Stonington Public Landing
The working heart of Stonington harbor — a public dock where the lobster fleet comes and goes, the mailboat departs for Isle au Haut, and you can sit with coffee and watch the whole operation.
The public landing on Atlantic Avenue is where Stonington's waterfront life happens. It's a municipal dock open to everyone — residents launching dinghies, fishermen loading gear, visitors just watching the harbor. The town offers complimentary two-hour tie-ups for visiting boats, which is generous for a working harbor this size.
This is also where you'll find the Isle au Haut Boat Services mailboat, the tour boats, and the kayak outfitters. If you're spending any time in Stonington, you'll end up here. The views across the harbor to the islands are why people fall for this town.
It's not a park or an attraction in the traditional sense — it's infrastructure. But it's the kind of infrastructure that tells you everything about a place. Lobster traps stacked on the dock, buoys drying in the sun, the sound of diesel engines at dawn. This is a fishing village that's still a fishing village.
What Visitors Say
"Usually accessible dock in Stonington with access to all that the little coastal town on Deer Isle offers."
Local Tips
- Free two-hour tie-up for visiting boats
- Best harbor views are from the benches at the end of the dock
- Early morning is when the fleet heads out — worth seeing if you're up
- The mailboat to Isle au Haut departs from the adjacent dock
Connected To
- Isle au Haut Boat Services — the mailboat dock is right here
- Discovery Wharf at MCCF — Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries, same stretch of Atlantic Ave
- Sea Kayak Stonington — launches from nearby
- Inn on the Harbor — overlooks the landing