Acadian Boat Tours — Attraction in Bar Harbor

Our family went on the Puffin & Lighthouse Tour end of July. The scenery was breathtaking and the crew took excellent care of everyone. My favorite part of the tour was all the interesting stories, tidbits of info, and fascinating facts shared by our guide Carl on the top deck. If you want to hear him clearly, grab a spot on the upper deck near the ladder. At the end of our tour, he kindly shared with us the best places to take our kids to explore tidal pools, hike off the beaten path, and try lobster rolls where the locals go. We followed all of his advice and had a fabulous time on Mount Desert Island. We hiked the trails he told us about and we had the trails pretty much to ourselves, had no problem parking, and enjoyed breathtaking vistas and challenging rock scrambling. The puffins on this tour were really difficult to see, even with binoculars. They are so far away (as required by law) and small (size of a crow) that it is challenging to distinguish which birds are puffins and which are ducks because you can only see the birds tiny outlines. I could tell the difference but our younger kids could not. That being said, we loved the lighthouses, landscapes, and we saw lots of other animals including seals, sea birds, and even a mola mola fish up close. At the very end of the tour I even saw a dolphin jump out of the water. This particular boat tour goes out farther than most other boat tours and we loved really getting to explore out on the open ocean outside of Somes Sound. We thought it was so cool how the temperature instantly drops about 10 degrees the second you leave Somes Sound and hit open ocean. Definitely, bring a lightweight jacket and/or warm hoodie even if it’s a hot day in July. It’s chilly out on the open ocean. (If you stay in Somes Sound you maybe don’t need the extra layers) Wear sturdy closed-toed shoes with a good grip on the sole and bring sunscreen. I wish I had brought my DSLR and my good telephoto lens. Although I hadn’t planned to take wildlife photos (too busy checking up on our 4 kids) we could have seen the wild life better through that lens using it like binoculars. We did rent 5 or 6 pairs of binoculars for $5 each and we appreciated being able to do that. But, if you have a great pair of binoculars or, better yet, a telephoto lens, definitely bring it. And, if you’re lucky enough to get Carl as your guide, book your boat tour on your first day on Mount Desert Island and then follow his advice on where to go to explore...

We booked Acadian Boat Tours for a wedding "cocktail hour" and it was one of the best decisions possible. We had a wedding in the national park and then after family photos, our 25 or so guests (ages 6 mos - 90 yo) caravanned to the boat tour. We were 15 minutes late and the captain couldn't have been more gracious. We booked the boat for 2 hours - we had a catering company (provided via contacts with the boat tour group) provide a bunch of handheld snacks and desserts, with an open bar (beer/wine). The food was perfect for the occasion. We had a naturalist who was an absolute superstar. He was super relaxed and in his element the whole time - totally aware that the "vibe" was a friends+family small-wedding cocktail hour on a boat (and so was cracking jokes, really playing along with the occasion), but still super educational and informative. This was way better for our families/our group in particular than having generic background music. Tons of fun. Saw lots of wildlife from bald eagles to seals to porpoises. Despite being 15 minutes late, the captain had us right back at the dock exactly on time, which allowed us to get on with the rest of our wedding day.

The photographs on the boat were spectacular and our guests were blown away with the occasion. My wife and I had the best wedding we could imagine, and the group on this boat from hosts to captain to naturalist helped make that the case.

Was warm on the inside of the boat, but everyone appreciated being told to bring coats. We brought blankets for everyone as well that were heavily utilized. Bathrooms on the boat as well. Couldn't have improved...

This is an excellent tour made exceptional with our fully bearded guide originally from Connecticut. I am not sure of his name we went out on the Eden Star for nature and light house tours for about 3 1/2 hour cruise on 8/27/2022 1:15 tour. If you want to see the local lighthouses and expensive seaside mansions and wildlife, this is the tour. Our guide was extremely knowledgeable of local wildlife and coastal sights and lighthouses. I think he made the tour excellent and the ship was excellent and in very good shape. Our captain was excellent and she ran into dense fog so visibility was reduced to less than 1/8 mile but we kept right on course to Egg Rock lighthouse as scheduled with no problem what so ever. We emerged from the fog near the lighthouse. This cruise is really the only way to observe all the nice mansions on the coast and parts of Acadia National park. I highly recommend this tour and I am a local native of Maine and I really learned some things about the area and lobster interesting facts and history.

I have submitted an edit to the tour office and parking lot location for all the boat tours shown by new pin location and Acadian Boat Tours label. The street address is the same as the hotel and event center but the little office building and parking lot are actually located at the new pin location I submitted with an entrance farther down Eden Street toward downtown Bar Harbor just before you would get to 111A Eden Street. The new pin location is at this other entrance to 119 Eden...