The usual anchorage is southward and southeastward of the eastern end of Bar Island in depths of 6 to 78 feet, the depths shoaling rapidly toward the bar southward of Bar Island.
The large municipal pier, on the north shore of the town, has reported depths of 8 to 10 feet at the end. The town harbormaster assigns moorings and maintains an office on the pier. Diesel fuel by truck is available at the pier. Floats for yachts and commercial craft are on each side of the pier; water and electrical shore power are available at the floats. The ruins of a float extend eastward about 40 feet from the northeast corner of the pier. A small-craft launching ramp is at the east and inshore end of the municipal pier. The other wharves at Bar Harbor have depths of less than 1 foot to 5 feet alongside. Gasoline, diesel fuel, water, and ice are available at the wharf just west of the municipal pier; marine supplies, provisions, and bottled gas can be obtained in town. Charter and excursion boats operate from the municipal pier and the other wharves.
Bar Harbor is a customs port of entry.
Navigation:
Click the “Map View” button above to see a chart of this harbor.
Bar Harbor is formed by the east shore of Mount Desert Island on the west, Bar Island and Sheep Porcupine Island on the north, and on the south by a breakwater extending southwesterly from Bald Porcupine Island across Porcupine Dry Ledge to within 250 yards of the shore. The breakwater, marked by a light at its southwestern end, is covered at high water for most of its length except for a part of Porcupine Dry Ledge.
The principal entrance is from the eastward, between Bald Porcupine and Sheep Porcupine Islands, and is clear. A rock awash is about 40 yards off the southeastern shore of Bald Porcupine Island. Local vessels sometimes enter from northward between Sheep Porcupine Island and the small islet 2 feet high eastward of Bar Island, where the depth is 13 feet in midchannel.
A deep channel, about 150 yards wide, extends into the harbor between the western end of the breakwater and the shore of Mount Desert Island. This channel is used by small local craft, but extreme caution should be exercised when using it. It has been reported that on extreme high tides with a smooth sea there is no indication of the position of the breakwater by tide rips or otherwise, except for the light marking the southwesterly end of the breakwater.
