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ABSTRACT The hydrography and circulation of Conception Bay (Newfoundland) are de-scribed based on hydrographie, current-meter and drifter data collected over four years (1988-1991). The seasonal cycles of température (—1.6 to 13-17°C) and salinity (31-32.5) in thé boy closely follow those on thé adjacent shelf. Exchange of bottom water was ob-served in April 1989. Deepwater exchange was observed from late fait to early winter of 1989-90. Tidal currents are weak, 1-2 cm s~ ' for thé MI and K \ consiituents. Observed Eu-lerian mean currents (<.3 cm s~ * ) are smaller than thé standard déviation (1-11 cm s ~); however, there is a persistent outflowing current of 10 to 20 cm s ~ within 2 km of thé shoreline on thé eastern side of thé outer bay. The Lagrangian corrélation length scale is from 4 to 10 km, in agreement with thé weak cohérence squared (^0.4) found between thé fixed current-meter sites separated by greater than 4-5 km. The variable currents (up to 20 cm s~] ) tend to be cyclonic. Cyclonic eddies were observed near thé mouth on thé eastern side ofthe bay, adjacent to thé outflow. A simplified fractal dispersion model gives résidence times of 42 d similar to those obtained from a scaling analysis (30-40 d) and a diagnostic numerical model (30 d)