Southern ME

The southern Maine coast between Kittery and Cape Elizabeth is beach and river country rather than island country. The harbours are tidal river mouths — the Piscataqua, the Kennebunk, the Saco — and each one has a bar, a current, and a set of local rules about when you cross it.

It is the busiest and most seasonal stretch of Maine coast, close enough to Boston that summer weekends fill everything. It is also the first water in Maine to open in spring and among the last to close.