Five Islands – The Ocean Floor And So Much More

~ Bitchy After 60

I have written before about Nova Scotia being the home of the highest tides in the world. In particular it is the Minas Basin, part of the Bay of Fundy, where the highest measurements were recorded. There are several places where you can experience a low tide by actually walking on the ocean floor. On this day, we decided to experience it at Five Islands Provincial Park. Five Islands is located on the opposite shore of the Minas Basin from Burntcoat Head. My post about Burntcoat Head is here.)

We had visited Five Islands when Jordan was younger and we all loved it. The Doc and I decided was time to go back. Making sure to check the schedule of the tides, which changes daily, we left home in time to arrive at the lowest point.

The first thing you see when you arrive at Five Islands at low tide is that the inlet is totally empty of water. People are walking and exploring the ocean floor. Some have metal detectors, others buckets and shovels. Most are wandering around letting their bare feet sink into the saturated red sand.

The Doc and I wore our water shoes. The same ones we wear kayaking. We walked down the slope to the floor while taking in our surroundings. The scenery was stunning.

Just being on the ocean floor is in itself an amazing experience, but Five Islands is also a paradise for the geologically inclined. If you are passionate about the earth’s history, its structure and the formation of rocks and land masses, Five Islands will keep you interested for a very long time.

There are so many physically different land formations, some literally right next to each other.

You can see how some were formed by the movement of the earth’s crust while others were formed by centuries of layered sediment. Again, these differences are so close together that you wish you could go back in time to see how it all happened. It leaves you speechless.

There are so many different types of rocks that catch your eye and again you wonder how they all formed in the same place.

The Doc perched on a stone seat while I wandered further along the rocky part of the shore to the cliffs in order to see the different formations. These are what I remember most about our last visit here, and I wanted to experience them again up close.

It is a hard place to leave but leave one must or one could get stranded by the tide. When I finished exploring and taking photos, we made our way back to the park area and had a snack overlooking the inlet.

Afterwards we drove around the inlet and stopped at Five Islands Lighthouse Park. From there we could view all five islands. There was also a homemade sign on display that named and described some details of each island. It was perfect.

All and all it was a fabulous day. If you ever get to Nova Scotia, I highly recommend that you visit a place where you can explore the ocean floor.

Thank you for reading.

After washing The Doc’s shoes when they got stuck.

Photos:  Jenn Stone

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32 thoughts on “Five Islands – The Ocean Floor And So Much More”

    1. You should put Nova Scotia on your list. The extreme tides are well worth seeing. I was in California several years ago. San Francisco and Monterey I would love to go back. Also loved the food and wine.

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  10. What a fascinating place – they should send all the schools there to learn about geology etc – mind you, that would spoilt the peace! And such a quaint lighthouse 🙂

    I’ve got some of those water shoes for when I take my inflatable rowing boat out. I was a little disappointed though that the soles can’t cope with any kind of rocky walking for things like gorge exploration – the first pair the soles fell apart in one day when exposed to such things!

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      1. My water shoes are cheapo ones so I guess it serves me right! If I shell out more I might get a pair which will do gills as well. I might look into that next spring when I start gills again – they’ll be too wet and wild soon!

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