By Porter Lang
Plan the day around the water, not the other way round. At the head of the Bay of Fundy the sea leaves twice a day and comes back twice a day, and the gap between high and low is the whole point of going.
How big is the tide?
Parks Canada says the difference between high and low tide at Fundy National Park can be as much as 12 metres, and that at the head of the bay the tide can rise 16 metres, “the height of a four-story building”.
Why here?
Parks Canada gives the clearest account. Water in a basin has a natural rocking motion, a seiche. In the Bay of Fundy, it says, one rock from mouth to head and back takes about 13 hours. The Atlantic tide floods in every 12 hours and 25 minutes and keeps pushing at the right moment, like an adult pushing a child on a swing. The bay’s length, it says, is what makes the two rhythms match, and its narrowing, shallowing shape forces the water higher. NOAA, the United States science agency, puts the bay’s natural period at approximately 12 hours.
Reading a tide table
Parks Canada says there are two highs and two lows a day, about six hours and 13 minutes apart on average, and that the tide arrives roughly an hour later each day because a lunar day is 24 hours and 52 minutes.
Hopewell Rocks
The rocks sit on the upper bay at Hopewell Cape, New Brunswick. The Canadian Encyclopedia calls the park The Rocks Provincial Park, says it was established in 1958 over 120 hectares, and places it on Shepody Bay at the mouth of the Petitcodiac River, halfway between Moncton and Fundy National Park. It says they are described as “giant flower pots” because of the trees on top, spruce, hemlock, white birch and fir.
Visiting follows from that. Tourism New Brunswick says that at low tide you can walk about 2 kilometres of ocean floor and explore several coves.
What kind of sources these are
Parks Canada and NOAA, government agencies describing their own science and sites. The Canadian Encyclopedia, a reference work. Tourism New Brunswick, which promotes the place.
What we left out
Opening hours, entry details, parking and transport. Anything about guided tours or operators. Wildlife, tidal-bore records and a claim about tidal energy force.
Quick answers
How high are the tides in the Bay of Fundy? According to Parks Canada, the tide can rise 16 metres at the head of the bay, and the high-to-low difference at Fundy National Park can be as much as 12 metres.
Why are the Fundy tides so large? Parks Canada says resonance: the bay’s natural rocking time of about 13 hours matches the Atlantic tide’s rhythm of 12 hours 25 minutes, and its shape pushes the water higher.
Can you walk on the ocean floor at Hopewell Rocks? Tourism New Brunswick says that at low tide you can walk about 2 kilometres of ocean floor and explore several coves.
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Roam first. Shop later.