Places to go in the San Juan Islands

What is there to do in the San Juan Islands.

  All the places listed are accessible by boat, some by vehicle too.

Almost every park has easy to lengthy hikes so  follow this link to all the parks  All the parks Below are San Juan area hikes not found in parks.

Eagle Bluff on Cypress (My all-time favorite - Start at Pelican Beach)

Afterglow Mausoleum at Roche Harbor

Turn Point Lighthouse on Stuart Island

Young Hill at English Camp

China Caves from Fossil Bay

Vendovi Preserve on Vendovi Island

Fort Whitman on Goat Island

Turtleback Mountain, begin at West Sound County dock

Click here for >> Detailed instructions for the hikes

            

Eagle Bluff (Cliff) from Rosario Strait

Dining/eats:  I have never reviewed restaurants and won't here.  However a newbie to the San Juans has no idea where to go so here goes some locations.

Blakely's: Just inside Peavine Pass has a small deli bar  (great hard ice cream stop)
Eastsound: It's a one block walk from the dock to downtown with many bistros, and shops.
Rosario: Dock, restaurants
Lopez Village - Fisherman Bay: Restaurant at Islander Resort or click here for Dinghy beach landing at Lopez Village
Friday Harbor: many places are walking distance from complementary tie ups in marina
Deer Harbor: Deli on dock, restaurants on shore
Roche Harbor: several restaurants on shore, complementary dock
West Beach: north shore on Orcas, deli in store on dock Transient tie ups:  

All cities and marinas are well noted on this site but there are lots of docks other than parks that you may visit for short term, try this link, 16 public docks other than parks where you are welcome

Groceries, shopping: 

 The best advice here is to bring what you can before you head out, but the San Juans are not without good grocery stores.  You just need to know where they are.  This comprehensive post has them all >> Where are all the big stores?

Fuel: 

 Gas and diesel are readily available.  I would arrive with full tanks but not to worry if you don't.  This link will take you to all of them  >>  fuel docks 

Whale Museum in Friday Harbor is just up a flight of stairs from the marina office

Turn Point Lighthouse museum on Stuart Island

Patos Island Lighthouse Museum on Patos

Moran mansion has a third floor museum at Rosario Resort

English Camp at Garrison Bay on San Juan Island

Sculpture Garden at Roche Harbor

There are Saturday Markets at Lopez Village, Friday Harbor and Eastsound

Campgrounds, parks: 

For all the parks, click right here  >> Parks - Parks - Parks 

Special places we really like: Fifteen lessor known places to go

Click below for a satellite view of West Beach Resort on Orcas Island

Here is my proof "paying it forward" pays off

A while back I wrote about helping others when boating,  (click here to read that post) and someday you might need a little help out yourself, well last month I got help in a very big way, reinforcing my conviction about paying it forward.

Here in a nutshell is what happened. We found ourselves a 100 miles or so and a week into our cruise when the diesel engine quit.  To continue on our way we had our 7.5 hp kicker and 3 gallons of gas which was not enough gas to make it to the nearest gas dock let alone on to the San Juans. After some cell phone calls to my son at home, (he was at a computer online) I decided to run about five miles to a nearby shutdown marina, anchor the boat and take the dinghy to shore and a road where I would call a taxi from a neighboring town 15 miles away (or hitch hike) to take me to somewhere to buy four five gallon fuel containers and bring them back to the dinghy full of gas. Sounds like a miserable way to finish a cruise but a workable plan never the less.
But it turned out great, while paddling my dinghy to shore I started talking with two fisherman in their dinghy, that were just finishing up crabbing for the day.  They offered me a ride, they took me into town, waited while I bought four new gas jugs, took me to a gas station and brought me back to the dinghy.  All this in less than an hour, heck we spend more time watching eagles than this little emergency excursion took. When I fished out a twenty and offered to pay for their time or at least the fuel cost they politely refused.  My response to their generosity was to promise to help someone in need and keep it going.

So "paying it forward" is very much alive and well, and apparently I still have credits in my account.

Click below for a satellite view of Pleasant Harbor on Hood Canal