The people at Iceberg Quest Ocean Tours have been taking visitors out onto the water around Newfoundland for about 15 years now. “Iceberg season” runs from May to July, possibly even into the first week of August, depending on the weather.
ListenThis is when some of the hundreds of icebergs off the west coast of Greenland, move down what’s known as “iceberg alley”, to the coasts of Newfoundland.
Experience the wonder!
Captain Barry Rogers, says growing up, his father and grandfather considered icebergs “a bit of a plague”. He says they “busted up fishing gear and prevented people from making a living”. But now, with people coming from all over the world to view them, he sees icebergs in a different light.
“We’ve had people come here that flew in from Bangkok and come to St. John’s, or even to Twillingate, our second location there, to view icebergs and do two or three trips along with us and then get back on a plane and go home again, just for the picture-taking and the awe of it all.”
Even on what one might call a bad day, cloudy skies with light rain, the icebergs are a sight to behold, “Just to see such a mammoth piece of glacier that looms out of the fog…” Rogers says is an amazing experience.
One of the top 99 coastlines in the world
Right now there’s 60 to 70 icebergs off the north east coast, and he says some of them can take a good half hour to steam around. Barry Rogers says the company’s motto is ‘Experience the Wonder’ and it is something he says he does himself on every trip.
The tour out from St.John’s, the capital of the province, also offers a great view of the city and all the beauty and history it has to offer as the oldest seaport in North America,
They’re all quite dangerous but we keep a wide berth around them.
Knowledge and experience has the crew very sensitive to the dangers of icebergs. The shape often dictates how close they might get, a block is safer than something with towering spires that could break off and fall into the sea with dangerous consequences. Barry Rogers says even observing the bird life helps. “Sea birds are very sensitive to tremor so if you see sea birds that vacate an iceberg well you know there’s probably a tremor coming and you should be cautious about that.”
No tour is alike
The company offers an ‘award-winning’ trip that includes what they describe as a ‘Screech-in’ allowing people to become ‘honourary Newfoundlanders’. With a twinkle-in-his-eye, Barry Rogers explains that Newfoundland will welcome all the people they can get, with so many leaving to find work elsewhere. But a shot of the legendary drink, might be just what’s needed to seal the memories of a great voyage on the cool ocean water.
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