
Chesapeake Bay Storytellers - Natural History Tours

Get up close and personal with the Bay’s flora and fauna on an interactive tour perfect for families and the young at heart. Discover what it takes to keep the Bay thriving, healthy and sustainable. Specialty- themed natural history tours may sift beaches for fossils, or seine nets for fish and invertebrates. Some natural history tours are paddling adventures, while others are aboard larger sailing vessels, fishing boats or power boats. The opportunities are endless.
Anita C. Leight Estuary Center
The Otter Point Creek Alliance at the Anita C. Leight Estuary Center serves up family-friendly experiences to help you learn about and bond with nature. Events, programs and activities include Meet a Critter programs, foraging hikes, canoeing and kayaking trips, bug hunts, and opportunities to help naturalists feed animals at the center. Volunteer opportunities are a great way to learn while monitoring plant and animal life and participating in citizen science programs. Check the center’s calendar for the schedule and program details. The Estuary Center provides access to one of the few remaining large freshwater tidal marshes in the upper Chesapeake Bay. 410-612-1688
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Experience Smith Island
Come see the pelican rookery on beautiful Smith Island! Begin your journey in Crisfield and head to Tylerton. Your knowledgeable guide will provide you with interesting facts about the ecology, way of life, and history of the area. Once you arrive, watch the graceful pelicans in their natural habitat and learn about their breeding behaviors. Pelicans are known for their large bills, which they use to scoop up fish from the water. You may spot other species of birds, such as bald eagles, cormorants, blue herons and ospreys. The six-hour tour includes a crab cake lunch and admission to Smith Island Cultural Center. 410-657-2705
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Annapolis Maritime Museum
Annapolis Maritime Museum offers a variety of water and land-based tours and programs. Join a beginner-friendly eco paddle through scenic Back Creek. Spot wildlife, learn about local ecology and relax and unwind in nature. Or, experience the Chesapeake Bay on the historic skipjack Wilma Lee. Heritage Cruises aboard the Wilma Lee explore Annapolis’s maritime history and Chesapeake Bay ecology. Student and youth groups can sail aboard the Wilma Lee for a hands-on oyster dredging experience, while discovering the diverse living things thriving in an oyster reef. Themed lectures, museum programs, school programs, and camps round out the museum’s offerings. 410-295-0104
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Watermark
Watermark offers a Chesapeake Eco Cruise from Annapolis Harbor. Get out on the water, enjoy the breeze on the Severn River, and have a fun experience with critters in the Chesapeake Bay. Explore this unique ecosystem through this hands-on learning cruise. 410-268-7601
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Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
Get an insider’s view of the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) on an outdoor walking tour. Walk along the waterfront, cross marsh boardwalks and hike on paths through the forest while learning about SERC’s cutting-edge research projects on climate change and coastal ecosystems. Tours may be tailored to your group’s interests. Accessibility tours in your vehicle are available for those with mobility disabilities. Minimum group size is 8 people. A variety of talks, evening lectures, workshops, educational school programs and participatory science activities are also offered to the public. Check the SERC calendar for details. 443-482-2200
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Living Classrooms Foundation at Masonville Cove
Masonville Cove is the nation’s first Urban Wildlife Refuge Partnership, home to a green building nature center and beautiful waterfront public trails. Living Classrooms Foundation works with other education and youth programs to offer environmental and outdoor education and recreation opportunities at the cove. Free public programs and events are held year-round. Come observe bird banding and migration studies in the spring. Masonville Cove is a valuable site for wild bird feeding and nesting. Masonville Cove also offers a Summer Science and Nature Program for youth, which features a different theme each week. 410-354-3532
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Megalodon Adventures
Plan a treasure hunting trip! Explore remote beaches beneath the world-famous Calvert Cliffs and search for Miocene-era fossils. The Maryland state fossil, Ecphota gardnerae, a variety of different shark’s teeth, and many other shells and bones are easily found on the beaches. Find remnants of vintage and antique beach glass for a spectacular souvenir. Old bottles, sea glass, and even colonial era items such as arrowheads can be found on your Adventure Charter. Guides help you search for treasures and explain the natural history of the fossils you find. 410-474-0396
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Chesapeake Heritage and Paleontology Tours (CHAPTours)
Explore the beautiful beaches on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay where you will find 15 million-year-old fossils! On your fossil collecting tour, you will be transported back in time to when this area was covered by a vast ocean teeming with life. Experience the natural heritage and beauty of the Chesapeake Bay Region up close. You will see a fantastic variety of trees, flowers and wildlife, including the occasional otter or bald eagle. 443-764-0767
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Island Chill Yacht Charters
Kids and adults alike love the Chesapeake Bay Natural History Storyteller Charters. This trip is an excellent way to see a living laboratory on the Bay and appreciate how a complex ecosystem is formed and operates. It’s education through fun - with a sense of awe and adventure! Guides tell the Chesapeake Bay’s story by visiting key habitats, showing you the Chesapeake’s features and explaining their significance. The tour includes the scenic South River and the famous Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse. 410-212-4476
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Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum
