Red Bay National Historic Site — Park in Red Bay

Reviews of Red Bay National Historic Site

• Robert

  Added 2016.09.23

  interesting and informative, good interpretive center, helpful staff. Take the short boat ride to the Island for a lovely walk through the archeological sites. Not easy to envision it from the remains but worth the look.
• Emily

  Added 2016.09.20

  Very interesting place. Definitely worth the visit. The staff were very friendly and very helpful.
• Bryan

  Added 2015.12.11

  Things to consider though is: bug spray because there are blackflies everywhere. As well, dress warmly because the island can be a little chilly during the tour. One of the best sites we visited.
• Eric

  Added 2015.10.11

  The tour itself was a good hike across the little island with one of the Parks Canada employees who worked on the site and grew up in the area. I think this lends a certain customized feel to the tour. Our tour guide was fantastic providing us a perspective from a local who lived there without any idea until it was found to be of archeological importance. The historical importance of the station centres around the Basque people and their rich seafaring history of whaling… all before the actual Americas was “discovered”.
• Emily

  Added 2015.07.30

  Red Bay is where Basque whalers came to hunt whales. They set up their camps and workshops on saddle island which you can visit. Make sure to wear a coat, it can be VERY cold. While visiting the island the bay had a visitor from Spain! Everybody was very friendly. Just watch out for the giant birds.
• Hunter

  Added 2014.01.07

  The primary reason to visit Labrador on this trip was to see the UNESCO Red Bay Whaling station. This was such an amazing site with a great interpretation centre, thorough guided tour and location. You might want to double check the timing for the guided tour because it’s done on Saddle Island, the location of primary excavations. The interpretation centre is a good source to get prepared for the actual guided tour by gaining a perspective about the history of whaling and how this site is important for the world. It’s well-done and worth loitering about while waiting for the tour.
• Isabella

  Added 2013.12.30

  Wonderful museum with lots of local artifacts from shipwreck. Good history of Basque whaling. Definitely worth 45 minutes.