My husband and I are visiting the San Juan Islands in July 2011. We are planning to take an Orca Whale Watching tour and would like some feedback on which is the best. We are unfamiliar with this area and will be driving from Tacoma. The ferrys seem a bit confusing to me and I have also read that the ferry tickets should be bought well in advance, is this correct? Can a person take a ferry to all the islands or are there any bridges that connect them? We would also like info on a nice but reasonable place or places to stay. We can stay anywhere from 2-4 days. What islands are a must see and any other excursions that are a must. We are middle ages and looking for beauty and fun but nothing too crazy or dangerous. We love wildlife, history and good food. Any feedback would be very much appreciated.
Best Whale Watching Tour, San Juan Islands
Recent Activity
View all United States activity »
- 1 Driving trip from Toronto to San Antonio
- 2 Las vegas hotels--can't make up my mind, help!
- 3 One day in NYC
- 4 TIMESHARE uour opinion on buying timeshare
- 5 Chicago Architectural Tours
- 6 National Parks?
- 7 hotel in carmel or monterey
- 8 Marcola?
- 9 Cast Party at Birdland Monday nights
- 10 Cape Cod, Nuntucket or Martha's Vineyard
- 11
Updates from Hanalei
- 12 Best Art Museum to visit for first time visitors to DC
- 13 Going to Dodge City, Kansas
- 14 Columbus food !
- 15 Hotels in New Orleans
- 16 Reasonably priced seafood/steak restaurant near the strip in Las Vegas?
- 17 A trip to east coast vs a trip to Hawaii
- 18 10 day Hawaii Vacations
- 19 San Francisco - Exploratorium
- 20
New York, New York...my kind of town
- 21 Logan Express
- 22 Great Beach's
- 23 Charleston, SC and Wild Dunes
- 24 Death Valley in November
- 25 Hotels in NYC 26th-29th August (2013)
All the tours know where the whales are. The best one is the one that fits into your schedule and budget.
San Juan and Orcas are the two most popular islands. I prefer San Juan.
There are no bridges between the islands. The ferry schedule is here: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/
HTTY
You can get to Camano Island and Whidby island without taking a ferry..check maps to see how; Orcas is probably the wildest and most natural place, but it is accessible only by ferry (get a ferry schedule and if you are coming on the weekend, the ferry lines can be long, so you should plan ahead). Anacortes is a great place to catch a Whale watch, and maybe even stay overnight while you decide what is next. Rosario is a great choice; we have been there many times.
If I were you and only had a few days, I'd head to Orcas and just stay there.
The ferries out of Anacortes are not that complicated. Depending on the time of year (and time of the week), you may want to get a reservation, but that is no big deal to get. To go whale watching, I'd recommend going to San Juan Island. There are several operators going out of Friday Harbor on various types of boats - I think that the Zodiac-type inflatables are more fun and intimate, and worth the slightly higher cost. We have gone out with Western Prince (orcawhalewatch.com) twice and had a spectacular time, with great whale sightings.
It is kind of expensive to bring your car on the ferry, but then you can drive around and sight-see at your own pace. You could spend a day or two driving around San Juan Island, and the same for Orcas Island.
We took a tour offered by Western Prince on a Zodiac that held 15 people. It was fantastic! There were 11 people on the boat, including 2 naturalists/guides. They were very knowledgeable and being on a small, fast, open boat was so much fun. I would do it again in a heartbeat! Oh, and we did see a lot of whales!
Western Prince also has slightly larger boats with a bathroom, a covered seating area and an inside space with a tiny snack bar. Much more comfortable than the Zodiacs I imagine. Better for us middle agers. They also have great naturalists on board. All the boats end up on the west coast of San Juan Island where the whales swim by and all the boats have to stay a certain distance from the whales.