• The TUGBBS forums are completely free and open to the public and exist as the absolute best place for owners to get help and advice about their timeshares for more than 30 years!

    Join Tens of Thousands of other Owners just like you here to get any and all Timeshare questions answered 24 hours a day!
  • TUG started 31 years ago in October 1993 as a group of regular Timeshare owners just like you!

    Read about our 31st anniversary: Happy 31st Birthday TUG!
  • TUG has a YouTube Channel to produce weekly short informative videos on popular Timeshare topics!

    Free memberships for every 50 subscribers!

    Visit TUG on Youtube!
  • TUG has now saved timeshare owners more than $24,000,000 dollars just by finding us in time to rescind a new Timeshare purchase! A truly incredible milestone!

    Read more here: TUG saves owners more than $24 Million dollars
  • Sign up to get the TUG Newsletter for free!

    Tens of thousands of subscribing owners! A weekly recap of the best Timeshare resort reviews and the most popular topics discussed by owners!
  • Our official "end my sales presentation early" T-shirts are available again! Also come with the option for a free membership extension with purchase to offset the cost!

    All T-shirt options here!
  • A few of the most common links here on the forums for newbies and guests!

Whale Watching in San Juan Islands - Help Needed

J

jlwquilter

TUG Review Crew: Veteran
TUG Member
Joined
Jan 24, 2007
Messages
1,552
Reaction score
16
Location
West Palm Beach FL
I have done quite a bit of reading on this already but am having trouble figuring out where to book our tour. It will be me, DH and DD (12). We'll be in Seattle for the week and due to DH having to actually work (poor guy!) we can only go Saturday, August 6th.

I have sites bookmarked for a few 'party boat' style tours - ok price but ALOT of people on each boat, boats are large and may be the last to arrive and first to leave at a whale sighting. On the other end are more private operations where there's 6 people total (and we'd be half that number!) but price is double, at least. One such tour it out of Friday Harbour and the other is out of the west side of the island and that means haivng to add the cost of transport to and back from there as well as the cost of the actual tour.

I don't mind paying more to get more when more is worth it. But if practically any tour will get us as close as it's possible to be (with laws and all) it may not be worth paying more as we'll get basically the same experience as on the party boat.

Some tours start right at Anacortes - which I think is convenient as we don't have to hassle with the ferry over on our own - but they are the party boat style. Also, while they advertise longer trips, obviously a part of that is spent on actually getting to the SJI area. Are whales normally seen during the trip over? So it really is part of the watching experience instead of kinda a misleading advertising gimmick?

So... what whale watching tours have TUGgers taken specifically involving the San Juan Islands? Would you recommned that tour? Wish you'd done it differently?

We can not stay overnight on SJI, in case it matters. DH has to fly out on Sunday to the next city.

Any and all input is appreciated!
 
I haven't done the whale watching tours so don't have any advise on that. However, the logistics of getting to San Juan Island in the summer can be tricky.
A Saturday in August means very long lines at the ferry dock. Your best bet is to walk on. If you have a car, plan on getting there AT LEAST 1 hour early. The return trip can be especially tricky with people lining up for 5-6 hours to get off the island. So walking on would eliminate a lot of hassle. There is parking near the dock, though I don't know if it fills up on a summer weekend.
In addition, if your return trip is on the ferry that comes from Syndney, BC, you will need a passport when you get off the boat in Anacortes. All passengers go through customs regardless of where they got on.

Frankly, the hassle of getting to Anacortes and then the ferry means I would look at trips from Seattle. Clipper Vacations runs one that leaves from Seattle: http://www.clippervacations.com/whalewatching/packages/sanjuanislandsdaytrip
You are going to be spending all day on this trip one way or the other. You might as well be on the water the whole time instead of in a car on a freeway etc.

Sue
 
You're facing some serious driving and waiting to do what you want to do.

Anacortes is roughly an hour north of Seattle, not counting traffic. I live close to where the state highway that goes to Anacortes (Hwy 20) crosses Interstate 5, and I can tell you, Summer traffic can get very congested up this way. There is a lot to see, and a lot of people who want to do it.

Once you get in line at the ferry terminal in Anacortes, the ferry ride from Anacortes to San Juan Island, even if a direct boat, is at least an hour, plus wait time to get on the boat. See the Washington DOT Ferry Schedule website for specifics: http://www.wsdot.com/ferries/Schedule/Default.aspx The only real change you'll find between their Spring and Summer schedules is boats may run earlier or later on a given day, and sometimes they have additional runs if warranted. The problem on a busy day is they can get really behind schedule, and it's not uncommon for a scheduled ferry to leave the dock a couple of hours later than the posted time. There is no recourse, so you're kind of a captive audience, especially if you're driving on the boat.

