top boat – Two Maine cruises—Acadian Boat Tours in Bar Harbor and Sea Princess Cruises in Northeast Harbor—earned top-10 spots in USA Today readers’ 2026 10Best awards for boat tours.
On a Maine morning, the water doesn’t just carry you—it points you toward the places people want to remember. For one set of travelers casting votes for USA Today’s 2026 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards, that pull was clear: two of the best boat tours in America are in Maine.
Acadian Boat Tours in Bar Harbor ranked No. 8 on the publication’s top 10 boat tours list. The company offers both public tours and private charters. including “The Puffins. Lighthouses & Seabirds tour. ” fishing trips. a “fourth of July fireworks cruise. ” and a daily sunset cruise. The most popular cruise. the publication wrote. is “a 2-hour sightseeing and nature cruise on Frenchman Bay. ” where riders look out for “eagles. porpoises. and other marine life” and get a close-up view of “Acadia National Park scenery.”.
A little farther north, Sea Princess Cruises in Northeast Harbor earned the No. 10 spot. The cruises are narrated and built around the Acadia National Park area. with morning and afternoon trips that stop at a fishing community and visit the cliffs of Valley Cove in the Somes fjord. There’s also a late afternoon “Seals and Fjords cruise” and a sunset cruise over the Cranberry Isles.
The words used to describe it come down to variety and place: USA Today said Sea Princess Cruises is “a combo of lighthouses, wildlife, scenery, and the best of Maine.”
In the 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards format, travel experts first select 20 nominees across categories from food to lodging, destinations to things to do. Readers then vote to determine the top 10—meaning these rankings reflect the preferences of people who actually weighed in.
The No. 1 boat tour in America was named as the Chicago Architecture Center River Cruise aboard First Lady in Chicago.
For Maine, though, the message from readers is unmistakable: when the trip is on the water, the payoff is the coast itself—puffins and seabirds, lighthouses and fjords, and long looks at Acadia’s shoreline from a deck.
Maine boat tours Acadian Boat Tours Bar Harbor Sea Princess Cruises Northeast Harbor USA Today 10Best Frenchman Bay Acadia National Park Somes fjord Cranberry Isles
Lol Maine has the best boat tours, I’m not surprised. I always said Acadia water is the real deal.
So is this like… the tours ranked by people who actually rode them? Or just people clicking through stuff online? Either way, Frenchman Bay sounds nice but I hate when they pack too many on one boat.
Wait, I thought Acadian Boat Tours was like a fishing company? Now they’re doing puffins and seabirds? Also why are they calling it a “4th of July fireworks cruise” like you can just see fireworks from anywhere on the bay… unless they’re moving the boat to some secret spot?
Chicago at #1 and Maine at #8 and #10… so basically the whole list is just voting for whatever is trending. “Porpoises and eagles” sounds fake, like they feed the wildlife or whatever. If I go, I’m only booking the sunset cruise because the other ones sound like they stop at random places I’ll never remember.