Sea Kayaking Newfoundland's South Shore

Departure point :

Wild Cove beach

Route and camp:

In theory, it's a straight line from Wild Cove, across Aviron Bay to Aviron Point. In fact, there are rocks and sinkers acros the mouth of the bay and shoals around Aviron Point. As the point is directly exposed to the Southwest swell, waves build up quickly and create very choppy conditions.

We circled wide to avoid the worst conditions. Several small points folllow until you find a huge cave entrance just before Bagg Head.

The blocked entrance to Bagg Pond (a narrow canyon blocked by a rocky berm) offers a landing spot and allows a view of a beautiful alpine landscape at sea level.

After a short hour of paddling, you reach the light marking the mouth of François Bay. The village is at the back of the bay, 2km farther.

The Federal Wharf is on your left, just before the first houses of the village. A concrete boat slipway is located at the opposite end of the village and provides a very easy landing site.

There is a "camping" site that we found rather wet and uninviting, just beyond the church. Several other more inviting spots are located just above the village. There are also 4 homes offering B & B accomodations (see the François web site for more information).

The coastal ferry to Burgeo leaves at 7:30 in the morning after spending the night at the wharf. We were advised to load our kayaks on the ferry in the evening before to avoid the early morning rush. The crew gave us a very appreciated hand pulling the loaded kayaks out of the water and onto the boat.

Count on approximately 2 hours of paddling from from Wild Cove to François, plus stops.