Sea Kayaking in the San Juan Island

The San Juan Island are proof positive that not all great island-hopping adventures take place in sun-soaked tropical waters. A close-knit archipelago of 743 islands in the not-exactly-balmy waters of the Puget Sound, the San Juans offer stunning vistas, brilliant sunsets, and fir-clad shores. Though ferries shuttle between a few of the sixty inhabited islands off the coast of northwest Washington and southern British Columbia, only in a sea kayak can you discover nestled coves, hidden inlets, and see up-close the abundant marine life that make a journey on these waters so special.

The San Juan Island

The big surprise for most first-time sea kayakers coming to the San Juan Islands are the feisty currents that flush with the tides through the channels of the Puget Sound. Because the islands are really the tops of a mountain range within an inland sea, every time the tide changes – and it can be a change of 12-15-ft – the water flows in an out between the islands with the force of river rapids. Exiting but treacherous, the currents bring food for the many marine mammals that thrive in the island waters. With a large number of both resident and transient orcas in the islands, whale-watching is popular pursuit, and your best chances of seeing an orca in the Lower 48 will be on the west side of San Juan Island from June through September. Dall’s porpoise, minke whales, harbor seals, otters, elephant seals, and sea lions are also commonly spotted; it’s easy to see why Hacques Cousteau ranked the area one of the best dive spots in the world. Topside, you’re likely to glimpse deer, sea and shore birds, as well as bald eagles, with over a hundred nesting on the mountainous and the forested islands.

Rumor: Sailing Charters

Mac Millin Restaurant

Looking to the north on Mosquito Pass