In the 16th century, Basque sailors left their Pyrenees villages every spring for a month-long crossing to this Labrador cove, in pursuit of the right and bowhead whales of the Strait of Belle Isle. Their oil lit the lamps of all of Europe. This nearly forgotten chapter of Atlantic history has left Red Bay with the oldest, most complete and best-preserved evidence of European whaling, inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2013. Expedition ships anchor in the bay, exactly where the galleons once lay, and Zodiacs drop passengers in the heart of a village of barely 140 souls.

The story of a lost industry

A few steps from the landing, Parks Canada's two interpretation centres bring together the results of decades of land and underwater excavations. The centrepiece is moving in its simplicity: a chalupa, an eight-metre whaling boat, found crushed beneath the wreck of a galleon and painstakingly restored, considered the oldest surviving boat of its kind. Around it, forged harpoons, red roof tiles from the Basque Country, woollen clothing and navigational instruments bring back to life these crews who sailed to the edge of the known world to fill barrels with oil. Parks Canada guides, often from the village, round out the visit with anecdotes and are happy to answer questions.

Saddle Island, the factory island

Across from the village, Saddle Island housed most of the whaling station: the remains of the ovens where blubber was rendered into oil, the cooperages, and a cemetery where some 140 whalers rest, dead from cold, drowning or exhaustion so far from their mountains. Depending on the season and sea conditions, a short crossing lets you walk around it on an interpretive trail. The waters of the bay also hold the San Juan, a galleon sunk by a storm in 1565, which has become one of the most studied wrecks in maritime archaeology. From the shore, you can clearly make out the outline of the island and the excavation areas; binoculars help you take in the details.

The shore of bones

The Boney Shore Trail follows the shoreline where whale carcasses were left after butchering; fragments of bleached bone still poke out of the short grass, four and a half centuries later. The walk is an easy one, about thirty minutes long. A little farther on, the wooden staircase of the Tracey Hill Trail climbs to a lookout taking in the entire bay, its islands, its barachois and the immensity of the strait where icebergs and whales pass, depending on the season. The wind blows almost constantly up there; it's as much a part of the landscape as the rock.

An expedition port call

• Landing by Zodiac or tender, directly in the village.
• Interpretation centres, trails and lookout can easily be done in half a day.
• Uneven terrain in places: hiking shoes recommended.
• Warm clothing and a windbreaker are essential, even in the middle of summer.

What strikes you most at Red Bay isn't the grandeur of the remains, but their silence. A quiet cove, a few houses, bones in the grass: it takes imagination to fill the bay again with galleons, greasy smoke and shouts in Euskara. That's precisely what makes this place so rare: the chance to feel, physically, the depth of time. You return on board quieter than when you came ashore.