Reviews of Donelda's Puffin Boat Tours (Travel Agency)

Shelley Henschel

Did see puffins and eagles. Knowledgeable and friendly staff.

Sheila Pigeon

Amazing tour if you love birds and grey seals! We saw dozens of bald eagles and even saw them grabbing fish close to the boat. Beautiful puffins swimming, flying and at the mouth of their nests on the rocks. Worth it.

Derek Stevenson

Great trip, saw lots and very educational.

Ange Layton

The whole experience was wonderful! Donelda is a warm, friendly person with a wealth of information. And the puffin are more amazing than expected. I would do this tour again!

Ron Robichaud

Thanks Donelda... Great times.

Shahbaz Qamar

Amazing experience

Jackie F

Very much enjoyed the tour. Very informative and we saw a lot of birds and seals. Excellent tour guides who knew their stuff. Made sure to swing the boat around many times, so both sides got a great view. Would highly recommend this tour.

Sheila Chambers

Highly recommend this boat tour! Donelda is an excellent, charming tour guide and her husband is the captain of the boat! As Cape Breton lobster fishers and owners of a birding tour - it was lovely to witness they both love what they do! During the journey she shares her expertise of the area that includes Bird Island and the species seen there as well as Cape Breton history and their experience of lobster fishing, We thoroughly enjoyed the journey. Thank you!

EastCoastATV

Donelda's Puffin Boat Tour is well worth the money. I enjoyed it more than some whale watching tours I've been on. We saw thousands of birds including puffins, bald eagles and many others as well as many large seals.

Charles Dowdy

Had such an awesome cruise! Donelda was an excellent guide and very hospitable!

Phillip Craggs

The operators are amazing and very nice people. Bring a good camera. I had a 400mm and a 200mm. Anything smaller and your not going to see much.

gordon heitshu

What an amazing day. A must stop over if you like this sort of thing.

Ron C.

Great experience.

Rob Lloyd

Great puffin tour. We watched many seals, eagles, gulls and of course puffins. Highly recommended!

Walter Shroyer

We did this and they get a 110 rating out of 100.

Audrey Maitland

Highly recommended. Very informative. The Captain and Donelda were awesome guides, whose pride and love for their island and its people, history and creatures was so genuine and evident. It was a highlight of our stay. Bring a good warm jacket through it can be very cold and damp.

Dimitar Tchilinguirov

Great tour! Very well organized and informative! Plenty of photographic opportunities by getting very close to a wild seabird colony!

Kim Collingwood-Joncas

Amazing tour (even on a rainy day)! I really enjoyed learning about the history of the area. All kinds of sea birds to see, including bald eagles. We even saw some seals pop their heads above the surf. Very knowledgeable guide. A little off the main roads but well worth the trek! We did the 1pm tour.

kevin butler

This was great fun, great value for money, very informative and we would suggest you try these people for your trip.

FAM Solorzano

This is a great tour. Very friendly guide and you will see lots of wild life. Definitely recommended.

James Hawley

This is a great tour. We were on Cape Breton Island for 8 days and without doubt this was a highlight. Donelda is a great guide with eagle eye spotting skills, a wealth of practical knowledge about the animals, landscape, and local history, and genuinely seems like a wonderful person that loves what she does. As a wildlife photographer this was an experience that comes close to topping my all time list of outings with exceptional opportunities to capture eagles, grey seal, puffin, and the odd shorebird. At around 3 hours from start to finish you more than get your moneys worth. If I'm ever back to the area I would gladly do this again. Highly recommended, especially if you fancy yourself a photographer.

lily margaret whistler

Amazing!!! Really great, we saw lots of seals and different birds. The staff were also very kind and helpful. I got on the boat afraid of water and worrying something bad would happen, and I got off completely fine and smiling! Also got some great photo opportunities. Would recommend!!

