For decades we have passed by Bar Harbor, choosing to access the Hannaford grocery store and pharmacy by using the Acadia National Park/L. L. Bean bus from Northeast Harbor. With Covid, two things changed: the bus stopped servicing Northeast Harbor and the cruise ships stopped visiting Bar Harbor. We have found that Bar Harbor offers a host of services, including a well-staffed hospital emergency room, a well-organized harbor with municipal moorings and a friendly harbormaster, and even some wifi wafting out from the resorts complementing strong cellular service. When the cruise ships return in 2022 (ship numbers will be fewer than BC – Before Covid), the ambiance in the harbor and town may change a bit, but if you want a gazillion shops, restaurants, great provisioning, and the iconic Acadia National Park, give Bar Harbor a try.
Bar Harbor
Last edited by:
- Tom Babbitt
- February 17, 2022
- 5:04 pm
- 0 comments
Region:
Photo: Christian Collins
Approach & Cautions
Photo: Google Earth
The most straightforward approach is to round Bald Porcupine Island and enter the harbor. The anchorage and town moorings are south of the fairway to the town landing and marina. One can also enter to the west of the breakwater (awash at high tide).
Docking, Anchorages, or Moorings
As mentioned above, there are municipal moorings in the main harbor as well as room to anchor, and a large dinghy dock and trash dumpster at the town landing. Be advised that while there is a no wake zone, there is the occasional tour boat, yacht tender or lobster boat that might be a bit discourteous. For a quieter experience, you will find many visiting yachts anchored off College of the Atlantic west of Bar Island. The College has a dinghy dock.
VHF
Harbormaster – Channel 9 and 16
FUEL
NA
WATER
Contact Harbormaster.
ELECTRICITY
At town slips
SHOWERS
At Harbormaster building.
LAUNDRY
Bar Harbor Laundromat, open 24 hours 6 Pleasant St (207) 288-2824
WIFI
From hotels ashore, good with booster antenna, also 4 bars of Verizon LTE. Jesup Memorial Library, 34 Mt Desert St, (207) 288-4245
PUMP OUT
NA
SERVICES
NA
TRASH
Dumpster on town pier.
MEDICAL
MDI Hospital 10 Wayman Ln, (207) 288-5081
MORE BOAT AMENITIES
Getting Ashore
Photo: David Wilson
Harbormaster monitors Channel 9 and 16, 207-288-5571, Email: cwharff@barharbor.gov. Soon to be on Dockwa. The town’s dinghy dock is on the west side of the town pier, behind the dock where commercial fishing boats unload.
Photo: Peekytoe Provisions, TripAdvisor
Provisioning
Hannaford Supermarket, 86 Cottage St., (207) 288-3621, has a pharmacy.
Peekytoe Provisions, 244 Main St., is a small market/restaurant with local offerings.
Walgreens, 34 Cottage St., (207) 288-2222, is a good-sized drugstore/pharmacy.
Photo: MDI Ice Cream
Dine Out
Bar Harbor has enough restaurants to meet just about any craving–wander up and down Main Street and the side streets. TripAdvisor can help you choose. After you’ve chosen where to dine, be sure to go to Mt. Desert Ice Cream, 7 Firefly Lane, across from the village green, for dessert, or mid-morning snack, or mid-afternoon snack…you get the idea.
Photo: Paul VanDerWerf
Hikes
Acadia National Park has magnificent hiking trails. Catch a bus at the village green.
Photo: Abbe Museum
Other Things To Do
Of course one of the main attractions of Bar Harbor is its proximity to Acadia National Park. The buses that line up at the village green also go to other locations on the island, so it’s a great way to explore.
In Bar Harbor, don’t miss the Abbe Museum, a contemporary museum that is the first and only Smithsonian Affiliate in the state of Maine, with a special emphasis on the history and culture of the Wabanaki people, on whose land Maine has been built.
OUR REVIEWS
What CCA Members are saying:
A visit to Bar Harbor has always been part of our trips to MDI, but pre-Covid we would take a mooring in NE Harbor and take the Island Explorer bus over for our regular stops at Mt Desert Ice Cream and Hannafords Supermarket. With the buses not running, however, we decided to try sailing to Bar Harbor, and will now make it a regular stop! It’s a great town with lots of fun shops and great provisioning.
Jane Babbitt
