There are also islands in the Greater Puget Sound that are not in San Juan County, they are in Island County. To purists these islands are not “San Juan” islands. For simplicity we are including all of the U.S. islands north of Seattle in the San Juan Islands.

In the map below of the “Greater Puget Sound” inland waters you can see that Vancouver Island, part of British Columbia, Canada, is located to the west of the San Juan Islands, protecting them from the weather and wave action of the Pacific Ocean to the west.

The Northeastern Islands

Two of the San Juan Islands are located in Whatcom County. They are Lummi Island and Eliza Island. Lummi Island is serviced by a ferry owned by Whatcom County. The mainland ferry terminal is at Gooseberry Point west of Bellingham. Eliza Island is a private island full of vacation homes. The island has an airport and a dock owned by the homeowners association. There are no public facilities on the island.

Islands Connected by Bridge to the Mainland

Two of the “San Juan Islands” are located in Island County and are linked to the mainland by bridges. The bridge linked islands are Whidbey Island, Camino Island, and Fidalgo Island. Fidalgo Island is where Anacortes and the Eastern Terminal of the Washington State Ferries that serve the San Juan Islands are located.

The Islands Serviced by Washington State Ferries

Four of the 175 or so San Juan Islands are serviced by Washington State Ferries. The islands are Lopez, Shaw, Orcas, and San Juan. These are the largest of the San Juan Islands and probably contain 95% of the island population.

Washington State Ferries

The most used method of getting to the San Juan Islands is the Washington State Ferries. There are two terminals, one in Anacortes and one in Sidney, BC, Canada, (just north of Victoria).

The Ferry from Sidney stops at Friday Harbor only to pick up additional cars and passengers and those passengers must also go through the border crossing inspection station at Anacortes. There is no island access from the Sidney to Anacortes run.

On the other hand, from Anacortes you can stop at all of the islands and then go to Sidney from Friday Harbor. You will want to take you car onto the islands as there are miles of roads on each island and the attractions on the islands are spread over each island.

Reservations on Ferries

Reservations are only available and required for travel to Sidney, BC. Washington State Ferries are first come first served from Anacortes to the four islands they serve, Lopez, Orcas, Shaw, and San Juan islands.

For more information about Washington State Ferries see Washington State Ferries below.

Bus Connection to the islands

The Belair Airporter offers bus service from both the SeaTac Airport and downtown Seattle to the Anacortes ferry dock via a transfer in Mount Vernon. They depart from SeaTac eleven times a day. If you want to fly to Seattle, and spend a vacation in the islands without the worry of a rental car then this is the way to accomplish your goal. For more information See “Bus Service” below.

Amtrak

Amtrak provides daily service from King Street Station in Seattle north to Vancouver, BC with a stop in Mount Vernon, among other cities. Amtrak will arrange shuttle service to the Anacortes Ferry Terminal.

The Best Way to See the Islands

By far the best to see the islands is by yacht. We owned a yacht for over 30 years and spent a great deal of time in both the San Juan Islands and the Canadian Gulf Islands. There is no experience in life that equals yachting in the San Juan Islands with their relatively small bodies of water and hundreds of islands to explore. There are whole islands that are State Parks and many Marine State Parks, accessible only by boat, throughout the islands.

There are several companies in Bellingham and Anacortes that rent yachts. They come in all sizes but I would suggest that 26 feet is about the smallest yacht you should rent.

Having said that, we have a caution. Yachting is the San Juan Islands is relatively safe if you are cautious and know what you are doing. Don’t have a great vacation turn into a nightmare because of lack of knowledge and experience. Take a boating class that includes navigation before you go yachting in the San Juan Islands. If you have no boating experiences consider renting a yacht with crew.

The Fastest way to get to the San Juan Islands

By far, the fastest way to get to the islands is flying. However, you will not find a presence of major airlines in the San Juan Islands. You will find small airlines flying small aircraft, both seaplanes and land based, from Seattle, Anacortes, and Bellingham into the islands.

Washington State Ferries
Washington State Ferries Anacortes Terminal web cams - Click here. Anacortes / San Islands schedule - Click here Anacortes / Sidney, BC, Canada - Click here. Fares: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/fares/ Home Page: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/	Terminal Pages Friday Harbor: Click here. Shaw Island: Click here. Orcas Island: Click here. Lopez Island: Click here. Anacortes: Click here.
Bus Service	Amtrak train service
Belair Airporter Shuttle http://www.airporter.com Airporter Schedule Provides daily service from SeaTac Airport and downtown Seattle to the Washington State Ferry Terminal in Anacortes. Anacortes schedule is at the bottom of the page, the third schedule.	Amtrak http://www.amtrak.com/ Daily trains between Seattle and Mount Vernon. Catch-A-Train to the San Juans http://www.catch-a-train.com/page2.html They will arrange shuttle service to the Anacortes Ferry Terminal.
Air Service to the San Juan Islands
Island Air 72 Airport Circle Drive Friday Harbor, WA 98250 360-378-2376 http://www.sanjuan-islandair.com/ Provides charter service from SeaTac to the San Juan Islands.	Kenmore Air 6321 NE 175^th Street PO Box 82064 Kenmore, WA 98028-0064 425-486-1257 or 1-866-435-9524 http://www.kenmoreair.com/ They offer both scheduled and charter flights to the San Juan Islands and British Columbia. They have seaplane flights from Lake Union in downtown Seattle right to the docks in Friday Harbor on San Juan Island.
San Juan Airlines 1-800-874-4434 http://www.sanjuanairlines.com/ Scheduled, charter, and Scenic flights from Anacortes, Bellingham, and Seattle to the San Juan Islands and British Columbia.
Yacht Rentals
Bellhaven Charters 714 Coho Way Bellingham, WA 98225 1-800-542-8812 http://www.bellhaven.net/ They rent both sail boats and power yachts.	San Juan Yachting 2615 South Harbor Loop#1 Bellingham, WA 98225 1-800-670-8089 http://sanjuanyachting.com/ They rent both sail boats and power yachts.
Anacortes Yacht Charters 2415 T Avenue Suite 2 PO Box 69 Anacortes, WA 98221 360-293-4555 http://www.ayc.com/ They rent both sail boats and power yachts.

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