Peggy's Cove

Peggy's Cove, Canada

Peggy's Cove Lighthouse standing on smooth granite rocks during a golden sunset.

A tiny fishing village on Nova Scotia's Atlantic coast, built on bare granite and watched over by a lighthouse that appears in countless photographs.

The place

Peggy's Cove is a small fishing community on the eastern shore of St. Margarets Bay, within the Halifax Regional Municipality of Nova Scotia, Canada. It sits about 10 metres above sea level on a landscape of smooth, pale granite that the ice shaped over a very long time, with the open Atlantic beyond. The cove is a sheltered inlet, and the village clusters around it on rock rather than soil. Its landmark is the lighthouse, established in 1868 on a bare outcrop above the waves, and it is the reason most visitors come. Halifax lies roughly 43 kilometres to the north-east, which makes the village an easy day trip, although the road feels far removed from the city once you arrive. Residents still fish for lobster from boats moored in the cove. The coastline is steep and exposed, and in rough weather spray can reach the paths. Tourism overtook fishing as the main source of income after the Second World War, yet the village has kept a rustic look. Strict land-use rules limit new building, and restrictions on who may live there year-round stop property values from climbing beyond the reach of local families. Midday crowds are common in summer, and the quieter hours tend to be early or late.

Its story

Peggy's Cove takes its name from the wider bay it sits on, probably Saint Margaret's Bay, where Peggy is a common nickname for Margaret. Before the village had its present name, the cove appeared in 1766 as Eastern Point Harbour or Peggs Harbour. Much folklore has grown up to explain the name. One popular legend tells of a shipwreck near the offshore rock called Halibut Rock, from which a single young survivor reached the shore. A local artist and resident, William E. deGarthe, described her as a young woman, while others say she was a small girl too young to recall her own name. The family who took her in called her Peggy. She later married a man from the cove and became known as Peggy of the Cove, and visitors from around the bay began calling the place after her nickname. Historians treat the story with caution, but it has stuck. Settled in 1811, the community took shape after the province handed out land to six households of German ancestry. Fishing was the mainstay of their economy, though they farmed where the soil allowed and pastured cattle on the surrounding land. At its busiest the community had a schoolhouse, a church, a general store, a lobster cannery and boats of every size crowded into the cove. Artists and photographers began to arrive, and better roads brought more visitors. In 1937, a simple shack in the village was turned into the first public gallery for art, and it also housed a tea room and a gift shop. Later storms, including the hurricanes of the early 2000s, damaged the breakwater, roads and homes, and washed away one of the cove's wooden fish sheds. Today the village is smaller, but it remains an active fishing community and a favourite destination.

What to see

Culture

Peggy's Cove is a working fishing community first and a tourist stop second, and locals still go about their routines around the boats, traps and sheds. Land-use rules protect the village's modest look, which means there is little new development, and many houses are private homes rather than shops or cafés. The village church, St. John's Anglican, is a municipally designated heritage site and is still used for worship, so keep voices low when you walk past it. Lobster boats move in and out of the cove throughout the day, so give fishermen space on the wharf and do not wander into working areas. Visitors have long enjoyed photographing the lighthouse and the rocks, and most people are happy to be included in the frame, though it is courteous to ask before photographing someone close up. The cove has a serious safety record on its exposed rock, and the signs are not exaggerated. Stay well back from the edge, and never step onto the wet black rocks that the waves reach, however calm the sea looks.

What to wear

Peggy's Cove has no formal dress code, but its fishing heritage shows in what people wear. Traditional working clothing on the Nova Scotia coast was built for wind, spray and cold water. Heavy oilskin or waxed-cotton jackets and sou'westers, the wide-brimmed waterproof hats that give the local restaurant its name, were the standard gear for men at sea. Hand-knitted wool sweaters, often in undyed cream or navy, kept fishermen warm when wet, since wool retains warmth even when damp. Those knitting traditions survive in shops and craft stalls around the Maritimes, and some visitors buy a wool sweater as a souvenir. Today the village dresses much as coastal communities do elsewhere, with rubber boots, waterproof jackets and practical layers for the working day, and visitors seen in town tend to wear the same. For your own visit, dress in layers that can handle sudden wind and drizzle, because the weather on the coast can turn within an hour. Choose shoes with real grip, such as rubber-soled trainers or walking boots, since granite is slick when wet and the paths can be steep. Leave the heels and smooth-soled shoes at home, and bring a warm hat even in summer.

What to eat

Plan it

Best time. Late May to June and September to October suit most visitors, since the crowds are thinner and the weather is calmer than in midsummer. Summer is busy and warm, while October to December are the wettest months, bringing fog and damp to the coast. Autumn often gives clear, cool days with good light for photographs. Winter is cold and windy, and some services close.

How long. 1–2

Getting there. There is no public transport to the village. Halifax Stanfield International Airport is the nearest major airport, and from the city you can rent a car, book a taxi, or join a bus tour, which is the most common option. The drive from Halifax takes about 45 minutes by road, and the single access road into the village runs off the main highway to the south-west of the city.

Budget. mid

Tips

Etiquette

Nearby

Sources