Channel-Port aux Basques
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Channel-Port aux Basques

Channel-Port aux Basques

Southwestern Newfoundland ferry town with Basque whaling roots and a harbour exposed to the Atlantic.

Channel-Port aux Basques is the gateway to Newfoundland — the ferry from North Sydney, Nova Scotia arrives here, and most visitors to the island pass through on their way in or out. The town sits at the southwestern tip of Newfoundland, exposed to the full force of the Atlantic.

The name goes back to 17th-century Basque whalers who used the harbour as a sheltering and watering stop on their way to Labrador. The harbour was charted by Captain James Cook in 1766, and the communities of Channel and Port aux Basques amalgamated in 1945. During the Second World War, the SS Caribou was torpedoed by a German U-boat on the crossing to Nova Scotia, killing 137 people — one of the worst maritime disasters in Newfoundland's history.

Most visitors do not linger, but Port aux Basques has a few worthwhile stops: the Gulf Museum (with a 17th-century Basque astrolabe), the Railway Heritage Centre, and the rugged coastal scenery at Cape Ray Beach, where piping plovers nest. JT Cheeseman Provincial Park and the Codroy Valley wetlands are both within easy reach.

Guide

Things to Do

Most visitors to Channel-Port aux Basques are in transit — catching the Marine Atlantic ferry to or from North Sydney, Nova Scotia. But the town rewards a few hours' exploration. The Gulf Museum has a 17th-century Basque astrolabe and the story of the Basque whalers who named this harbour. The Railway Heritage Centre covers the Newfoundland narrow-gauge railway that was axed in 1988. At the SS Caribou Memorial, the town remembers the wartime tragedy that killed 137 people on the overnight crossing. Cape Ray Beach has piping plovers, coastal scenery, and the ruins of a Marconi wireless station.