The Petitcodiac River has one of the most accessible tidal bores in the world — a wave generated when the incoming tide of the Bay of Fundy meets the river's outflow, rolling upstream against the current. Bore Park, at the foot of Main Street in downtown Moncton, has a viewing area with posted times for the daily bores. On the biggest tides the wave is a metre high and breaks visibly across the river; on smaller days it is a steady ripple.
Two bores arrive each day, about twelve hours apart. They draw a small crowd of locals and tourists with cameras, and on occasion a few surfers in wetsuits who paddle out into the chocolate-brown water to ride the wave inland. The river bed is mostly mud, which is part of the show: at low tide there is barely a stream, and the incoming tide can raise the river several metres in an hour.