Relocating to San Juan(s)/Whidby Island
 

Might be relocating to San Juan Islands-probably Orcas-or Whidby Island. Any information/opinions you'd like to share would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Whidbey Island is not in the San Juan Island group; it is close to north Seattle. Both are beautiful. Being close to Seattle has its advantages (for some); being more remote has its advantages (for others). Whidbey is more developed than Orcas--more restaurants, etc. Also, Oak Harbor (on Whidbey Island) is (I think) a small city. Orcas Island is very sparsely populated, especially in the winter whereas Whidbey has a year-round population.

Whidbey Island is home to a military base and therefore has more of a year round population and amenities. San Juan Islands are beautiful, but kind of remote in nature. Especially in the winter months when tourism really dies down. <BR> <BR>I'd highly recommend finding employment before moving to either place.

You might consider Fidalgo Island, sort of between Whidbey and Orcas, with the lively little town of Anacortes. Easy to hop over to I-5 to drive to Seattle (no ferry) and very accessible to San Juan Islands from its own ferry terminal. Also recommend finding employment before you come if that's a factor in the move, as jobs are scarce. It's a wonderful, friendly place, lots of sunshine, great place to live.

Thanks for the replies. I should have mentioned that we will be retiring so employment is not an issue.Although Whidby is not in the San Juans, we are considering it because we would not be dependent on the ferry. We suspect it may be too crowded, however. We love the outdoors and view being "remote" as an advantage. <BR> <BR>Any other comments? I really appreciate them. Thanks, again.

Lucky you! Nice choices! Have you looked at the Olympic Peninsula as well? We live in Port Townsend and we think it offers many of the amenities found on the islands without the ferry stress (long lines in summer, risky weather in winter that leads to cancelations). Friends who live on the San Juans love it, but building a home was much more expensive than they expected. As retirees, I think you also need to check out the health care services in the San Juans (not just the availability of physicians but also whether they are accepting new patients). You can meet basic health care needs pretty easily, but if you need specialist care for any reason (maybe not now but a few years down the road), it will be more difficult and more expensive than on the mainland. Other friends had to move from an island to Bellingham for better access to medical care. <BR>JP in the OP.

I am SOOOO Jealous!

Hi, Laurie - Visited Whidbey Island last fall and found it a charming and beautiful place. It was sparsely populated to me! My retired friend lives in Oak Harbor, but took us to all the wonderful little towns. She also pointed out her nearest hospital, which I think was about 30 minutes from home. <BR> <BR>We didn't have time for the San Juan Islands on that trip, but I'm guessing it would be more isolated than Whidbey since it's harder to get to. But as mentioned earlier by someone else, retirees probably have to consider access to medical care. (Actually, I thought Whidbey was bad enough if you had to worry about serious illnesses!) <BR> <BR>You must be having fun researching this possible relocation - best of luck to you!! <BR>

Thank you, all. Your points are well taken. Thank goodness we are relatively (early 50's?!)young and healthy but may not always be that way.I am enjoying the research. <BR>JP~we were in Port Townsend last weekend. Great dinner @ Lanza's, by the way! It is charming, we loved the cultural activites offered and the people were very friendly but it is busier than we are looking for. We want more space than Port Ludlow offered and Sequim was HECTIC with 101 running through it. <BR> <BR>How do the quieter areas of Whidby Island compare to those areas? The San Juans? How is the weather in the spring and summer? Thanks, again.This info can't be obtained in books~you are all a great help. <BR> <BR>

There are some very attractive areas on Whidby, such as Langley or Coupeville. These stack up well with Port Townsend as far as physical attraciveness is concerned. Langley especially might be worth considering, as it's only 10 min. from the Mukilteo ferry, so total travel time to Everett is around 40 min., 50 to north Seattle. <BR> <BR>You're right about Sequim, although the weather there is purportedly the best in the region owing to the rain shadow effect of the Olympic Mts. Even with the 101 bypass we still find it a little tedious, although the recent eruption of lavender farming in the Sequim Bay area makes it more interesting. <BR> <BR>Summer on Whidby tends to the cool, but generally no nicer or worse than most other areas around Puget Sound. <BR> <BR>Does it have to be an island? There are lots of mainland areas around Puget Sound which may be very attractive to you without requiring dependence on the ferry system, or consider Camano Island, connected to the mainland by a bridge, but still very much in the "island" lifestyle mode.

The traffic on route 101 is a pain around Sequim, but we usually take the back roads (Old Olympic Highway, etc.) and the traffic is quite light there. Just the locals and a few visitors. <BR>We looked at Sequim--property is cheaper and you can get more for your money (mountain view lots are much easier to find), but Sequim still has a way to go in terms of restaurants, shops, etc. The climate, however, is gorgeous. Feels like late spring about 8 months of the year. We like it and if we hadn't found a place in PT (which we love!), we would have considered there (except Bell Hill, developments up there are so full of CC & Rs to "protect your investment" that we hated it). The other place we looked at in the area but turned away from was Kala Point. Many of the homes are beautiful but it had a creepy ghost town feeling to it when we visited. Nobody was out and about, everyone hiding in their houses. Felt very cold. <BR>PT has a lot of bustle for a small town, but that's one of the reasons we like it! In the winter months, particularly weekdays, it can be very quiet. We love the mix of waterfront life (although we don't have a view home there are plenty of views right down the street), small town friendliness, and a wide range of cultural activities. It's not often you live in a small town of less than 10,000 where you have sushi bars, top quality Thai and other restaurants, great cafes, book stores, jazz clubs and live music every week-end, classical music festivals, writers conferences, ongoing art exhibits and so on. <BR>JP <BR>P.S. Dreamworks is coming to town to film another movie. We had Jennifer Lopez and her crew here earlier this year.

Someone here wrote that the San Juans are sunny. Oh yeah? Have you ever lived here? Take current weather for instance. We haven't seen the sun here since early Sept. And it will be that way most days till April or so. It doesn't rain as much as Seattle but it certainly is as overcast and with those biting winds which are a constant here it means outdoor people can only be outdoors sitting for about 4 months of the year. The rest of the year get your <BR>raingear on and start hiking cause you'll need to not to freeze your %$#s off.