Digby, Nova Scotia, Canada

Aug 13, 2023

We’ve always wanted to visit Novia Scotia. While we had envisioned a week in a waterfront hotel, the rates in NS are insane. So, while staying in Saint John, just across the Bay of Fundy from Novia Scotia, we took one day to visit Digby, Nova Scotia.

To drive to Nova Scotia would take 6 or more hours, but there is a ferry that goes from Saint John to Digby. It takes two and a quarter hours and is an experience by itself.

Digby Ferry Map

For our trip, we chose a “Day Cruise” with the Saint John – DIgby Ferry. You can get information about the ferry by clicking here. A Day Cruise means you get on the ferry in the morning on foot (no vehicle), go to Digby, spend the day, then return that afternoon. It’s the least expensive option, especially since we got the senior rate. For $48 round trip each, we got 5 hours of ferry ride and about about 5 hours in Digby.

The ferry is huge, with multiple areas for sitting, eating, and drinking. It’s between a tiny cruise ship and a large riverboat. The trip to Digby was amazingly calm, but the trip back to Saint John did rock a bit from side to side. Here are some photos of the ship. I couldn’t get any good shots of the ship itself, though.

Once we landed in Nova Scotia, we had to take a taxi to the town of Digby, which is a few miles from the ferry terminal. The taxi driver/owner, Jerry from Digby Cab, was a delight. He gave us suggestions and was very welcoming. He grew up in Digby and still appreciates living in such an amazing place (Sharon asked). He gave us his card to call him when we were ready to get a ride back to the ferry. In the 15 minutes together we felt like we had a friend in Digby.

Digby has been known for scallops (pronounced here as scah-leps) for over a century. Instead of explaining, click here for a short video about their scallop industry.

Digby, like Saint John, is located on the Bay of Fundy, known for the highest tides in the world. What this means is from low tide to high tide levels can vary 11 feet to 53 feet as you go northeast along the bay. For Digby, they average around 23 feet. Apparently that helps with scallop farming, but I don’t know why. 

While a charming town of old, old buildings, it’s clear Digby is in a growth stage. Due to increased scallop farming, the town is bringing in money, which helps it build into a tourist destination, creating a funding cycle.

As we drove into town, I saw a building with a sign, “furnished apartments.” That got me thinking about how wonderful it would be to simply rent a place there for a few months or even through the winter. That happens to me – I visit a place that I immediately love and I want to live there. That’s how we ended up living on Kauai for 9 years.

We didn’t move there, but we did have an amazing day. Walking through this charming little town, we started with a meal at The Crow’s Nest restaurant. Recommended all over the Internet, and by Jerry (our new Digby friend and taxi driver), it is known for, you guessed it, scallops. We were the first guests of the day at 11am and got the best deck table for two with a water view.

Panoramic view from The Crow's Nest Restaurant

We got pan-fried scallops and deep-fried scallops. Both were the most amazing scallops we’ve ever had. Fresh and never frozen, cooked medium rare, they fell apart with a fork and melted in our mouths. We’ll remember this meal for a long time.

After paying the check, while chatting with some Canadian tourists from Quebec, they mentioned The Crow’s Nest is also known for their coconut cream pie. What? Of course we had to share a slice, keeping the poor folks waiting for tables waiting just a bit more.

The photo gallery gives you some idea of the charm and beauty of Digby. It can’t show how amazingly friendly every single person was. Sharon needed a restroom right as we were at the farthest end of town, on our way to a small art shop. We asked the women who owned the shop (located in a house) where public restrooms might be and she graciously offered her bathroom. We broke our “the only souvenirs we will get are stickers for our car” rule and walked away with a nice sea glass art piece.

People in the other shops were just as friendly. If we weren’t traveling, we could have spent hundreds of dollars that afternoon.

We spent some of our time just relaxing in Adirondack chairs on a public deck just looking out over the bay. We bought some ice cream, walked across the entire town, and dreamed about living in such a place. I mean, they probably need a web designer or tech guy, right?

Thanks again for following our adventures!