Southport Island, Maine: A Guide Beyond Boothbay Harbor

Where it is and what it is

Southport Island hangs off the bottom of the Boothbay peninsula, separated from it by Townsend Gut, a tidal channel narrow enough to throw a stone across. The swing bridge at the Gut is the only road on or off. It opens for masted boats, which means that once or twice an hour in summer the traffic on Route 27 simply stops and everyone watches a sailboat go through. Nobody seems to mind.

The island is about five miles long. There is no downtown. The settlements (West Southport at the top, the village at Cape Newagen near the southern tip) are clusters of houses, a church, a library, a post office. Almost all the commercial life is seasonal, and a good deal of it shuts down by mid-October.

Southport suits a visit centered on the shore and a particular place to stay. Robinson’s Wharf provides bridge-side dining, while Newagen Seaside Inn and Ocean Gate Inn offer different island stays. Boothbay Harbor across the bridge supplies a separate harbor outing; it is not the only place to plan a meal or an overnight.

For an overnight, compare the actual properties on the Southport town page: Newagen Seaside Inn at Cape Newagen and Ocean Gate Inn on its cove. Their room choices and guest facilities give the island a stay-oriented role as well as a day visit from the harbor.

Hendrick's Head Beach and the lighthouse behind it

Hendrick's Head is the island's one genuine destination, and the two listings there tell a useful story on their own.

• Hendrick's Head Beach: 4.6 from 140 reviews, 22 Salt Pond Road. A pocket of coarse sand and cobble facing the Sheepscot River mouth, with a tidal bar, warm shallow water on the flood, and a view straight out to open ocean.
• Hendrick's Head Lighthouse: 3.6 from 36 reviews, 42 Light House Lane. A full point lower, from a quarter of the visitors.

The gap between those two numbers is the single most useful fact in this article. Hendrick's Head Light is a private residence. It is not open, there are no tours, and the lane to it is not a public approach. People who arrive expecting a lighthouse visit rate it accordingly. People who arrive expecting a beach with a very good lighthouse in the frame rate it 4.6.

Go for the beach and treat the light as scenery. It sits on a spit just north of the sand, white tower and red-roofed keeper's house, and from the beach at the right hour it is one of the better lighthouse photographs on this stretch of coast. No fence, no parking lot, no gift shop in the shot.

The catch is parking. The lot at Hendrick's Head is tiny and access is tightly controlled in high season; check the Town of Southport's current rules before you build a day around it, because the restrictions change and they are enforced. Off-season and shoulder-season, the problem mostly evaporates.

Burnt Island Light

The island's other light, Burnt Island Light (4.6 from 91 reviews), stands on a small island off Southport's eastern shore at the entrance to Boothbay Harbor. It is state-owned, and the Department of Marine Resources runs living-history programs there in season, with costumed interpreters playing the keeper's family.

You cannot drive to it. Access is by boat from Boothbay Harbor, and the tour operators that work the harbor. Balmy Days Cruises (4.7 from 175 reviews) among them. Are the practical way across. Sailings are seasonal and weather-dependent, so book ahead and expect the occasional cancellation. From Southport itself you can see the light clearly from the eastern shore roads, which is free and takes no planning at all.

Robinson's Wharf

Robinson’s Wharf is at 20 Hendricks Hill Road on the Southport side of the swing bridge. Its current lunch and dinner menu includes lobster, fried seafood, salads and non-seafood choices, along with a children’s menu. Choose it for a waterfront meal or use the separate seafood market.

As of October 10, 2026, Robinson’s Wharf advertised Friday music in winter and a seafood market open year-round.

Beyond that, Catch22 Sport Fishing (5.0 from 6 reviews, 100 Ebenecook Road) runs charters out of Ebenecook Harbor on the island's western side: a small operation with a small number of reviews, which is normal for a one-boat charter.

The quiet part, which is the point

Southport rewards aimlessness. Drive the loop (Route 27 down the spine to Cape Newagen and back up the western shore) and stop wherever a lane runs down to the water. The eastern side looks out at the harbor approaches and the islands; the western side looks over the Sheepscot toward Georgetown and the Five Islands country. Cape Newagen at the bottom is where the road runs out and the ocean starts.

Rachel Carson spent summers writing in a cottage on this island, working on the sea books that made her name. Nothing about it is set up for visitors (it is a private house) but if you have read her, walking a Southport shoreline at low tide with a tide pool in front of you is a fairly direct way to understand what she was looking at.

Where to go next

Southport is a half-day, honestly assessed, and it pairs naturally with the rest of the peninsula. Across the bridge, Boothbay Harbor has the boat trips, a deep bench of places to eat and the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens (4.8 from 7,005 reviews, the most-reviewed attraction in the whole region). East Boothbay's Ocean Point Walk (4.8 from 632 reviews) is the best short coastal walk nearby and takes about an hour.

Further afield, Damariscotta is forty minutes east for oysters and a real Main Street, and Bath is about the same to the west for the Maine Maritime Museum. For an island stay, compare Newagen Seaside Inn and Ocean Gate Inn on the Southport town page for their room choices and guest facilities.

Frequently asked questions

Is Southport Island worth visiting?

Yes, for a beach-and-woodland visit or an inn stay with time beside the water. Hendricks Head pairs the town’s public beach with a nearby half-mile land-trust trail. Newagen and Ocean Gate offer island stays with time for the beach and trail.

Can you visit Hendrick's Head Lighthouse?

No. Hendrick's Head Light is a private residence with no public access, which is why it rates only 3.6 from 36 reviews while the beach in front of it rates 4.6. You can see and photograph it perfectly well from Hendrick's Head Beach, and that is the way to experience it.

How do you get to Burnt Island Light?

By boat from Boothbay Harbor. There is no road access. The state runs seasonal living-history tours on the island, and harbor cruise operators such as Balmy Days Cruises provide the crossing. Sailings depend on weather, so build in flexibility. From Southport's eastern shore you can see the light from land at no cost.

Where do you eat on Southport Island?

Robinson’s Wharf is at 20 Hendricks Hill Road by the swing bridge. Its menu includes seafood, non-seafood dishes and children’s choices, and, as of October 10, 2026, the operator advertised winter music and a year-round seafood market.