On your return trip, you're facing even more ferry traffic trying to get off the island. It's not uncommon to wait four hours or more to get on a ferry back to the mainland. When I lived in the San Juans, we used to take a car down to the ferry line the night before, just to make sure we'd have a place in line on the first boat. It can be a challenge working with the ferries.

One shortcut you could do: If you walked on the boat at Anacortes, you'd be able to reduce the wait times, and the cost would be much less. Whale Watching boats from San Juan Island usually depart from Friday Harbor, which is where the ferry docks. So you'd be on site more easily. (You could drive up from Seattle, park the car, and walk on the ferry. And hour drive, an hour ferry ride, plus a bit of wait time. So two-plus hours, at best.)

The whales that live around here are in a few pods, and they tend to stay in groups in the local area. So the idea of seeing one or two whales is less likely than seeing several at a time. And the boat operators usually communicate with each other, so when the whales are spotted, the boats all find out where the whales are located. Chances are pretty good you'd see whales on that ride, no matter which boat you'd be on. Ask about refunds if you don't see a whale.

I think the best use of your time would be to arrange a tour leaving from Settle, or perhaps even one from Anacortes, if they still have them. That way you can skip the ferry altogether.

It's a hassle, sure, but it's well worth seeing the Orca whales doing their thing out here. There are laws preventing boats from approaching too closely, so unless the whales approach the boats, you're still going to be a couple hundred yards from the whales, at best.

Lots of ideas, I know, and not many firm answers. I hope this helps you enjoy your trip. Dress in layers, expect cool (even rainy) weather, and enjoy the experience. They don't call the San Juans the "Martha's Vineyard of the West Coast" for nothing. It's awesome out there.

Edited to add: After reading over your post again, I think your best bet would be to take a boat from Anacortes. You can drive up at your leisure, get on the boat when scheduled, enjoy the whale watching trip, and then drive back to Seattle. There is a LOT to see in both directions, and you won't be on the hook to make a certain ferry. (Check out Deception Pass State Park: http://www.parks.wa.gov/parks/?selectedpark=Deception Pass This is just a few miles from Anacortes.) The whale watching boat from Anacortes may be a "party boat" but you're likely to be so far from the whales anyway, it won't much matter what size boat you're on. And most visitors who whale watch are families anyway, so there won't be all that much partying going on.

Have fun!

Dave
 
Last edited:
Thank you both! I hadn't even considered a tour with a start point in Seattle itself. I will look at a few of them.

I had already discarded the idea of taking the rental car on. Paying for parking and walking on seemed smarter from the start. And I can pre- buy the ferry tickets online, skipping a step there also. Because we wouldnt' have the car, we'd need to get a tour right out of Friday Harbor or take a taxi to a tour off the west side of the island (even more added cost).

But now that you are making me re-think, what I was first seeing as a negative - starting in Anacortes vs. Friday Harbor or now Seattle maybe - may be a positive. We'll be on the water either was getting to the actual islands, so why not just start out and stay on the same boat, therefore skipping the ferry and the asscociated hassle.

I am not at all worried about the 'party' part of the party boat. I am more worried about it being high season and the tours being crammed full. Not to mention everyone crammed against the same rail fighting to see a distant whale. That part is totally unappealing to me. That is why I was thinking of a smaller operation.

Ok, no definitive clear winner yet - maybe someone else will post??? - but a new idea to check out (Seattle based tour) and a re-look at the Anacortes based tours.

Please post any additoinal thoughts, comments, suggestions! Thanks!
 
I think leaving from Seattle will make for a very long day on the boat. If you drive to Anacortes (which isn't all that hard - and it's a nice drive) and get on a boat there, you're much closer to where the whales are. So getting to the sighting area will be faster.

Leaving from Seattle may mean leaving an hour or two earlier, and you'd miss all the driving scenery each way. True, the scenery from the boat will be nice, too, but how much of a good thing are you willing to put up with? Do you get seasick? What if it's raining?

And if you got all the way out to the San Juans and didn't see a whale, it'd be a VERY long ride back to Seattle with disappointed kids. If you drove, you could make a few free side trips along the way and distract them from their disappointment.

If you decide on one way or another and need someone "on the ground" to research things locally, let me know. I'd be glad to help.

Dave
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top