyable tour of our beautiful harbour!

Some parts of the harbour you might see on a tour include Bedford Basin, George’s and McNab’s Islands, and of course, the Halifax Harbour. Marine wildlife love our ultra-quiet electric motors, so you are sure to see some of the many birds, mammals, and other aquatic animals in our harbour during your tour.

Your boat is covered by a canopy that can be opened or closed depending on the weather, and your Captain and Guide will always do their best to make sure you are comfortable. The canopy is not fully enclosed, so on cool, windy, or drizzling days, please come prepared for the day’s weather. We also have blankets and rain ponchos for your use on board if you should need them.

Generally speaking, dress appropriately for the weather, and keep in mind that temperatures tend to be a little cooler on the water than on land. Also consider that on a day when you don’t need a raincoat during your tour, you may still want to bring one along for your walk on the boardwalk and while you are waiting to board your boat. Also be sure to wear sun protection, even on cloudy days!

Seating is on a first-come-first-served basis. That said, there is not a bad seat on the whole boat, and your guide will be happy to help make sure that your seating doesn’t get in the way of the best possible tour experience.

Halifax Harbour Tours are suitable for everyone, of all ages. There is no substantial physical effort required to enjoy our tours, but please note that there is a fairly steep ramp between the wharf and the dock, and a small step from the dock into the boat, that Guests must be able to navigate. Most able-bodied Guests have no problem with this. Kids LOVE our tours, and so does the rest of the family. We promise!

There are emergency life jackets on board for guests 30lbs (14 kg) and up, and we have one life jacket for an infant. Please contact us ahead of time if you wish to ensure that there is a life jacket on board that will fit your child. Life vests are not required to be worn during the tour but are on board as a preventative safety measure.

Our vessels are quite stable and very comfortable, but because our vessels are relatively small in size, we would like to note to Guests who are highly prone to “sea sickness” that our Captains are skilled at minimizing the side-to-side “rocking” of the boat. However, there may be moments during your tour when the boat will rock due to wind gusts or large wakes caused by other vessels in the harbour, and it is likely that Guests will experience some “bobbing” motion as we move through the water.

Tours are generally “rain or shine” as our boats are made weather-resistant by their all-hardwood canopies. However, very high winds and/or heavy rain may cause us to cancel a scheduled tour.

In the event of very high winds or heavy rain, in consideration of your comfort and safety, your Captain may decide that a tour needs to be cancelled. In these rare occurrences, we will immediately notify you, refund the full cost of your booking, and offer to book you in on another tour if you would like to do so. We recommend that Guests opt-in for text message updates upon checkout so that we can get in touch with you quickly and easily.

We make every effort to make our boats as accessible as possible to people of all abilities, but there is a relatively steep ramp from the wharf onto the dock that guests need to be able to navigate, and a small step from the ramp into the boat. Unfortunately, most wheel chairs are unable to navigate this and we are therefore unable to accommodate guests who are unable to leave their wheel chair or scooter.

If you are able to leave your wheel chair / scooter for short distances, your captain and guide will be happy to assist you on the ramp and into the boat to the best of their abilities. Please note that our staff are not trained healthcare providers and they may be unable to assist you onto the boat without the aid of a guest in your party.

Please get in touch if you have any questions or concerns.

Pets are not allowed on tours. Certified Service Animals are permitted and must be kept on leashes at all times.

Given the limited amount of space on your boat, we are unable to accommodate a stroller on board.

Our boats are all-electric (ultra-quiet and environmentally friendly), 30-foot, eight-passenger “classic European river boat” style vessels with hardwood canopies that can be opened or closed depending on the weather. We think they are the classiest boats on the harbour! Our boats are operated by experienced Transport Canada-certified Captains, and a knowledgeable and super-friendly Guide.

Our captains and tour guides do not expect guests to leave them tips. That said, our captains and tour guides are allowed to accept tips if offered to them, so if you feel that someone on your tour deserves a tip and you wish to give them one, you are more than welcome to do so — and we thank you for your generosity!

If you wish to leave a tip for your Guide and/or Captain but do not have any cash on hand, ask them about their “digital tip jar” that allows you to send them a tip using your credit card.

We accept all major credit cards online through our website and on the dock. On the dock, we also accept cash payment in CAD or USD (USD is accepted on par with CAD), and tap-enabled debit cards. Please get in touch if you have any questions or issues.

Booking through our website is the quickest and easiest option for most guests, but you may also contact us if you would prefer to book using some other method.

All bookings are offered at the same low rate, regardless of age of the guest. We have found this to be the best way to make our tours affordable for the greatest number of people.

Tour bookings are non-refundable and non-transferable. This policy enables us to make tours available to the greatest number of people at our always-low rates. Please get in touch if you have any questions or concerns.

We are happy to offer private tours and corporate or bulk bookings. We can accommodate 8-12 Guests for a private booking depending on your group’s composition (number of adults vs children, etc). Just get in touch with us and we’ll work with you to make your event fun and memorable (not to mention picturesque)!

When you arrive at the dock, please present your guide with the booking confirmation that you received by email when you booked your seats. You can show it to us on your phone, or you can bring along a printed copy.

The tour departs from the Halifax waterfront at the dock between the two Purdy’s Wharf towers. Scroll to the bottom of this page to see a map.

We encourage all guests to arrive about 15 minutes before the scheduled tour start time.

Our schedule does not allow for departure time flexibility and we do not issue refunds for missed tours, so we recommend adding some extra time for getting to the departure area.

You should receive a booking confirmation email shortly after you have completed your booking. If you don’t get an email, please check your Spam folder to see if it was mistakenly marked as spam by your email provider. If you can’t find your booking confirmation, you can contact us to help you to retrieve it.

We may be able to help you retrieve your booking on the dock if your guide has time to do so prior to the tour’s departure, but we ask that you please make every effort to have access to your booking prior to arriving at the dock.

There is plenty of parking in the immediate area and nearby throughout downtown Halifax, and there are many public transit options if you are staying near downtown (you can use Google Maps to chart your course). Click here to view a detailed list and map of all nearby parking lots and other information such as rates, payment options, transit rates and routes/schedules, and free parking times/locations.

The nearest parking lot to our tour departure site (the dock between the two Purdy’s Wharf towers) is the Casino Nova Scotia parking lot (1983 Upper Water Street), indicated as #4 on this map:

(Map source: Downtown Halifax Business Commission)