Discover the Bays and Coves of Nova Scotia

Lighthouse Route Views of St. Margarets Bay

Driving the Lighthouse Route exploring the shores of Mahone Bay and St. Margarets Bay in Nova Scotia, Canada provides some spectacular ocean scenery visiting with a few small villages, private beaches and rocky coastlines. I would go as far as saying some of the best road scenery in the province.

This section of the Lighthouse Route is a designated sightseeing travel route popular for driving, motorcycles and cycling… but unfortunately few enjoy the region as it is often lost in the shadows of the big city lights of Halifax.

It is understandable… as Halifax is a beautiful city, full of heritage, surrounded by history and full of life boasting one of the most developed and entertaining waterfront boardwalks in Canada. No fault to Halifax as it does offer visitors a full slate of entertainment options. The fault falls on tourism for not properly marketing the region in their promotional efforts. Not everyone wants to visit museums and pay for attractions all the time, all day, everyday… it can get expensive for a family.

Cleveland Beach

 The lack of marketing promoting Nova Scotia’s amazing coastlines, from small town to small town, bay to bay, beach to beach puzzles us and travelers. The road route from Mahone Bay to Peggys Cove exploring bays and coastlines is one of the most beautiful drives we have followed in Nova Scotia to date. The route is an open window to constant, non stop ocean views.

On Mahone Bay we toured down the eastern coastline visiting the sailing village of Chester and the fishing village of Deep Cove…stopping in at Bayswater Beach for some sandy beach and bare feet therapy and some Atlantic Ocean interaction.

From the southern tip of the peninsula we continued north along the western and northern coastline of St Margarets Bay visiting with the villages of Northwest Bay, Hubbards, Queensland, Boutilliers Point and Tantallon. Near Queensland we side-toured to Cleveland Beach. I guess we needed another dose of sandy beach therapy. The beach follows a small spit with beach on one side and ocean pond on the other.

Diving deeper down the eastern coastline of St. Margarets Bay we toured to the well publicized Peggys Cove. Antisipation was in peak gear. The sun was out in full force and traffic became more intensified as many had the same plan as us.

Lighthouse at Peggys Cove

Peggys Cove is a postcard community, sort of. The viilage is built on a rocky coastline highlighted by a lighthouse. A very good lighthouse too. The beacon towers in self gloring perched high on the point glowing like a candle on a bithday cake. From afar, people could be seen combing the rocky outcropping like a hoard of ants grooming a new ant hill. Nearby… the celtic sounds of a bag piper shared the stage with the beat of the crashing waves.

Where the village of Peggys Cove maybe drops the ball is first impressions. It was not the post card greeting we had come to expect.

Many of the village homes and buildings are wind battered with paint peeling like a bad sunburn. Homes seemed neglected while the lighthouse was dressed and cared for like a good tux on prom night. Peggys Cove should follow in the steps of the pastel community buildings of Lunenburg and Mahone Bay and bring color to the community.

Suisse Memorial Site

Some of the best views of Peggys Cove is not located in the village but from the SwissAir Flight 111 Memorial Site located just up the highway from the village. From the look off memorial there are spanning views of the coastline and sights of the lighthouse perched proudly on the rocky point.

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