San Juan Islands Washington which one to stay on...
 

Just need some input from those of you who have stayed or are familiar with the San Juan Islands. Have 2-3 nights to spend up in that area can't decide which Island to stay on. Might want to do a day trip from where we stay to Victoria BC. Will be coming from Olympic NP. Be there Oct 1-3. Like hiking and exploring, maybe some kayaking . Can you still rent mopeds? Thanks in advance

I prefer Orcas, in part because it has Moran State Park for hiking. But SJI is lovely too. I don't think day trips are possible from the San Juans to Victoria however--the ferry schedule doesn't work for that and in any event, if you only have 2 days in the islands, that's barely enough time to scratch the surface of things to do there.

If you have 3 nights to play with, a better plan would be to take the ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria, spend a night there, then take the ferry on to the San Juans from Sidney BC (just north of Victoria).

What type of places do you like to stay? The accommodations on Orcas are mainly B&Bs while SJI has at least one full service resort, Roche Harbor.

Yes, you can rent mopeds but I'd take your car on the ferry.

If you are finishing up hiking in Olympic NP it might be a nice break to just spend a couple nights in Victoria where you could see the garden, go on a whale sighting zodiac ride, etc. You would spend a great deal of your 2-3 days just try to get from point to point on the ferry- which is fun but will take time.

Or base on San Juan Island and make a day trip to Orcas Island to see Mt.Moran-spectacular view at sunset or sunrise, and Lopez Island- to rent a bike-nice, easy terrain.

Have a great time!

Thanks for the suggestions. I think we can get another night out of our plans. We leave Olympic Thurs morning we could take the ferry to Victoria. Stay the night there. And as you suggested take the ferry out of Sydney. Then spend 2 night in either SanJuan or Orcas. We are going to give up one of our days in Seattle to do this. We had planned on 2 1/2 days but I would rather do the Islands.

Orcas sounds like the place to stay.

Any suggestions on places in Orcas...

Any ferry dos or don'ts.

Thanks for your help. We are really excited...

OOps one more question. Suggestions on Places to stay in Victoria??

I think Orcas is the most beautiful, and it's less developed than San Juan, which is the commercial center of the islands. There are tons of great places to stay--look at Trip Advisor. Good restaurants, too (Rose's is my favorite, Inn at Ship Bay is also good). But, if you are going in summer and whales are a priority, it's usually easy to see whales right from shore on the west side of San Juan. San Juan also has a great historical park (www.nps.gov/sajh).

Try to avoid a weekend trip to the islands; even in the off season you'll need to line up for a Sunday ferry back to the mainland far in advance. Weekdays, there's usually no problem.

What's your budget per night and do you like B&Bs?

OK I think we have decided that going for a day/night to Victoria might spend too much time on the Ferry. I was able to find the ferry service going to Victoria from Port Angeles as we will be staying in Sol Duc hot springs the night before BUT I could not find a ferry going from Sidney to the San Juans on Friday. So I think we will go right to ORCAS island from Olympic NP.

Best way to do this looks like going out of Port Townsend
QUESTION: How long will it take to drive from Sol Duc Hot springs to Port Townsend and what ferry line do I research....is there a direct ferry to Orcas and what is the time...

I have been reading other posts but getting very confused.

I don't want to spend a good part of our 2-3 days riding the ferry that is why I think we might eliminate Victoria.

Feedback appreciated. Thanks

Oh NWWanderer our budget is $100-150/night on the low end if possible. B&B's are fine. Thanks for any suggestions for Orcas Island.

There is a ferry from Sidney to Friday Harbor on Friday, it leaves at 11:50 AM and gets to Friday Harbor about 2 hours later; you'd have to then take another ferry from Friday Harbor to Orcas:

http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/ (go to the fall schedule and input Sidney and Friday Harbor on Oct 2).

If you decide to skip Victoria then yes, you'll need to take the ferry from Port Townsend to Keystone (on Whidbey Island), drive up Whidbey to Anacortes, and take the ferry from Anacortes to Orcas. Schedule details can be found on the WA State Ferries site above (and you'll want to make reservations on the Port Townsend/Keystone ferry--that's the only route of the two that you can reserve).

I'd allow a good 2-2.5 hours to get from Sol Duc to Port Townsend.

If you skip Victoria, I'd urge you to consider going to Orcas on Thursday and coming back on Saturday to avoid the worst lineups (on Friday and Sunday going and coming back, respectively).

For accommodations in your budget range on Orcas, look at Cascade Harbor Inn, Inn at Ship Bay, Otters Pond and Turtleback (the latter are B&Bs that have some rooms in your price range along with more expensive rooms). This website gives a good overview of accommodations (there's a link to click to check availability):

http://www.visitsanjuans.com/visitors/accommodations/

Thank you NWWanderer

We are taking your advise and are going to Orcas on Thurs. Hubby has reserved space on the Ferry. But we will be coming back on Sunday....

We also booked at the Inn at Ship Bay. Thanks for all the good tips. Very much appreciated and a great help.

Very excited!!! Can't wait to see your part of the country.

You're welcome! Be sure to have dinner at Ship Bay--IMO it's the best restaurant on the island.

Since you're coming back on a Sunday, you'll generallly need to get to the ferry terminal at least 90 minutes to two hours in advance of the ferry you want, even in the off-season. But ask at the Inn, they'll be able to give you more precise advice. For the ferry TO Orcas on Thursday, 60 minutes in advance should be fine.

I just got an email yesterday about a concert on Orcas on Friday Oct 2--can't remember the details but it looked interesting so you might want to look into it.

Thank you all for your input we just got back a couple of days ago and I wanted to let you know that all of your info was very helpful. Especially the ferry time warnings. We did leave on the 10am ferry on sunday from Orcas and we got there about 45 min ahead of time and there was already line to the 4th lane.

Stayed at Inn at Ships bay but didn't get a chance to eat there but I think you were right about it being the best place around. The lot was filled with diners by the time we got back to our room. Looked like it was a sell out each night.

Don't know what the concert was but that would have been a cool thing to do. We were there. We did get to the farmers market. It was moved indoors but the fresh fruits and veggies looked wonderful.

Hiked to Mt. Constitution. The view was spectacular. Wish we had been there when the moon came out cuz we were blessed with a full moon. Did a wale watching trip and they were all out there waiting for us doing their beautiful sea dances.

We weren't too sure we were going to like the Island when we arrived. It was raining and we headed in the wrong direction from the ferry but our opinion was changed by the great beauty that surrounded us. We were also given a great tip on a place to see star fish at low tide. WOW beautiful orange stars all over the place.

So thanks again for your help