General Information
Sable Island is located 300 km south-east of Halifax, NS; it is approximately 42 km long and 1.5 km wide at its widest point. Seemingly little more than a sand bar covered in marram grass, it is home to hundreds of feral horses, thousands of birds, several hundred thousand seals and a handful of year-round human inhabitants, who live and work at the Sable Island Station, conducting atmospheric research and looking after the welfare of the island. The Green Horse Society sponsors an independent biological/environmental researcher who also lives on the island year-round, collecting a wide variety of data.

While access to the island is strictly controlled in order to protect its delicate environment, the general public is allowed to visit, so long as they first obtain permission from the Canadian Coast Guard and confirm that their presence will not interfere with Station operations. All visitors must adhere to the regulations as outlined in the Coast Guard Visitors' Guide to Sable Island.

In the future, the responsibility for safe-guarding Sable's fragile ecosystem will be transferred to Parks Canada, however, as this is still in the governmental discussion stage, it is difficult to predict what impact this will have on visitation.

To view photographs taken by our pilot while visiting Sable Island, check out the Sable Island Photo Gallery.

Our Sable Island aircraft carries a SPOT personal GPS locator - click on the following to see the web page displaying its track. (Note: If the web page is grayed out with a dialog indicating "No messages to display", this means that there is no recent data i.e. no recent flight to Sable)

Flying to Sable
Once permission has been obtained, the major hurdles will be the beach condition and weather. To minimize man's footprint on the island, no permanent runway exists; instead, landings and take-offs are carried out on the island's south beach. Prior to departure from Halifax, the Station truck will find and mark out a suitable landing area - one that is neither too hard nor too soft, and is of a suitable length and orientation to wind to permit a safe landing. While the south beach is not tidal, it is subject to flooding during major storm surges, which can render it unuseable for weeks at a time.

Since the pilot must be able to spot the tire tracks left in the sand from the air, the weather must be reasonable for the flight to take place. Travel from late June to early August is especially unpredictable, as this is known locally as "fog season". Plans to visit Sable should be flexible, as weather in the Maritimes is highly changeable at the best of times and flights are often delayed by many days; for those who are staying overnight on Sable, this could mean being stranded for an indefinite period of time.

In normal wind conditions, the trip to Sable generally takes 1:15, with a return time of approximately 1:40. For information on the allowable number of persons and/or cargo, please refer to the page on aircraft specifications.

Day Visitors
Since the Sable Island Station is governed by federal regulations with regards to overtime and constrained by budgetary restrictions, flights may only arrive and depart at times such that the personnel will be back to the station and off duty within normal working hours, Monday to Friday. Because the Station Manager must find and confirm suitability of a runway on the day of the flight, this means that flights seldom depart prior to 9 a.m. Similarly, since he must be back to the Station by 4 p.m. and the landing area may be over half an hour away, departure of guests from the Station must occur by shortly after 2:30 p.m.

Overnight/Multi-Night Visits
Overnight or multiple night stays are possible, subject to availability of accomodations at Sable and so long as normal Station operations are not disrupted. Camping is not allowed due to environmental considerations, and visitors must bring their own bedding and food to last the duration of their stay. Presently, Environment Canada charges $300 CAD per person per night plus 15% HST for accomodations at the Station; this is payable directly to Environment Canada at the time of visit.

Since the aircraft cannot remain on the beach overnight due to possible deterioration in weather or beach conditions, this means that two flights (i.e double the cost) will be required.

Operations Manager, Sable Island Station
c/o Environment Canada
45 Alderney Dr, 16th floor
Dartmouth, NS   B2Y 2N6
gforbes@ca.inter.net   (902) 482-8600

Mike Voigt, Director of Maritime Services
Canadian Coast Guard
P.O. Box 1000
Dartmouth, NS   B2Y 3Z8
VoigtM@mar.dfo-mpo.gc.ca   (902) 426-9022

Costs
The current cost of a flight to Sable Island is $4700 CAD plus airport fees $25 plus provincial sales tax (HST) 15%, giving a total of $5434. Environment Canada charges a beach preparation fee of $500 CAD plus 15% HST, for a total of $575, payable directly to EC at the time of the flight.

We frequently receive requests from people wishing to purchase tickets on a flight, however, under the conditions of our Operating Certificate, we are not legally allowed to sell individual seats - the aircraft must be chartered in its entirety. Any sharing of costs by individuals must be privately arranged amongst the group. Maritime Air Charter will issue a single bill for the flight and a single payment is required - we cannot accept multiple payments from individual passengers.