Tourists and locals alike can see the Reversing Falls Rapids in a new light this summer, thanks to See Sight Tours.
They want to take people on up close and personal jet boat tours of the Rapids.
Based out of Niagara, ON, See Sight Tours is adding Saint John to its roster of adventurous and personal tours.
John Albrecht, the Atlantic Canada Manager says what makes their tours unique is the intimacy.
“We specialize in semi-private and fully private tours of Canadian cities, so you’re never on a bus and you’re never with more than seven people at a time, so they’re smaller, more intimate groups where you can actually have one on one time with the guide,” he said.
Albrecht say they always planned on expanding to the east coast, and had a few places in mind, but it was Saint John that stole their hearts, with its prime location to the U.S., cruise ship terminals, and a variety of interesting and historical destinations.
“We thought it was a nice combination for one, to get people here and to get tourists, and two, the Reversing Falls Rapids and all the other different attractions here from the Martello Tower, to Fort Howe, Rockwood Park, the old City Market and then hopefully our boat tours as well,” he said.
The group also has tours in New York, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Halifax and Charlottetown.
Albrecht explains they’ve leased Pugsley’s Wharf from the Port, and will have control of that property for the next three years, running daily boat tours and managing berthing for all public users.
They also bought a jet boat off a since-closed tour group that used to do sight-seeing tours and thrill rides in the city’s waterways, and hired local captain Andrew Faust to charter the rapids.
“He actually worked for the former jet boat owner for 18 out of the 19 years that they were operating, so he’s just a wealth of knowledge of both the river, the rapids, the town and of course the boat itself,” he said.
Albrecht says they are rolling out the tours this month, with a Grand opening set for early in August.
“We are doing a soft opening over the next couple weeks, so we’re going to be kind of hit or miss over the next couple weeks with doing rides and figuring out all the in and outs, but the official opening will be hopefully early in August, hopefully in time for Area 506,” he said.
They plan on running tours as frequently as possible too.
“Generally weekdays we’re going to run from about noon until 7 PM, cruise ship days we’ll start right in the morning and go right until 7 PM as well, and then on weekends we’ll run from the morning around 10 AM to 7 PM.”
He says the jet boat tours last around 45 minutes, and run every hour on the hour.
See Sight Tours will also be running a Best of Saint John tour, a four hour journey through the city with stops at the Market, the Reversing Falls Skywalk and Martello Tower.
You can reserve your spot online.
