The Legend of Wish Rocks in St. Martins

Where legend, geology, and family memory collide on the shores of the Bay of Fundy

Banded rocks might seem ordinary at first glance—just another smooth stone scattered across the sand, etched with a pale stripe of quartz. But in St. Martins, we know better. These are no ordinary stones. Here, they’re known as Wish Rocks, and local legend says they have the power to make your deepest hopes come true.

A Family Tradition, Rooted in Maritime Soil

Every summer of my childhood began with the long pilgrimage up I-95 to the Maritimes. Our parents were born here, and their parents before them. Summers in St. Martins weren’t vacations so much as homecomings—a return to something deeper than place. Something in the bones.

My mother had a particular kind of magic when it came to the beach. She walked the shoreline with the quiet focus of a naturalist and the heart of a poet. My siblings and I followed like ducklings, combing the tides for treasures: rusted tin cans that she swore made the best red rock tea (we believed her), tangled mermaids’ purses, sun-bleached driftwood, and smooth stones that turned brilliant when wet—or licked, which we somehow decided was a valid scientific test.

But it was the Wish Rocks we hunted most of all. Those smooth stones with a single white band running around them like a belt. They weren’t just beach finds—they were tokens of possibility.

Legend says that making a wish come true with a wish rock is a fairly simple procedure. First, find one

Wish Rocks: The Lore

In Maritime folklore, the instructions are simple:

1. Find a rock with a continuous band circling all the way around—no breaks, no other lines to distract its power.

2. Hold it in your hand.

3. Close your eyes.

4. Trace the line with your finger, slowly and deliberately, as you make your wish.

5. Then either toss it far into the sea or give it to someone you love.

That’s it. The ocean does the rest.

And if your wish isn’t for yourself—but for someone else? That’s when the magic multiplies. According to local lore, any selfless wish activates the full force of the Bay of Fundy’s power. In other words: make a wish for another, and all your own come true.

The very best and most powerful Wish Rocks have a single continuous line wrapping around it, a line unbroken and uninterrupted by other lines or streaks.

Every time I go to the beach—whether in St. Martins, or anywhere else in the world, I look not only for rocks with pretty colors but for those magical Wish Rocks.

The Science Beneath the Magic

Even for those less inclined toward folklore, Wish Rocks are still tiny marvels. That white band? It’s quartz, a mineral harder than the surrounding sandstone or basalt. The stripe forms when silica-rich fluids seep into cracks in the rock and harden over millions of years. Over time, erosion polishes the stone and exposes the quartz like a ribbon wrapping around it.

In other words, each Wish Rock is a tiny record of geologic patience—a moment of fracture made beautiful.

And perhaps that's why they feel so magical. They remind us that even broken things can become vessels of hope.

A Pocket Full of Wishes

I still look for Wish Rocks every time I walk a beach, whether here in St. Martins or halfway across the world. And I almost always find one. I keep a few tucked in coat pockets, in the bottom of beach bags, scattered across window sills. Little talismans of memory and hope.

Do they work?

Well, we’ve got three grown kids who still come home, a new daughter-in-law who fits like she’s always been part of us, and Max, our exuberant standard poodle who thinks every wave is his destiny.

What more could you possibly wish for?