What are the opening hours?

Monday 6am - 9pm Tuesday 6am - 9pm Wednesday 6am - 9pm Thursday 6am - 9pm Friday 6am - 9pm Saturday 6am - 9pm Sunday 6am - 9pm

Coast Encounters

Name: Coast Encounters
Address: Wells, ME, 04090, US
Telephone: (207) 831-4436
Rating: 5

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Coast Encounters

For tourists and natives alike, tidepool explorations with Coast Encounters are a unique, fun, and hands-on way to learn about Maine’s rocky coast!
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cky shoreline of Maine and the critters under the rocks. After working in the freshwater streams of New Hampshire in the 70s, and in the music recording engineering field in the 80s, she returned to her passion in the tide pools of Maine when she was asked to bring in some marine creatures to her daughter’s second grade class. Her presentation on tide pool critters was so good, the teachers and students asked her back year after year. Today, Carol offers unique intertidal excursions on the Maine coast to small groups and brings the tide pools to schools and other locations. Carol’s favorite marine creature is the horseshoe crab. Her passion for horseshoe crabs comes out in her special program offerings and excursions featuring these “prehistoric helmets of the sea.”Carol holds a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Conservation from the University of New Hampshire. She is a Shoals Marine Lab faculty member and a lifetime member of the National Marine Educators Association (NMEA). Carol is also a past president and lifetime member of the Gulf of Maine Marine Education Association (GOMMEA). She holds a Maine state license to collect intertidal organisms for educational purposes.Whether she is leading excursions to the rocky shore or bringing live organisms into the classroom, libraries, birthday parties, camps, or assisted living facilities, kids and grown-ups love Carol’s enthusiastic approach to hands-on learning.

10/03/2024

🍋🍋🍋SEA LEMON🍋🍋🍋
The newest invasive on the block from Europe.
A nudibranch (a.k.a. sea slug) that feeds on our native Breadcrumb Sponge.

09/25/2024

It’s National Lobster Day

September 25th

09/21/2024

IT’S OFFICIAL !!

I won the 2024
BEST FAMILY ACTIVITY BUSINESS
in
KENNEBUNK
KENNEBUNKPORT
ARUNDEL

I’m so grateful to all of you who voted for me. THANK YOU ❤️

09/06/2024

The kids are back at school. It’s time for the adults to have fun and romp in the tidepools. Come explore with me while the weather and water temperature are perfect🦀

09/02/2024

https://www.facebook.com/share/8VazQ8n6bLEoumv7/?mibextid=WC7FNe

Coast Encounters is a sponsor for this event. Come enjoy a night out to the movies and support a great cause!

Come support Great Works Regional Land Trust at the Wild & Scenic Film Festival! These inspiring films will share the importance of our connection to the water & the land. This event will help raise funds for a future ADA trail at the Old Boston Preserve just minutes from downtown Ogunquit.

08/19/2024

Less than one week left!
Please vote for Coast Encounters as THE BEST FAMILY ACTIVITY BUSINESS in Kennebunk. Simply open up the link, scroll down to #33, and write in Coast Encounters. Then scroll to the bottom and click the blue bar “ DONE”. That’s it😊

Winners will be announced after August 23rd. If I win I’ll post it here on Facebook and also on my Instagram page.

Thank you for your support!

http://www.surveymonkey.com/r/DRIVETOBE24

08/17/2024

We had a seaweed snack while tidepooling today. If you like pickles you’ll like Codium fragile a.k.a. DEAD MAN’S FINGERS! An invasive species from Japan.

If you can’t beat them… EAT THEM!

08/08/2024

This is a first… witnessing a sea star capturing and eating a little invasive green crab… way to go!!

08/04/2024

Do you think Coast Encounters is the best family activity in the Kennebunk area?

Please cast your vote in the annual “DRIVE to be the Best” contest.
Simply scroll down to #33 (best family activity) and type in Coast Encounters.
That’s it! Hit submit by Aug 23rd.

VOTE HERE! http://www.surveymonkey.com/r/DRIVETOBE24

Thanks for your support in connecting locals & tourists alike with the natural world of the Maine coast.

