Québec's most recognizable natural monument and a Gaspésie highlight is giant Rocher Percé (Percé Rock), the 88m-tall, 475m-long chunk of multihued limestone that juts up from the gulf outside the touristy town of Percé. Featured in travel books since Samuel de Champlain's captain's log of 1603, the "pierced rock," a 15m natural archway, appears as if it has been carved by hand.
Next to Rocher Percé is Île Bonaventure, an uninhabited island that's home to more than 100,000 northern gannets. Both are protected by Sépaq under the Parc National de l'Île-Bonaventure-et-du-Rocher-Percé (sepaq.com/pq/bon; $8.78).
To visit the island and see Percé Rock, take a 75-minute boat tour between mid-May to mid-October. Buy tickets (from adult/child $39.14/21.74) from any of the boat operators in Percé; pre-reservations are not accepted. Once you reach Île Bonaventure, there's an option to disembark, but only if you've purchased the Sépaq daily entry beforehand (online or at the quay).
Signs warning of falling rocks should be taken seriously: each year, some 300,000 tons of rock debris detach from the big rock. There used to be two holes in it, but one arch collapsed in 1845; in 2003, 100,000kg of debris fell at once.