A trip up to the San Juan Islands was a must do during our visit to the Seattle area. A combination of water and island time on an island with fresh seafood sounded like a great way to spend a day.

Trip Report

• Trip Planning And Delta Flight
• Mountain Day up to Olympic National Park
• Pike Place Market And Space Needle
• San Juan Islands Day Trip
• Winery Day

Drive To Ferry

The drive up to Anacortes, where we would take the ferry over to Orcas Island, took about 1 hour and 30 minutes. The drive was easy. We took interstate 5 north to route 20 west to Anacortes ferry docks. Before we left, we checked the Anacortes westbound ferry schedule so that we timed our arrival. We drove our car right up onto the ferry and off we were over to Orcas Island.

The fog over the water and islands felt a bit majestic and made for a fun ride in the morning. Just glad we had our extra large coffees and North Face jackets.

The ferry ride to Orcas Island had nice views of the water and nearby islands. It was definitely more foggy during the morning ride to the islands than it was on the return ferry ride. Before we knew it, we were docked at Orcas Island’s ferry dock and ready to explore the island.

San Juan Islands

First stop was main street right on fishing bay. There was a small beach that we explored before heading over to main street for a crab cake snack.

The next stop we stumbled upon a shell fish farm. I’ve read that Orcas shell fish farms produce oysters, clams and mussels.

It was definitely interesting to see our first working shell fish farm. You could see that the rows of shell fish were so neatly aligned at low tide.

On the way to the third stop we caught a deer having a road side snack. A big thanks to Mrs Weekly Flyer for catching this shot using her special 35 mpg photography skills.

The third stop was somewhere near the town of Olga. There was a little restaurant / market in front of a long dock. We enjoyed a snack, drinks and a walk on the long dock.

The final stop before heading back to the ferry dock was a stop on the north side of the island at North Beach. The island’s only airport is to the west of the beach.

Happy Hour At Ferry Docks And Ride Back To Anacortes

Once back at the ferry docks, we couldn’t resist a picturesque happy hour overlooking the Salish Sea. I stopped into a nearby restaurant and picked up a couple of cold Pilsner Urquells for our enjoyment. We saw a few yachts and a seal in the water while we were waiting for our ferry to arrive.

We saw several ferries go by, but they were all false alarms.

The Ferry Ride home was longer than the ride to Orcas. I think there were a few stops at islands like Shaw and Lopez before arriving back at Anacortes.

Bottom Line

The trek to Orcas Island was well worth it. It was a nice easy adventure for us to spend a little time on the water, explore an island and eat some great seafood. If you are ever in the Seattle area, consider making a visit to one of the San Juan Islands to see for yourself.

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