Charlie & Lindsay

This tour is a MUST in Cape Breton. We're so glad that we booked this as it was onel of the highlights of our trip. They were able to accomodate us at the last minute, and the 3 hour boat ride was fantastic. Donelda is great! She really knows her stuff, and took her time to work the boat to make sure everybody was up-to-speed with where we were, and what we were seeing. We saw TONS of bald eagles, puffins, seals, and the gorgeous Bird Islands. We can't recommend Donelda's Puffin Boat Tours enough. DO IT. :)

Bob Maher

Wonderful tour! Bald eagles, cranes, seals, puffins! This was definitely a great day! Even though it was a little rainy and grey, the birds and sealife were all out there to see. Great visuals and informative discussions. Don't miss this one!

Bradley Bormuth

Great birding tour from Englishtown. Well worth it!

T. Horn

Simply the best. Centrally located in St. Anns Harbor/Bay and a short drive from Baddeck is Donelda's Puffin Tour. Donelda, our guide, was very knowledgeable and informative. Also very accommodating with our many questions. The boat itself was very comfortable, with special windows that are also removable for viewing. Our trip spotted Bald Eagles, Atlantic Puffins, Razorbills, Guillemots, Cormorants, as well as different types of gulls, and grey seals. An absolutely fabulous day with fabulous tour guides. Highly recommend Donelda and crew.

Couch_Potato_Dog

Very friendly staff, and they take their time to go around the islands to show the animals. We saw lots of seals, green herons, seagulls, shore birds and bald eagles. I am not giving 5 stars because they claim theirselves Puffing Boat tour and actually it is really hard to see them. We only saw one puffing in a 3 hours tour 300 meters away in the water. Otherwise the tour is fun for kids and highly recommend in a sunny day.

James Whistler

We had an excellent time with the kids. Donelda made the trip interesting with lots of information along the boat ride, and we saw seals, eagles, and several sea birds up close. The kids had a blast. Highly recommended!

Jeremy Heinze

The tour guides were very knowledgeable and gracious. The boat was well maintained.

Ali Nikdel

Donelda and her husband , the capitan, are the greatest. They love what they do. It was an amazing experience. We got to see beautiful bald eagle, puffins and seals. Highly suggested!

Matt

Donelda was so informative and funny. If something was spotted she made sure that everyone saw it before the tour would continue. The boat was comfortable. It was nice that the windows could be taken out to get a better view of the birds. Couldn't keep track of all the Bald Eagles we saw. We saw seals, puffins, herons and other sea birds. Awesome tour, would do it again.

Ojas Tejo

not good, the boat is old and no proper viewing angle. by the time you peep outside the window not much to see. also it is very expensive and lady does not provide any group discount even if you are booking the cottage.

Joke Beers-Blom

(Translated) Super fun, recommended! (Original) Super leuk, aanrader!

Robert Wolfe

Excellent!

Shon Feder

Donelda and crew gave a wonderful tour! It was past birding season, so the Puffens were few and far between, but we saw a handful. There were plenty of other interesting sights and tales to keep us engaged regardless. If we had it to do over again, we would have been sure to bring binoculars.

Monteigne Campbell

Beautiful day... saw tons of puffins, seals, eagles, and other water fowl. Super friendly staff.

Jordan Thiesson

Best boat tour we ever did , lots of animals species !

Lauren Seymour

An amazing tour! I originally booked this just to kill some time, but it has been one of my favorite parts of my 2 week N.S. trip. Donelda is so knowledgeable! You learn so much about the area and all the different birds! I loved all the puffins (they're so much smaller than I thought) and the bald eagles! I strongly recommend this tour to anyone in the area!

Joe Steffler

This is the tour to take

Janna McNeil

Have been on the puffin tour twice and loved it each time. I tell everyone that it's a must do activity in Cape Breton.

Yvonne Marlow

Enjoyed it. She was very informative.

Doreen Collins

Fantastic trip, very informative, super friendly staff, loved every minute, especially feeding the bald eagles!

