This UNSECO-listed gem-like island is Canada’s best-kept little secret

Sure, you’ve been to Montreal, and maybe Québec City, but here’s an attraction that likely flew under your radar: Anticosti Island.

Part of the pristine and watery Côte-Nord region, Anticosti is located on the Bay of St. Lawrence, at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River, covering about 3,000 square miles with only about 180 inhabitants.

Now, this simple coastal stunner has some new bragging rights as one of 42 geological sites added to UNESCO’s World Heritage list in 2023.

Singled out for the most complete and best-preserved fossil record documenting the first mass extinction of animal life 447 to 437 million years ago, there is still much to see in modern times.

Say, scuba diving to fantastic shipwrecks (this is the “Graveyard of the Bay”, with approximately 400 shipwrecks in the last 400 years), spotting whales and seals from wildlife, and charming guesthouses cut off from the pages of a Shari Lapena novel.

First, you’ll want to get there. Visitors can fly to Anticosti from Montreal (and other Canadian destinations) or take the Relais Nordik ferry from Rimouski or Havre-Saint-Pierre. Note: in the fall, Anticosti is a popular deer hunting destination, so expect higher prices.

The center of the island is the rare fishing village of Port-Menier, founded during the late 19th century by the French chocolatier Henri Menier.

Unless you’re one for pitching a tent at one of the island’s campsites (only available during the summer), Monsieur Menier’s storied grounds are probably your best bet for your digs.

Choose from Gîte du Copaco, a bed and breakfast that organizes guided tours for guests with island transportation included (from $120 per night) or Auberge Port-Menier, a 16-room inn with meals, island transportation, and airfare for and from Mont-Joli included (from $1,637 per person for five nights). Another option is the Auberge MacDonald Inn, approximately 30 miles from Anticosti National Park, which includes meals and transportation (from $1,482 per person for five nights).

To fill your time on this mythical island, trust the French-speaking locals (some also speak English). On any given day, they can take you on an itinerary that includes seaside picnics, discovering shipwrecks and seal retreats along the coastline, and examining some of the world’s most amazing fossils in plain sight.

No trip to Anticosti would be complete without a trip to the Chute (waterfall) and Vauréal Canyon. One of the island’s main attractions, the two-hour drive from Port-Menier is worth the trip to the 250-metre-high Vauréal Falls.

The journey is as breathtaking as the destination: You’ll walk along the riverbed to the falls via a 2-mile-long limestone canyon, with each side reaching approximately 300 meters in height. Take it slow as over 600 fossil species have been seen in the canyon and each meter – roughly 3.3 feet – represents roughly 15,000 years of marine deposits. (The canyons at Brick River and Observation River are also excellent vantage points for examining beautifully preserved fossils.)

Other must-sees: Trois-Plaines Cave, one of the longest caves in the province, about 30 minutes from Port Menier, and Chute Kalimazoo, just an hour from the fishing village. Or, explore greater Port-Menier with a visit to Baie Sainte-Claire to see the foundations of the first village houses built by Mrs. Menier in 1895 and the Chute à Boule, reminiscent of a staircase. About 25 minutes away, you can leave the Bateau Calou on the beach, which sank in Pointe-Ouest.

You also have chocolate to thank for all those white-tailed deer you’re spying.

The island’s owner introduced about 220 of them in the late 1890s, and today that population has blossomed to about 115,000. Locals aren’t kidding when they say hunters can get closer encounters with deer on a trip to Anticosti than they would in a decade traveling to more popular parts.

After a few restorative days spent pelting the beaches, mingling with rare seabirds and baby penguins and enjoying la belle vie, you’ll officially be part of the Anticosti club.