Our Beautiful San Juan Islands of the Pacific Northwest.

About the Islands:

The San Juan Islands are an archipelago in the State of Washington known for its beautiful Pacific Northwest scenery and vast array of wildlife. The best time to visit San Juan Islands is between April and October. You can get to San Juan Islands by a 30 min sea plane ride from Seattle or a ferry ride from Anacortes on a Washington State Ferry. San Juan Islands are best known for their resident pods of Orca whales. While there is three resident pods of Orca there, you can also see Humpback, Grey and Minke Whales from time to time. The San Juan Islands has 172 islands in total, 20 of those islands being inhabited. The Four largest islands are Orcas, San Juan, Lopez and Shaw. These Four Islands are served by ferry service from Washington, while the other islands require private boat or float plane.

Things to do on the Islands:

San Juan Islands is a great place to go explore beautiful scenery and experience all the island has to offer. To get around the islands they offer car rentals, bicycle rentals and seasonal Shuttles from May - September. This is a great place to hike and discover what the island has to offer such as a vast array of wildlife and the beautiful waterfalls the island boasts for example, Cascade Falls a 40 ft waterfall which is the largest waterfall on the island. If you like to whale watch which is the main reason visitors come to the island then your in luck, the islands offers whale and wildlife tours or you can whale watch from shore at Lime Kiln Point State Park which is one of the best places in the world to whale watch from.

The Islands also offer a few types of Museums, a History Museum, an Art Museum and the Whale Museum which you can adopt an Orca at. As for shopping there is Galleries, Shops and Farmers Markets as well as visiting farms. If you like Adventure there is again hiking, fishing, bicycling and San Juan Island Zip Tours. I myself like to beachcomb and look in tide pools and this is also a great place to do that at. If your looking to pamper yourself ladies they also have Spa's on the Island while your Husband goes out fishing! For families this is such a great place to visit because there is an aquarium in Friday Harbor, The Fun House on Orcas Island, skateboarding parks, toy stores, horseback riding, a sculpture park, beachcombing and so much more!

This brings us to lodging and dining. There's so many great places to stay from resorts to cottages, Inns, bed and breakfast's and camping. If your looking for a resort there is Roche Harbor Resort which is a high end harbor front resort with 3 restaurants a spa and gardens there is also Snug Harbor Resort that offers stylish suites and cabins as well as a marina, loaner kayaks, bikes and canoes. Another Resort is West Beach Resort which is a beachfront hotel offering cabins and cottages, a marina and store. If your looking for cottages there is Orcas Island Bayside Cottages which has antique furnishings, kitchens and wood burning stoves as well a private beach. Another one is Deer Harbor Cottages that has an onsite spa and weekend only restaurant. There are also beautiful bed and breakfast places here to consider as well.

As for Dining all Three islands have great places to eat a few offer outdoor dining with Covid-19 and to go service is also available at these Restaurants as well. For a list of Dining on all Three islands go to www.visitsanjuans.com.

Life on the Island:

The San Juan Islands are a quiet small town community that has no stop lights or food chains in fact most of their restaurants are family owned and source their food products from local farms and fisherman there on the island, part of the reason their food tastes so great. The air is clean and the weather moderate because they only receive half of the annual rainfall Seattle gets which is nice and at times you can see meteor showers, stunning full moons reflecting off the ocean and the Northern Lights. Now let's talk about the wildlife the islands have to offer, you have chances to see of course Orca whales and birds, with over 200 bird species on the island a few being Tufted Puffins, Pigeon Guillemots and Bald Eagles in fact the San Juan Islands are home to the largest breeding population of Bald Eagles! You may also see Black Tailed Deer, Red Fox, Black Fox, River Otters, Harbor Seals, Steller's Sea Lions, Dall's Porpoise and a variety of fish including Salmon, Lingcod and Rockfish.

San Juan Islands is such a beautiful part of the Pacific Northwest and a great place to explore on your next adventure! If you would like to find out more about it please visit www.visitsanjuans.com