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Bar Harbor, Maine

(In region Mount Desert)

See more: Family Places to Go | Harbors |

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Phone: (207) 288-5571 (Harbor Master) www.barharborinfo.com	Lat/Long: N 44.392129 \| W 68.20971 (appx) near or in: Bar Harbor, Maine, 04609

Boater's Comments/Ratings: (Write comment/rate resource)

Currently: 1 comments with an average "Boat rating" of 40%

S/V Moondog, posted 11/2/2006
The town of Bar Harbor is a great place to visit, but the anchorage leaves a lot to be desired. The main shortcoming is a complete lack of services for the visiting yachtsman: no showers, the nearest ice is a good 10 minutes lug back to the landing, and fuel 1) cannot be purchased while a cruise ship is in harbor (as was the case when I visited last and when the aerial photo on the site was taken) and 2) requires significant intervention from MarSec personnel to acquire. The anchorage's secondary drawback is that it affords only limited wind protection and the heavy traffic makes for frequent rolling.

Better by far is to moor at Northeast Harbor where the chamber of commerce and harbormaster cooperate to provide moorings, dockage, showers, and information. A mooring agent will assign and guide you to a mooring as you arrive and collect the fee alongside or direct you to the harbormaster's office to pay. Fuel and ice are availble dockside near the mouth of the harbor, the grocer in town happily delivers to the town marina, and the hardware store (managed by an Olympic sailor) has a great variety of parts, charts, &c. As an anchorage it is far better protected than Bar Harbor and closer to everywhere except ports in Frenchman Bay.

Here, one still has easy access to Bar Harbor and Acadia by way of the free shuttle buses which run around the island with two routes stopping at the Northeast Harbor marina.

Hold your breath because it may be taken away as you sail near Mt Desert Island. The up sweeping mountains and shear cliffs over the water’s edge offer a look not found in southern part of Maine. Perhaps this is why so many people from all over the world are drawn to this part of Maine. And one of the most popular places to visit on the eastern shore of Mt Desert Island is Bar Harbor.

For the Visiting Boater

The harbor of Bar Harbor is co-equally shared by tour boats, Maine working boats, occasional cruise ships and visiting pleasure boaters. Keeping these four disparate groups in harmony is the Bar Harbor Harbor Master. Extremely professional and responsive, the Harbor Master is helpful with everything from which launch ramps are available in the region to the best place to watch Puffin. Call the harbor Master on channel 9 then switch to 68 or telephone (207) 288-5571.

The town maintains three moorings which are rented at $30/night. There is no shuttle service, so you'll need a dingy to go ashore. There is also a small landing you can use to offload passengers. Click here to see its location.

If arriving from the south, watch for the Bar Harbor breakwater which is covered at high.

You can anchor in the harbor however check in with the harbor master so you do not do as one boat did - anchor in the middle of the harbor channel! The harbor master wasted no time in getting the boat to move.

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Bar Harbor Gets BoatMaine.us Coveted "Wicked Cool" Award

The town of Bar Harbor provides free Internet for the park area (adjacent to the wharf) , which means that you can usually check your email while on a mooring (seems to depend on weather). If you are close to the dock you'll get a strong signal.

We think providing wireless internet is a great public service. We would like to see more towns/marinas in Maine take that bold step.

How About Shopping?

If the question is "What is Maine’s answer to Key West?", then the answer is Bar Harbor. For if you have ever visited the southern most point and walked its speciality shop filled streets, then you have in a sense of what shopping in Bar Harbor is like.

Along the several block wide area directly adjacent to the wharf you can find innumerable tee-shirt shops, ice cream parlors, souvenirs and speciality stores of every type. It’s a wild spectrum of offerings that seem to bring out a party atmosphere among its many visitors. Some of the speciality shops are expensive while others are affordable enough to buy each kid a nice momento of Bar Harbor.

It really is a shoppers dream, and a heck of a good time. Just like a visit to Key West.

Tip about food: Prices vary quite a bit in Bar Harbor. It pays to look around. On our first night we wanted ice cream BADLY so we purchased a large ice cream cone for $5.95 in one tourist-packed shop a short walk from the wharf. The next night we ate a wonderful buffet-style meal and with excellent service at "China Joy" for $7.95 each. (And was it good! Look up that place if you like Chinese.) Affordable pricing for food is possible but you must look around and generally move from the immediate wharf area.

Other Contacts of Interest:

(207)288-5103 local Chamber of Commerce

Other Websites of Interest:

www.exploreacadia.com... all about nearby Acadia National Park

Bar Harbor Town Map: http://maineguide.com/maps/barharbor_citymap.shtml

- Rick Dieffenbach

Lady-in-Red, rick@boatmaine.us

Other Marine Resources Within 3 Miles of Bar Harbor, Maine

(You can zoom in and out of the map below with your mouse wheel and drag the map with your mouse left button.)


#	Statute Miles	Item	Contact Info:
X	0	Bar Harbor, Maine	phone: (207) 288-5571 (Harbor Master) www.barharborinfo.com
2	0.1	Harborside Hotel & Marina	phone: (877) 237-3610 info@barharborresorts.com www.theharborsidehotel.com
3	0.3	Bar Harbor (serving Frenchman Bay)
4	0.5	Web Cam at Bar Harbor
5	0.6	Bar Island

6	1	Sheep Porcupine Island
7	1.1	Bar Harbor Regency, Bar Harbor, Maine	phone: 800-234-6835 info@barharborresorts.com www.barharborregency.com
8	1.2	Porcupine Dry Ledge
9	1.2	Porcupine Dry Ledge
10	1.4	The Porcupines

11	1.5	Bald Porcupine Island (aka Round Island)
12	1.8	Burnt Porcupine Island
13	2	Rum Key
14	2	Bald Rock (aka The Nub)
15	2.5	The Thrumcap (aka The Thrumbcap, Thrumcap Island, Thumbcap)

16	2.6	Long Porcupine Island (aka Great Porcupine Island)

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