New Brunswick travel guide: Fundy tides and the quiet province
New Brunswick for travellers: planning around the world's highest tides, the daily burn category, ferries you pay for on the way back, the 15 percent HST, and 511 NB.
New Brunswick is the drive-through province for too many Maritimes itineraries, which is exactly why it rewards stopping. It owns the best of the Bay of Fundy, warm-water beaches on the Northumberland side, and an Acadian coast that is its own destination.
- Sales tax
- 15% HST on most purchases
- Road report
- 511 New Brunswick
- Fire bans
- Daily burn category, posted each afternoon at 2pm
- Provincial camping
- Parcs NB reservations
- The tides
- Up to 16 metres, twice a day. The tide table is the itinerary
- Languages
- Canada's only officially bilingual province
Roads and driving
- 511 New Brunswick covers conditions and closures. Divided highways make this the easy-driving Maritime province.
- Moose fencing lines the major highways for a reason. Dusk and dawn vigilance applies on the secondary roads, especially in the north.
- The Fundy Trail Parkway is a destination drive: cliff-edge lookouts between St. Martins and the national park, seasonal opening.
- Ferries are scenic shortcuts: the free cable ferries on the rivers around Saint John, and the Deer Island run through the Fundy Isles.
What it costs
| Cost | Typical | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Sales tax | 15% HST | One combined rate, added at the till |
| Hotel tax on top | Up to 3.5% | Municipal accommodation levy in Saint John, Moncton and Fredericton |
| Provincial campsite | $30 to $45 a night | Parcs NB; Parlee Beach and the Fundy-side parks book first |
| National park entry | About $11 per adult, per day | Fundy and Kouchibouguac, on the Parks Canada schedule |
| Hopewell Rocks | About $16 per adult | Valid for two consecutive days, so you can catch both tides |
| River cable ferries | Free | The Grand Manan ferry charges only on the way back off the island |
Checked August 2026. Parcs NB, Parks Canada and the Hopewell Rocks site carry the current rates.
Fire bans and camping
New Brunswick posts a daily burn category by county each afternoon on its Fire Watch page: whether open fires are allowed at all that day, and from what hour. It resets at 2pm, which makes checking it a camp ritual rather than a planning step. Provincial camping books through Parcs NB; Fundy National Park and Kouchibouguac run on Parks Canada, and Fundy's ready-to-camp options suit the gear-free. Crown land camping is patchier than out west, so the parks and the private campgrounds along the Acadian coast are the dependable answer.
Rules and practicalities
| Category | In New Brunswick |
|---|---|
| Top speed limit | 110 km/h on divided highways |
| Languages | Officially bilingual, the only province that is. Service in either language is a right |
| Alcohol | 19. ANBL stores, plus agency stores in small towns |
| Cannabis | 19. Cannabis NB, the government retailer |
| Time zone | Atlantic, one hour ahead of Toronto |
| Tides | Every Fundy plan runs off the tide table. Six hours turns a beach walk into deep water |
| Moose | Fenced highways help, secondary roads do not. Avoid dusk driving in the north |
| Emergency | 911 province-wide with good coverage on the main routes |
When to go
| Season | Best for | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| May to June | The tides without crowds, cheap rooms, spring birding | Blackflies inland, some attractions not yet open |
| July to August | The warmest salt water north of Virginia, Acadian festivals, whale season | Peak prices and busy Hopewell Rocks tide windows |
| September to October | Fall colour over the Fundy Trail, quiet beaches, still-warm water | Whale tours wind down, coastal services thin out |
| November to April | Skiing at Crabbe and Sugarloaf, very low prices | Most coastal attractions closed, storm days |
The stops worth planning around
- Hopewell Rocks: walk the ocean floor among the flowerpots at low tide, kayak the same rocks at high.
- Fundy National Park: waterfalls in the forest, the Alma lobster wharf, tides measured in storeys.
- The Fundy Trail Parkway: the cliff drive, best paired with St. Martins' sea caves at low tide.
- Kouchibouguac: warm lagoons, white dunes and bike trails on the gentle coast.
- Grand Manan: the ferry-only island of lighthouses and whale watching in the mouth of the bay.
- The Acadian Peninsula: Caraquet's historic village and the tricolore flying from every second porch.
Location: Hopewell Rocks, Bay of Fundy
Location: Fundy National Park at Alma
The official pages
- 511 New Brunswick Road conditions and closures. https://www.511.gnb.ca
- NB Fire Watch The daily burn category, updated each afternoon. https://www.gnb.ca/en/emergency/fire-watch.html
- Parcs NB Provincial park camping and day passes. https://parcsnbparks.ca
- Hopewell Rocks tide times The daily schedule your Fundy day is built around. https://www.thehopewellrocks.ca
- Tourism New Brunswick The provincial tourism site. https://www.tourismnewbrunswick.ca
Common questions
- When should you visit Hopewell Rocks, high or low tide?
- Both, ideally, since the site is a different place at each. Arrive around low tide to walk the ocean floor beneath the flowerpot rocks, then return near high tide to see the same formations as islands or paddle among them. Tickets are valid two consecutive days, which makes that easy.
- How high are the Bay of Fundy tides?
- The highest on Earth: up to about 16 metres of vertical range at the head of the bay, the height of a four or five storey building, cycling twice a day. The dramatic effects cluster around Hopewell Rocks, the Fundy Trail and Burntcoat Head on the Nova Scotia side.
- Is New Brunswick worth more than a drive-through?
- Emphatically. Fundy's tides, the Fundy Trail Parkway, Grand Manan and the Acadian coast fill four or five days on their own, hotel prices undercut the neighbouring provinces in peak season, and crowds never reach Cabot Trail or PEI levels.
Tip
Doing the full loop? The Maritimes road trip guide strings Fundy, PEI and Cape Breton into ten days that work.