1) Coastal Education Center at Cove Island
1281 Cove Road
Stamford, CT 06902
About the Coastal Education Center
The Coastal Education Center serves as SoundWaters headquarters and the main site for our shore side education programs.
The Coastal Center is uniquely situated within a few feet of coastal habitats – including salt marshes, sandy beaches, mudflats and rocky shorelines. It offers opportunities for students of all ages to study and explore these diverse habitats. It houses a learning lab and teaching aquarium that features animals from Long Island Sound including our rescued diamondback terrapins.
At the Coastal Center students collect water and plankton samples while canoeing on Holly Pond and then use microscopes to study the samples in the learning lab. They put on waders and seine for marine life in Long Island Sound and then study these and other Long Island Sound creatures in the teaching aquarium. The Coastal Education Center is home to over 50 small boats ranging from 8′ single sailed Optimist sailboats to the 14′ three sailed FS Feva small boats. It is also home to our fleet of canoes used for water sampling programs with students.
Activities at the Coastal Education Center include:
- Camp SoundWaters
- Education Programs
- Afterschool Sailing Programs
The Coastal Education Center is located in the historic Holly House on Cove Island.
Park in the main parking lot and walk across the bridges onto Cove Island. Once you are on the island, turn left and follow the road past the playground and picnic pavilion to the white building.
Please note: From May 1 – September 30, a Stamford beach sticker or SoundWaters parking pass is required at all times. If a parking pass is required please contact SoundWaters to arrange one. Please do not park your car without a parking pass, you will get an $80 ticket.
2) Cohen SoundWaters Harbor Center at Boccuzzi Park
200 Southfield Ave
Stamford, CT 06902
About the Harbor Center
The Cohen SoundWaters Harbor Center is located directly on Stamford Harbor in Boccuzzi Park. The Harbor Center serves as the home dock for the Schooner SoundWaters, the home of the SoundWaters Paddlesports rental stand, Young Mariners Academy, SoundWaters Research Intensive, and Harbor Corps.
The Harbor Center is a waterfront facility dedicated to bringing Stamford Harbor and Long Island Sound back into the lives of the entire community through education and recreation.
Activities at the Harbor Center include
- Young Mariners Academy
- Homeport of the Schooner SoundWaters
- Harbor Corps
- SoundWaters Research Intensive
Please note: From May 1 – September 30, a Stamford beach sticker or SoundWaters parking pass is required at all times. If a parking pass is required please contact SoundWaters to arrange one. Please do not park your car without a parking pass, you will get an $80 ticket.
3) Schooner SoundWaters
About the Schooner SoundWaters
The Schooner SoundWaters is the Teaching Vessel of Long Island Sound. It is an 80′, three-masted representation of a 19th century Sharpie Schooner originally designed to catch Terrapins and Oysters, two species we now study. SoundWaters is steel-hulled, U.S. Coast Guard-certified to carry up to 40 passengers. The decks are wide and comfortable and can accommodate wheelchairs. A quiet diesel engine motors the schooner until the sails are raised.
SoundWaters is an ideal platform for learning and experience for both students and adults.
For students, this three-masted, 80′ ship, typically serving forty students, is a teaching platform for the Science of the Sound, a hands-on, science-infused learning experience aboard the Schooner SoundWaters. For adults, the Schooner is a wonderful venue for afternoon and sunset sails that combine learning and exploration of the beauty of Long Island Sound.
The Schooner also travels to various ports across Long Island Sound including
- Mamaroneck, NY
- Greenwich, CT
- Bridgeport, CT
- Milford, CT
- New Haven, CT
- Old Saybrook, CT
- Port Jefferson, NY,
- Oyster Bay, NY
- Port Washington, NY
Activities on the Schooner SoundWaters include
- Floating Classroom Education Sails
- Public Sails
- Teambuilding Sails
- Private Charters
The Schooner’s homeport is the Harbor Center at Boccuzzi Park.
