Hi-We will be flying into Seattle in mid May and taking a car over to the San Juan Islands for want to spend 2-3 days. We want to spend this time hiking and touring the Islands by car. We would like to visit all 3 of the main islands.
Since this is our first trip to San Juan Islands, we do not know whether to use one island as our base, or whether to stay on two islands. Any recommendations? Also, could you recommend a hotel or B and B that would be around $100/night? Our only requirements are that the beds are good and that it is clean.
Also, we were thinking of spending an extra half day or full day driving through Whidbey Island to get to Anacortes instead of using the interstate. Is the scenery on the Whidbey Island drive different from what we will see at the San Juan Islands. Would anyone recommend that we spend an extra night on Whidbey Island in addition to our time at San Juan Islands.

Any recommendations would be appreciated.

I'm not an expert on places to stay on the San Juans, as we normally stay in our boat, but I will say that it might be nice to stay on two islands, Orcas and San Juan Island. Those are really the two main islands. Lopez Island would be fun to visit (Best to see by bike, which can be rented), but with limited time, you might want to stay on the other two.
Whidbey Island is pretty but it doesn't feel quite as islandy or isolated as the San Juans. It claims to be the longest island in the continental US. Long Island loses out because it was declared not to be an island in a court decision. This affected whether the US Coast Guard or NY had jurisdiction over the waters around it, I believe. It is very nice. I'd suggest you spend your nights in the San Juan Islands, however, as you won't have near enough time for them, as it is, unless you really like hopping around.

Unfortunately, you could spend a lot of time waiting in ferry lines if you try to take your car from island to island.

I suggest you stay on Orcas, which offers a lot of varied scenery and nice hiking on Mt. Constitution. Take a day trip over to San Juan Island without the car; you can enjoy Friday Harbor on foot, or rent bicycles to get out of town a bit.

The drive up Whidbey is indeed much more scenic than th einterstate. But I wouldn't spend the night there---your time is best spent in the San Juans.

I like Captain Whidbey Inn, on Whidbey Island.

Since you only have 2-3 nights in the islands, I would just stay on one island and do day trips to the others. My vote would be for Orcas, also. If you're going midweek in May, you really shouldn't have to wait very long for the inter-island ferries even with your car.

Finding something in your budget might be tough, though (you'd have better luck in the $100-125 range I think). Have a look at the Cascade Harbor Inn--it's basic, but it's clean, has a water view and is right near Moran State Park for hiking.

I agree with one of the previous posters about Whidbey--drive up it to avoid I-5, sure, but I'd stay in the San Juans.

"Whidbey--drive up it to avoid I-5"

i looked on a map, but am not sure what you mean. is this a better way to get to a ferry to the San Juans from Seattle?

please explain! thanks!
dina

There is a ferry from Anacortes over to the islands. You can head up I-5 to Mukilteo and take the ferry to Clinton (On the south end of Whidbey), drive up Whidbey to Anacortes and catch the ferry.

Dina, going up Whidbey is a scenic detour and an alternative to driving on I-5 between Seattle and Anacortes. It takes longer both because the road on the island isn't a freeway, and because you have to take a ferry from Mukilteo to the south end of Whidbey (or vice versa if you're going north to south). But it's scenic, and Deception Pass, at the north end of the island, is worth seeing.

Thanks to all who gave me advice on my trip, especially NWwanderer who also helped on the mountain part of the trip (seperate post) I hope Route 20 over the mountains is open by the time of our trip. If not we will go route 2.