Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia

Peggy’s Cove is a small rural community located on the eastern shore of St Margarets Bay in Nova Scotia, and is the site of Peggy’s Point Lighthouse.

Just under an hour or 43 kilometres from downtown Halifax, Peggy’s Cove is known for its picturesque and typically Canadian east-coast profile. Its houses are perched along a narrow inlet facing the Atlantic Ocean, where crashing waves have eroded the boulders.

There has been a lighthouse of sorts at Peggy’s Cove since 1868. Known as Peggy’s Point Lighthouse, the original wooden tower was replaced by the present concrete lighthouse in 1915.  

On the 2^nd of September 1998, Swissair flight 111 was en route from New York City to Geneva, when it crashed into St Margarets Bay approximately eight kilometres south-west of Peggy’s Cove with the loss of all 229 passengers and crew on board.

The cove became one of the staging points for first responders involved in the search and recovery operation, many of whom were local fishing boat owners. Two monuments, pictured above, have been erected overlooking the ocean in memory of those who lost their lives in the tragic accident, and in recognition of the responders. It is a very moving memorial.