Digby Travel Guide
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Two towns serving as gateways to Nova Scotia bracket this 113km (70-mile) stretch of coast. Whereas the South Shore -- the stretch between Yarmouth and Halifax -- serves to confirm popular conceptions of Nova Scotia (small fishing villages, shingled homes), the Digby-to-Yarmouth route seems determined to confound them. Look for Acadian enclaves, fishing villages with more corrugated steel than weathered shingle, miles of sandy beaches, and spruce-topped basalt cliffs that seem transplanted from Labrador.
The unassuming port town of Digby (pop. 2,300) is located on the water at Digby Gap -- where the Annapolis River finally forces an egress through the North Mountain coastal range. Set at the south end of the broad watery expanse of the Annapolis Basin, Digby is home to the world's largest inshore scallop fleet, which drags the ocean bottom for tasty and succulent Digby scallops. Ferries to Saint John, New Brunswick, sail year-round from a dock a few miles west of downtown.
The town is named after Admiral Sir Robert Digby, who arrived here from New England in 1783. He led a group of loyalists who found relations with their neighbors somewhat strained following the unfortunate outcome of the War of Independence. Today, Digby is an active community where life centers around fishing boats, neighborhoods of wood-frame houses, and no-frills seafood restaurants. It's certainly worth a brief stopover when you're heading to or from the ferry.
