The best time to see Orca Whales in the waters around on San Juan Island is mid-May through mid-October, when the salmon runs are the strongest and San Juan Island’s fantastic Kayak and Whale Watch & Wildlife Tour Outfitters operate. 

Gorgeous San Juan Island, nestled in the emerald Salish Sea between the Olympic Peninsula and Vancouver Island and only 65 miles north of Seattle, is a marvelous place to tie the knot. 

It’s almost Valentine's Day! Do you know what you will do for your Sweetheart this year?

Friday Harbor, on San Juan Island, only 65 miles north of Seattle and south of Vancouver, BC, surrounded by breathtaking nature, with its small town feel and big city culture is the ideal place for a retreat from “business as usual”. It is close enough to city centers to be reached within a few hours, yet far enough to feel like you are really getting away from it all

Grandma’s Cove in American Camp National Park is one of the few sandy beaches on San Juan Island. The shallow, weather protected cove gets warm enough to swim in the Summer. Grandma’s Cove is a lovely place to watch birds, seals, river otters and sometimes Orca whales.

Have you ever felt like you needed a vacation after the holidays? You loved seeing everybody, cooking all that good food, going to the holiday markets and concerts and festivities and now you feel a touch of Winter Fatigue and a tad impoverished?

Called the “Gourmet Archipelago”, San Juan Island is a locavore’s heaven, with countless, intimate Farm-to-Table-Restaurants headed by famous chefs, serving beautifully presented seasonal and local fare. 

A starry Winter night on San Juan Island’s west side with view of Victoria BC under a shroud of fog, above Haro Strait.

One of the best kept secrets, when it comes to Washington Weekend Getaways, may be visiting gorgeous San Juan Island in the Winter.