Bird’s Eye Maine Marks Seventh Year of Private Casco Bay Charters

Captain Matt Ayres combines a lifelong connection to Maine’s waters with seven seasons of private, personalized coastal experiences on Casco Bay.

PORTLAND, ME, UNITED STATES, August 24, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Bird’s Eye Maine is marking its seventh year of private boat charters on Casco Bay, celebrating a milestone built on founder Captain Matt Ayres’ lifelong connection to Maine’s coast and his commitment to creating personal experiences on the water. Rather than following a fixed group-tour format, Bird’s Eye Maine specializes in private charters that allow guests to shape their time on Casco Bay around the places and experiences that interest them most.

Captain Matt spent much of his childhood exploring Maine’s waters with his family, including the mid-coast waters of Penobscot Bay near Vinalhaven. He learned to sail, later became a sailing instructor, and eventually worked on lobster boats, experiences that strengthened his connection to Maine’s maritime environment. Today, he brings that background to Bird’s Eye Maine as both captain and local guide, helping visitors experience the coastline with insight that comes from years spent on the water.

Every Bird’s Eye Maine charter is private and personalized. Guests have the boat to themselves rather than sharing the experience with an unfamiliar tour group, allowing Captain Matt to tailor the trip around their interests. Families exploring Casco Bay for the first time, couples looking for a sunset cruise, and small groups interested in wildlife, history, lighthouses, or island exploration can each experience the bay differently.

For travelers interested in lighthouse boat tours in Portland, Maine, Bird’s Eye Maine offers cruises featuring the four lighthouses around the mouth of Portland Harbor, with Portland Head Light serving as a highlight. Private charters give guests more flexibility to focus their time on the sights that matter most to them while also exploring the historic forts, islands, wildlife, and coastline that make Casco Bay distinctive.

Wildlife-focused trips can include opportunities to search for seals, birds, and other marine life, while island-hopping charters allow guests to go ashore and explore areas of Casco Bay that are difficult to reach without a boat. Bird’s Eye Maine also offers beach drops, sunrise and sunset cruises, history tours, and fully custom charters for guests who have a particular experience in mind.

That flexibility is central to the company’s approach. Most guests book approximately three hours on the water, but private tours can range from two to eight hours depending on the experience they want to create. Whether a group wants to photograph Portland Head Light, search for wildlife, explore an island, hunt for sea glass, relax on a secluded beach, or simply watch the sun set over Portland Harbor, the itinerary can be shaped around those interests.

After seven seasons of introducing guests to Casco Bay, Captain Matt continues to draw on both his personal history on Maine’s waters and his knowledge of the region to create experiences that feel less like a scripted sightseeing tour and more like exploring the coast with a knowledgeable local. Bird’s Eye Maine’s goal is to make the area’s islands, beaches, lighthouses, wildlife, and other hard-to-reach coastal places more accessible to people who may not otherwise have the opportunity to experience them.

To book a private charter or speak with Captain Matt about a custom itinerary, call Bird’s Eye Maine directly at 207-632-9369 or visit birdseyemaine.com. Tours depart from Portland’s working waterfront at Fore Points Marina, with options ranging from sunrise and sunset cruises to lighthouse, wildlife, island-hopping, and custom private tours.

This may be my seventh year running Bird’s Eye Maine, but every trip still feels like its own adventure,” said Captain Matt Ayres, Founder of Bird’s Eye Maine. “I’ve spent my life on the water, and being able to share this part of Maine with people who may be seeing it for the first time is still one of my favorite parts of what I do. Every charter is private and personalized, so we can build the experience around what that group came to Maine hoping to see.
— Senior leadership, Bird’s Eye Maine
About Bird’s Eye Maine

About Bird’s Eye Maine: Bird’s Eye Maine is a Portland, Maine-based travel and tour company specializing in private, personalized boat tours of Casco Bay. Founded by Captain Matt Ayres, Bird’s Eye Maine offers custom coastal experiences centered around each group’s interests, including lighthouse tours, wildlife viewing, island exploration, history tours, secluded beaches, and sunrise and sunset cruises. The company’s goal is to make Casco Bay and its beautiful, hard-to-reach coastal places more accessible to people who want to experience Maine from the water.

Press Contact:
Bird’s Eye Maine, press@birdseyemaine.com, 207-632-9369, https://www.birdseyemaine.com

Emma Sivess
Unlimited Content
email us here

Media gallery