Bring your group to take an ecology cruise and learn about the Chesapeake’s animals, plants and environment through hands-on activities aboard a historic vessel in the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum’s floating fleet. Explore the Bay watershed, starting with maps of the Chesapeake’s waterways and populations, moving to water quality testing, and ending by examining the many organisms that call an oyster reef home. This program is also available as a land-based tour. Minimum of 10 participants and maximum of 25. 410-745-2916
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Annapolis Sailing Cruises: Schooner Woodwind
Mondays are extra special on Schooner Woodwind’s sunset sailing cruises. During History Mondays, a different guest speaker presents on a special topic each week. These guided tours explore the human and natural history of the Chesapeake area and the sights you see while on your sail. Learn about the iconic bird species that call the Chesapeake home, for example, as you search for them on your trip. You may even spot a dolphin or skate swimming along. Check out the exciting schedule of tours and topics provided by notable experts in the field. 410-263-7837
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Capital SUP: Quiet Waters Park
Glide on a paddleboard or kayak through the peaceful wetlands surrounding Quiet Waters Park on an Eco-Tour. Discover the diversity of plants and wildlife along the way. Look for Great Blue Herons, Osprey, egrets and more in the early evening hours. 410-919-9402
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Bay Venture Outfitters
Bay Venture Outfitters offers a self-guided Chesapeake Wildlife Experience Paddle. You’ll explore the northern Chesapeake’s natural habitat, equipped with high-quality Nocs binoculars, a laminated wildlife guide, a water trail map, and personalized tips from their staff to help you spot the most fascinating wildlife in the region. Perfect for birders, families, photographers, or solo adventurers - this experience is peaceful, educational, and entirely at your own pace. 877-523-9555
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Echo Hill Outdoor School
Echo Hill Outdoor School provides educational experiences for school groups and summer camp opportunities for youth. They occasionally offer tours or programs for adults. The outdoor school provides classes such as Sensory Exploration of the Environment, Bay Studies, Swamp Canoe, and Survival that take place in the field, forest, bay, beach, or swamp. Students get to know nature and science first hand. During the Bay Studies class, students can catch living organisms and piece together parts of the food chain. 410-348-5880
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Sultana Education Foundation
Kayak excursions on the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail feature unique themes for each event. During a typical voyage, participants paddle through scenic, underdeveloped portions of one of the Bay’s tributaries while discovering regional flora and fauna specific to that location. Some program examples include exploring the relationship between oysters & Indians, or paddling through wetlands filled with American Lotus, or searching for waterfowl and turtles. Sultana Education Foundation also offers a Third Thursday Speaker Series where experts present on exciting and relevant natural history topics. 410-778-5954
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Shardana Sailing Charters Inc.
Shardana Sailing Charters will guide you in designing a custom adventure or relaxing experience that meets your needs. Their knowledgeable and friendly captains can take you to hidden natural coves and ecological sites and reveal the natural history of the Chesapeake’s beautiful land and waterscapes. Watch bald eagles and waterfowl, while being surrounded by nature. Sailing experiences leave from Rock Hall. 215-238-1635
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Yieldcamp
Learn about the beauty and history of Maryland with a Master Naturalist while elevating your trip through environmental stewardship opportunities along the Chesapeake Bay. If volunteer-tourism is on your list, then Yieldcamp is for you. Yieldcamp’s mission is wellness through service and its motto is “do good, feel good, be good.” Programs include Wellness Nature Walks, Outdoor Survival Basics, Leadership Training & Team Building, Woodland Wellness Retreats and more. 571-616-1166
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Tuna The Tide
Join a former oceanographer who worked at the National Marine Fisheries Service to cruise the waters of Delmarva. Captain Mark Galasso can help you design a trip just for you with some wonderful destinations. He’s ready to tell you all about the Bay’s ecology, especially as it relates to the health of the fisheries that make it famous. 410-310-1200
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Calvert Marine Museum
At Calvert Marine Museum, there is a program scheduled almost every day. Trained docents are in the Discovery Room at the touch tank, in the Skates and Rays exhibit and in the Paleontology Prep Lab. You may also see an aquarist feeding the animals. The Dee of St. Mary’s, a sailing skipjack, offers dockside tours for the public and is used for educational school group programs. Check the museum calendar and at the admissions desk for details. 410-326-2042
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Greenspring Tours
Serving Baltimore and beyond, Greenspring Tours provides student field trip and group travel packages. Their dedicated tour managers create itineraries and tour packages that include transportation, guide service, attractions, meals and more at an affordable price, showcasing the history, culture and cuisine of each destination. Greenspring Tours offers a field trip tour of the Baltimore Inner Harbor, focusing on natural history and environmental stewardship efforts. Whether you need transportation, a tour package, a guide, or destination management services, Greenspring Tours has your group covered. 410-561-1119
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Maryland's Great Chesapeake Bay Loop Getaway Guide
Maryland's Great Chesapeake Bay Loop Getaway Guide
Find a treasure trove of ways to explore the Bay, and meet our skilled Chesapeake Bay Storytellers.