07/28/2024

4,000
invasive green crabs
weighing 200 lbs
~GONE~

07/18/2024

I paid a visit to the Oceanarium-Bar Harbor. Reopened for their second season and it was fabulous! I made it for feeding time in the touch tank. Thanks Bailey for an educational program.

07/17/2024

It’s always a treat to go on a Diver Ed adventure. Guaranteed fun and educational for all ages.

07/07/2024

Smooth or Northern Yellow Periwinkle
Littorina obtusata
Master of Camouflage

07/05/2024

YAY … COAST ENCOUNTERS!
Another year
Another Accolade

06/27/2024

It’s an intertidal maternity ward out there this month of June

06/13/2024

Sea Lemons!!!
We found a couple today… a RARE find!

06/07/2024

It was a horseshoe crab kind of day!

05/18/2024

Hey Beachcombers…I just found a 13 year-old Hooksett Disk washed ashore on Moody Beach! Back in March 2011 over 4 million of these plastic disks were accidentally spilled from the Hooksett sewage treatment plant into the Merrimack River and carried out to sea. The disks have reportedly been spotted all along the New England Seacoast and the far reaches of France, Norway, and the British Isles. If you see any of these disks please report it. The Blue Ocean Society for Marine Conservation (blueoceansociety.org) continues to track the whereabouts of these disks.
Here’s the link to report a disk found

https://reportdisks.org/

Address

Wells, ME
04090

Opening Hours

Monday	6am - 9pm
Tuesday	6am - 9pm
Wednesday	6am - 9pm
Thursday	6am - 9pm
Friday	6am - 9pm
Saturday	6am - 9pm
Sunday	6am - 9pm

Telephone

(207) 831-4436

Website

http://coastencounters.com/

Alerts

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Videos

IRISH MOSS found on St. Patrick’s Day 🍀

Knotted wrack waving in the water at high tide

If you’ve ever gone tidepooling with me at low tide you’ve walked on mounds of this knotted wrack (sea spaghetti). Remember the air bladders that we counted to tell it’s age? Well these air bladders help to float it up when the tide comes in so it can photosynthesize. It’s a beautifully calming sight during high tide.

I noticed this little darling on my beach walk today (hermit crab with a moon snail shell house)

MYSTERY SEA CREATURE found on the shores of Jeckyll Island, GA. Any guesses? I’m stumped.

A freshly caught rock gunnel

I am now an AWARD WINNING marine educator !!

My friend Gray was tagging horseshoe crabs last night during a full moon with the American Littoral Society.

Happy World Ocean Day 🌊🌊🌊

Blending Art and Science: Horseshoe Crab inspired coat designed by a student at the Maine College of Art and Design after watching my webinar on these ancient creatures.

Thank you for a great tidepooling season!

Releasing Touch Tank Critters

Shortcuts

Our Story

Carol Steingart is a marine science educator who has been conducting intertidal programs for over 20 years. Carol, also known as “Coastal Carol,” fell in love with the marine world when she first went to the Shoals Marine Laboratory as an undergraduate at the University of New Hampshire in 1977. Having grown up on the flat, sandy beaches of Long Island, NY, she was immediately captivated by the rocky shoreline of Maine and the critters under the rocks. After working in the freshwater streams of New Hampshire in the 70s, and in the music recording engineering field in the 80s, she returned to her passion in the tide pools of Maine when she was asked to bring in some sea creatures to her daughter’s second grade class. Her presentation on tide pool critters was so good, the teachers asked her back year after year. Today, Carol offers unique intertidal excursions on the Maine coast to small groups and brings the tide pools to schools and other locations. Carol’s favorite marine creature is the horseshoe crab. Her passion for horseshoe crabs comes out in her special program offerings and excursions featuring these “prehistoric helmets of the sea.” Carol holds a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Conservation from the University of New Hampshire. She is a Shoals Marine Lab faculty member and a lifetime member of the National Marine Educators Association (NMEA). Carol is also a past president and lifetime member of the Gulf of Maine Marine Education Association (GOMMEA). She holds a Maine state license to collect intertidal organisms for educational purposes. Whether she is leading excursions to the shore or bringing horseshoe crabs or intertidal critters to the classroom, birthday parties, camps, or assisted living facilities, kids and grown-ups love Carol’s enthusiastic approach to hands-on learning.