Oak Island

Learn More About Oak Island

This unassuming dot of land was paid little attention until 1795, when a teenaged boy discovered a circular depression in the ground and started digging. As he and his friends dug, they discovered layers of logs and what were believed to be pick scrapings along the walls of a pit. Soon after, another group of treasure seekers took over, convinced that the so-called ‘Money Pit’ was the site of long-lost buried treasure, possibly belonging to Captain Kidd or Blackbeard. They even claimed to have found a flagstone etched with symbols that, according to an amateur cryptologist, translated into “forty feet below, two million pounds lie buried”.

Over the past 200 years, despite the difficulties and risks (six men have died while digging), there have been many determined efforts to find Oak Island’s treasure, even attracting the interest of US President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Today, The History Channel’s popular TV series, “The Curse of Oak Island”, is filmed on Oak Island as the Lagina brothers continue the search for treasure and likely won’t stop until the mystery of the money pit is solved.

Please note that Oak Island is privately owned and only open to the public during pre-booked guided tours. If you’d like to connect with the Oak Island mystery, stories, and history of treasures in Nova Scotia outside of these tours, there are experiences available off-island to enjoy.