San Juan Orca Kayak Tours
 

We will be in San Juan at the end of August and are looking to do an Orca sea kayak tour. Does anyone have a vote for the best operators? (And any idea of the chance of a successful sighting?!) Also, does anyone have a recommendation for a good campground on San Juan for after the tour? One more thing - Is it worth trying to take a car on the ferry over there? I read that you need to get there hours early for that. Thanks

I don't think any of the camping options are great on San Juan Island (the other big three islands all have great campgrounds), but San Juan County park is okay. It's basically a grassy area-there isn't privacy between sites-but it's on the water, and you can hear and sometimes see whales from there. You can make a reservation (you probably need one). You'll need a car to get there, or really get most anyplace around the island, unless you arrange for a rental car or shuttle there. Look online at these options before leaving the car on the mainland. If you go during weekdays you won't have long waits with a car (still get there early, though-whatever they're recommending on the ferry website).

That's helpful thanks. We might think about making it a day trip, the kayak operators pick you up from the ferry. We had hoped to enjoy the scenery a bit more, maybe we'll explore island-hopping..

The best operator is Sea Quest Kayaking Tours www.sea-quest-kayak.com. I researched all the companies and talked to some references before signing up for a tour. Sea Quest has biologist guides and has been leading kayak tours longer than any other company in the San Juan Islands. I took a three-day kayak trip with them and we saw the orcas twice. Talk about an exciting way to see whales! Their food was excellent as was all the equipment they provided. By the way, we launched from San Juan County Park on the first day and it is a sweet little park with eagles, seals, otters, and killer whales, too!

I've done kayak trips with almost all of the operators on SJ island. I myself don't like to have to physically haul kayaks both for 2 reasons..one is that it's heavy work (it seems more woman than men do kayak trips so carrying a very heavy two man kayak over rocks with another small woman is not pleasant IMO). The other thing to recall is that when you have to do that type of launch (which all but two companies here do) it adds about 2 hours to the "trip" time they give you. I'd rather had a 3 hours kayak trip where you easily launch direct from a pier than a 5 hour trip that involves having to unload kayaks from the top of a van trailer and carry them down to a beach. The two companies that launch from piers (they use either Snug Harbor, Roche Harbor or FH piers) IMO are much preferable.