Watch what it's like to visit Maine's largest puffin colony

Machias Seal Island—home to Maine’s largest Atlantic puffin colony—can be notoriously hard to book, and this year’s access remains limited to a single operator. Bold Coast Charter Company is the only U.S. tour company permitted to land visitors on the 15-acre island, about 10 miles off Cutler Harbor. Reservations are announced in December and usually open in March, with many dates filling within hours due to limited capacity. Trips run from late May through mid-August and last about five hours, including a one-hour ride each way aboard the custom-built, Coast Guard-inspected 40-foot passenger vessel Barbara Frost. Roughly 5,000 Atlantic puffins nest there each summer, along with other seabirds, and whether visitors can go ashore depends on weather and sea conditions.