On a hot day, boating is a great way to cool down. The air on the water can be 10 degrees cooler and much breezier than in town, and when the temperature starts to climb, island hopping is just the thing. The waterways are busy, filled with commercial fishing boats and picnic boats navigating perilously close to lobster buoys and the sailboat races. It is important to choose a captain with local knowledge.
There are literally thousands of small islands off the coast of Maine to explore, just a short boat ride away. Most are uninhabited, but some have year-round communities. Here’s a fun fact: Maine has more coastline than Florida. This is why ~ Florida has a relatively straight coastline, but Maine meanders in and out of coves and sounds, and at the end of the tally, Maine is the winner.
For those with a higher tolerance for cold water than this Florida girl, there is kayaking and tubing, even swimming ~ I kid you not. However, be warned there are daily advisories about the debilitating effects of cold water. The water is so cold that you can lose motor function within minutes and be unable to swim to safety. My advice is to stay in the boat, but I know plenty of polar bear-like people who love the cold water.
the cranberry islands
The Cranberry Islands are located off of Mount Desert Island, home of Acadia National Park. There are five islands: Great Cranberry, Little Cranberry, Sutton, Baker, and Bear. They have a total year-round population of about 150, which grows exponentially in the summer months.
The focus of this article is Little Cranberry, also know as Islesford, but the other four islands are beautiful, as well. Baker is one of my favorites. It is owned by Acadia National Park and visitors can explore the grounds of the lighthouse, and walk by the Gilley homestead, which is still in the family, and is sometimes occupied. Bear Island also has a lighthouse, and is also owned by the Park, but it has been leased to a private individual, so is not open to the public. Big Cranberry is not as popular as Islesford, but is lovely to visit, if you have time. A water taxi or the mail boat can give you time at both. Sutton is privately owned, and not open to the public.
islesford
Islesford is a very popular destination because it has a restaurant and thriving artist community. The island is fun to explore, either on foot or by bicycle. It is very small: 1.5 miles by .75 miles and extremely walkable. There is a small village and roads to the beach. Maps are available for a small donation to the Neighborhood House.
views of the village
getting there is half the fun
If you don’t have your own boat, there are charters, coastal tours, and water taxis, or you can take the mailboat, with the option of taking a bicycle. It takes about 30 minutes to get to the town dock, and plan on staying 2-3 hours to see everything. Schedules are available from the Harbor Visitor Center and online, below are some budget numbers to give you an idea of costs.
Water Taxi – $150 round trip for about 6 passengers, times can be customized, based on availability, and you can visit both islands for a bit more. There are couple options: Cadillac Water Taxi, and Delight Water Taxi
Tour Boat – $35 per adult for a 2 hour and 45 minutes cruise out of Bar Harbor on the Sea Princess, with 45 minutes on the island.
Mail Boat – $32 per adult round trip, six boats per day at various times, with a small charge for bikes; it is possible to visit both Great Cranberry and Islesford. The Beal & Bunker Ferry is out of Northeast Harbor and the Cranberry Cove Ferry is out of Southwest Harbor and Manset.
what to see
The museum is operated by Acadia National Park from the middle of June through September, free of charge. There is a ranger on site, available to answer questions. The museum opened in 1928, and had a major renovation in 2019. Its permanent collection consists of artifacts showing the history of the islands since 1760, when the first residents arrivedx=. There are pictures of the early ferries, the Islesford Hotel, and the original families of the Cranberry Islands.
Friends of Acadia and Friends of the Islesford Historical Museum work with the park to create rotating, contemporary exhibits showing the lives of the year-round residents.
Is a non-profit organization, housed in The Blue Duck, a historic structure, built in 1852 to serve as a marine hardware store, and now owned by Acadia National Park. They provide summer classes for children and adults in traditional wooden boat building and woodworking. The doors are usually open, so you can peek inside the classroom to see the progress.
Marian Baker is an artist and summer resident. She has a little shop and studio for her work and that of a few other artists. My favorite is Chris Breedlove, who’s work reminds me of the inside of an oyster shell.
Danny and Katy Fernald manage a gallery for local artists. It is a short walk from the harbor, and there are signs leading the way.. There are lots of landscapes and local scenes, but I thought these prints by Gail Collier were really fun. Katy suggested we go to the beach and create our own lobsters, but the task seemed a bit overwhelming.
Gail Collier's prints
Further afield there is a rocky beach that leads to an old coast guard station, which is now a private home. The beach offers a beautiful view of Baker Island. It is very hard to walk on the boulders, if you are going a distance, use the road, which runs parallel, for most of the walk, then go onto the beach. I hobbled down the beach, bashed my ankle with a rock, and stepped in some kind of nasty, brown, seaweed goo. This was all in the effort to get a different angle on the station house and Baker Island. I came back on the dirt road, which was much easier, but you can’t see the beach. No one else ventured down the beach. Meanwhile, Jamie and Joe learned how to position the rocks to make a comfortable napping location. Nick perfected his rock skipping.
Most of the year-round residents are fisherman, and work out of the commercial dock adjacent to the town dock. In the afternoons you can watch the boats come in with their catch.. It’s a busy place.
our experience
I have visited Islesford dozens of times over the past 20 years that I have been coming to Maine, and have many pictures. Most in this article are from our most recent trip in July 2021.
Four of us (Jamie, Nick, Joe, and me) took the Cadillac Water Taxi from the Northeast Harbor to Little Cranberry on a beautiful, sunny, Maine day. We left at 11 am and returned at 2:30 pm, which was slightly longer than we needed, so we had extra time to watch the lobster boats bring in their catch.
There is a restaurant, Islesford Dock Restaurant, but it isn’t opened right now; they are probably still reorganizing after the pandemic. We bought lobster rolls from the food truck in the Northeast Harbor Marina: Ted’s Take Out. If you tell Shae your plan, she will pack the food appropriately for the boat: loose, in a reusable shopping bag, rather than in individual boxes, which are bulky. I stopped by and made the order at 10:15 am, before any lunch rush, and it was ready for me to pick up on my way to the taxi.
Arriving at Islesford, we noticed picnic tables overlooking the harbor and had an early lunch. We left the bag near the bike racks and took off to see the Island. When we returned, the bag was used to hold our purchases for the trip home. There is a food truck right near the town dock, so bringing lunch is not necessary, but we didn’t know this at the time, and we didn’t want to be there with no food.
It doesn’t take long to navigate the island and visit the shops. We had plenty of time to soak in the scenery and for me to take more pictures – as I tend to do… The Cranberry Islands never disappoint, it was a perfect day.