Pat Allen

Excellent tour! Donelda is very passionate about what she does. Close up experience with many types of birds. Very enjoyable!!

Chander Shekar

I highly recommend making a visit to Donelda's Puffin Boat Tours. The staff was so friendly and knowledgeable about the surrounding wildlife! We not only got the opportunity to see puffins, but we came across seals, bald eagles, and herons as well. It was such an amazing experience. Extremely family friendly, and the tour guides genuinely put their time and effort into searching for the puffins even as it began to rain. This was the best puffin boat tour ever!

Tara Hawley-Renault

Wonderful

Judy Parliman

Wonderful adventure.

Tasha Petrie

The experience was great! They took their time to ensure we were able to see all the different wildlife and pointed out many things that we may have missed. They were professional and personable. I'll make this tour a regular event!

Uthpala M

A must..have the camera ready to capture the best shots of eagles catching fish.

Nelson Myers

We saw so many puffins and other sea birds and gray seals up close, Donelda was informative, entertaining and friendly- a real good host. Capt MacCaskill handled the boat with ease and great skill. Definitely a trip to tske

Scott Knickle

I highly recommend taking this trip. You learn a lot about the animals and see a variety a birds and some seals. The puffins are really cool to see, but smaller than expected. Seeing bald eagles in a natural setting was amazing and watching them come to the boat to get fed made for amazing photos/videos. We took 5 kids on (ages 1-6) and it was a bit long for them so if you have kids try to find ways to keep them busy on the way out and back.

Dylan Dowling

Definitely worth the trip to see! We saw a ton of puffins, seals, bald eagles, cormorants, and razorbills. Donelda also definitely knows her stuff with all of the birds in the area and has a lot of facts and stories to share! One tip: Go to the washroom ahead of time if needed; Englishtown doesn't have much in the way of public washrooms!

Jason Tilley

Very friendly and extremely knowledgeable people. I tend to stay away from organized tours, but this one should not be missed

Steve Fette

Fantastic trip out to Bird Island. Saw so many birds and Puffins!

Kylie Zummach

So much fun! We learned a lot about the surrounding area. Saw lots of puffins, bald eagles, seals, cormorants and other birds!! If you're in the area, book your tour... you wont be disappointed!

Audrey Harrison-Bryant

Enjoyable tour. We didn't see puffins but did see loads of other wildlife.

Wendy Martin

Highly recommend Donelda's Puffin tour. Donelda knows her birds! We saw so many birds today. We drove 2,000 miles to see puffins and can now mark it off our bucket list. Thank-you Donelda's!

Alexander Smith

Amazing experience - a MUST do!

M M

The tour was good and we saw a lot of seabirds, but make sure you sit on the left side of the boat because the right side is just staring into open ocean 70% of the time. They will turn around sometimes to give the right side a look but not for everything. I feel like I missed out on a lot by sitting on the right hand side.

Robert Seredynski

This tour was well worth the money. Fairly long as the boat circled an entire island covered in bald eagles, puffins and seals. This is a must see!

Don Bernier

We have been on at least a dozen whale watches along the US east coast and I have to say that this was the best of them all.The boat was a well maintained working vessel and the ride was very smooth.Our hostess,Donelda, was just plain wonderful-knowledgeable and very personable.We saw everything as promised and more.I recommend this watch as a must see if you are going to Cape Breton!

Julia Driscoll

This boat tour was very informative on the birds and other wildlife that we saw. TONS of puffins and Bald Eagles, along with some seals. The boat was comfortable, make sure you wear something that can wet there's a some splashing! 100% would go again!

Eveline Bernèche

(Translated) She really knows her passion. Thank you for this beautiful tour (Original) Elle connait vraiment bien sa passion. Merci pour ce beau tour

Mark J

Great tour, saw lots of wildlife. Definitely worth checking out

Rebecca McKenzie

Great experience with Donelda and John very safe trip, with knowledgeable guides and we saw lots of birds including puffins :)