Along with diving during my stay with Julie and Michel of Anticosti Ecotours, we also spent two days exploring the island itself! The first day was a more private tour with the three of us as well as Nick. We started the day by driving to the northern shore of the island. Anticosti has unique geological formations, including large sedimentary cliffs on the coast which host a plethora of fossils from the Ordovician period. Upon arriving, the massive height of the cliffs is astounding, and finding a couple million year old fossil is as easy as picking up any rock on the beach!
The next stop on our tour would be the Vauréal Waterfall. We walked to a nice viewing platform, where we could see tourists hiking in the canyon, and a gorgeous view of the falls. Apparently the flow was usually much stronger, however a period of weird weather had lessened the strength of the falls. While we had a snack and enjoyed the view, Julie explained that Vauréal was even taller than Niagara Falls! We enjoyed the view a while longer, took some photos and then moved to our next location.
One of the most unique things about Anticosti’s geology is the depth of the coastline. About .25-.5 mile offshore of the island, the water is relatively shallow, dropping down to only a foot or two in some areas a low tide. Because of this, coupled with the dangerous weather, the island has been the location of an estimated 400 shipwrecks over the years. While some are dive-able, a number of them have washed up on shore! We ended up visiting the wreck of the Wilcox, a minesweeper from the 1940’s which was wrecked due to a storm. The Wreck looked eerily pretty beached on shore, and it was interesting to explore and see parts of an old ship that aren’t covered in algae or zebra mussels!
The last site we visited on our private tour would be an old plane wreck. The plane apparently crashed in 1967 after running out of fuel over the island. While it tried to land on the main road on the island, it had to veer off course to avoid a logging truck. Luckily no-one had died in the incident, and the wreck now acts as an interesting point and place for tourists to leave their names.
Our next land excursion took place after we dove as a large group. Unfortunately dense fog and large waves prevented us from diving, but we made up for it by hiking to a cave! We all loaded up in two trucks, and made our way to the trail. The walk to the cave would be around 2 miles long, and we saw a ton of unique things on the way. Including a plant know as a ghost pipe, which is a pale white flower that lacks any chlorophyll, and instead derives its energy from a symbiotic relationship with a fungi! We also came along a baby bird who had been pushed out of their nest and was walking on the ground. We eventually made it to the cave, which had a fresh water stream flowing out of it, making the rocky walk slightly hazardous but still worth the incredible view and experience. `We had a nice sandwich lunch in an overhang formed from the cave’s ceiling, and then walked back to the trucks!
For our last stop of the day, we went to a lighthouse on the northern shore of the island. While the lighthouse itself was very pretty, the highlight for myself was the pair of foxes which lived on the property and would come over to investigate. The two were curious if we had any food for them, and even came right up to the camera! They made a great pair of models to practice with the camera, and were super cute on top of it!
From the land to the sea, Anticosti was an extraordinary place and I feel so lucky to have been able to experience all it had to offer! With less than 100 divers experiencing their water’s yearly, I feel incredibly privileged to have been apart of that number. Diving with Julie and Michel at Anticosti Ecotours is safe, exciting, and a once in a lifetime experience! I learned so much in my time there, especially how to manage diver safety when you are so far away from immediate medical care!