Arriving at SeaTac on Sat., August 29 at 11:00 a.m. Plan on going to Roche Harbor on San Juan Island as soon as we arrive. Our options seem to be:
1. Rent a car, drive to Anacortes, will probably catch the 5:00 ferry because it'll be too crowded for the 3:00. That's another 6-7 hours in a car after we land in Seattle.
2. Take seaplane but luggage is limited to 24 # duffel and that's not ideal.
3. Take IslandAirporter shuttle bus from airport at Noon, should arrive at Roche Harbor at 4:00 p.m. Like that - but we would have to leave Roche Harbor at 5:00 a.m. to ride the shuttle bus back to Seattle.

Is there any other way to return to Seattle that we don't know about. We hoped to rent a car at Friday Harbor but it must be returned there and not in Seattle.

Would appreciate any and all suggestions.

No, there's no other way I'm aware of either.

But, you needn't be "in the car" for 6-7 hours even if you plan on catching the 5 PM ferry. For one thing, if your plane's on time, you might actually make the 3 PM--not likely, but certainly possible--it's a 2 hour drive from Seatac to Anacortes so if you're on the road by noon, you should be at the terminal by 2 PM, and while usually on a Sat in the summer you'd need to be there a good 90 minutes to 2 hours in advance, you just never know, you may luck out. And if not, then you could park the car in line and go have a late lunch/early dinner at one of the restaurants near the entrance to the ferry terminal and/or go for a nice hike in Washington Park, a short walk further west along Rt. 20 from the terminal.

If you don't get out of Seatac by noon, then you could assume you won't make the 3 PM and plan to stop in La Conner for lunch and/or go for a short walk/hike near Deception Pass at the north end of Whidbey Island before heading to the ferry terminal by 3:30 PM or so.

And just so you know, you don't have to sit in your car while you're on the ferry--couldn't tell from your post if you realized that.

Hi jwj, I see NWWanderer has given you some great information but I will go ahead and post the website I have which is regarding getting from SeaTac to Friday by Friday Harbor Labs for people visiting their company.

http://depts.washington.edu/fhl/travelinfo.html

Family members visit their parents located on Friday Harbor many times during the year. Are you sure 24 pounds limit..which you stated..would be a problem if you go by seaplane?

One more thought--if you're concerned about limiting yourselves to 24 lbs for your entire trip (not just the SJI portion), Kenmore Air will store your extra luggage for you at their terminal in Seattle.

Perhaps check out Victoria Clipper. Take the Victoria Clipper ferry from Seattle to Friday Harbor. You can then rent a car to drive to Roche Harbor (but reserve in advance, cars are limited). Return the car to Friday Harbor and take ferry back to Seattle. This might be the most relaxing way to do it.

I'm pretty sure the Clipper service to the San Juans isn't operating this year - all chartered to run Navy workers between Everett and Bremerton.

I think shooting for the 3 PM boat is kind of a longshot. I have to drive I-5 on Saturdays and traffic through Seattle and up through Everett/Marysville can be heavy in the afternoons. Plus, weekends in August are cruise days at the airport, and things at the bag claims, rental car offices, etc. can be really really busy. I'd go for the 5 PM boat and not make yourselves crazy.

That's correct--no Clipper to the San Juans this year.

Thanks to all for your help. We have more choices now and you all seem to really know the area. That means a lot.