Cultural Tour

Experience a full day visiting one of Newfoundland’s largest resettled Villages. The Village of Exploits was once one of the largest fishing centers on the North East coast of Newfoundland. Nestled between two islands that were once connected by a bridge, Exploits was a thriving fishing village with sawmills, shipyards, churches and schools. Census reports show 600 residents in 1874 but less than 300 by 1966. Today, Exploits Island is a seasonal destination for recreational boaters, people who have family ties to the island and others who just fell in love with the place and have built cottages there.

Your tour will include a boat ride to the outer reaches of the Bay of Exploits and into the sheltered narrows of the Harbor of Exploits. We can’t talk about Newfoundland culture without beginning with the cod fishery, so after a brief stop we will take a short jaunt to a fishing ground to see if we can catch some cod. Continuing with our cultural theme we will return to our Exploits Harbor dock, clean your fish and give you a demonstration of how cod was cured back in the day. Enjoy a traditional dockside lunch.

After your lunch settles a bit its off to explore the island by walking the old village foot paths. We’ll talk about its natural history, the indigenous but now extinct Beothuk and their clashes with early Europeans, the 1960s resettlement program and visit old cemeteries. With a bit of luck, we’ll run across some locals and have a chat about what it was like to grow up in a remote Newfoundland community. Unfortunately, we’ll soon be out of time and its back to where it all began with a day full of memories. Memories you won’t soon forget.

Note: All tours will start at a  predetermined pickup location which depends on the direction you’ll be travelling from.