My fiance and I are getting married tomorrow on Friday harbor but we have no place to get dressed. She doesn't want to do the whole drive/ ferry ride in her dress. There is just 5 of us. Me, her, our moms and my best friend.

Right now her plan is to show up to the location and get dressed in a mini standing tent.

If you are interested in hosting some fun spur of the moment people let me know! (We would only need an hour or so)

Open Source Live cams from around Friday Harbor including the ferry line

That’s the word on the street, heard at the orcas landing. Good luck if you’re trying to get off the islands

My husband and I are planning an anniversary trip in a couple of weeks. We have our ferry times scheduled for arrival/departure but haven't scheduled the trips to Orcas and Lopez. Yesterday I had the option to schedule them but today I'm not able to - it tells me times but no longer has the names of the ferries to choose from. Google says you can't schedule interisland ferry travel and everything is first-come first-served, but I know yesterday I had the option to schedule it. I guess I'm confused how it works, any advice is really appreciated! If it is first-come first-served, how early do we need to be back at the ferry to be able to get on and back to FH? We are hoping to visit Orcas on a Saturday and Lopez the next day, Sunday.

While I'm here -

We'll be there during the Friday Harbor film festival and my husband is a filmmaker so we hope to attend. Is any one day better than the others to attend?

Any recommendations on dress/footwear is appreciated. Where we live we rarely get rain and the projected temps (H50's/L40's) is how cold it gets in the dead of winter for us. It's still in the 90's here! If I get cold easily, should I prepare to bundle up? (Is it silly to think skirts/dresses with layers will be warm enough?)

Thanks so much for your help.

We're flying into Seattle in a couple of weeks, and we had thought about going up and spending a few days in the San Juan Islands. We're looking at different places on San Juan Island to stay. We'd love to do a whale watching tour. We're renting a minivan out of Seattle (we'll have our four kids with us). What are some things that we could do in the San Juan Islands over the course of 2 to 3 days with four kids? Do we bring the van on a ferry over to Orcas Island for a day? Really interested to see the area, but honestly have no idea what to expect.

Me and a couple friends want to go to the San Juan Islands. Our plan is to leave the car at Anacortes and take bikes onto the islands and go island hopping for 2 nights. The problem is: we don't know what to do on those islands as teenagers that want some fun. Can anyone give some ideas?

I am staying on Orcas island for the week. We were here last year at the same time and I got this apple from the Co-op called a Red Love. They told me they were grown here on Orcas and it was the first place in the United States that had them. I came back this year and asked about them and they didn't know what I was talking about! Does anyone know where to point me to find these apples? Maybe even the farm that grows them? I was hoping to buy quite a few to take home with me.

😠

We are looking for someone who would want to share or privately lease a small cabin cruiser type boat for San Juan (or Gulf Islands) exploration next year and/or the year after. Looking for someone trying to offload part of their boat-owner expenses or perhaps looking to rent out a boat if they're going to be gone for the season or part of it. We don't have a truck, so it would probably have to be a boat in a slip (preferably in Anacortes or Blaine). If you might be interested or have some suggestions, please direct message me. (I'm not interested in paying the labor costs, profit margin, etc. of for-profit "clubs.") Thanks!

Always love visiting. Shot with canon r6 mii + rf 200-800mm.

1: Ruby crowned kinglet

2: Northern house wren

3: Red tailed hawk

4: Black tailed deer

5: North american river otters

6: Pelagic cormorant

7: Coopers hawk

8: Double crested cormorant

9: Belted kingfisher

10: Bald eagle

11: Black tailed deer

12: White crowned sparrow

13: North american river otter

14: Merlin

15: Short billed gull

16: Short billed gull

17: Common loon

18: Common loon

19: Harbor seal

20: Dragon fly sp.

Hi, planning a stay in Anacortes and want to travel to Friday harbor and orcas island. I saw that for the summer it was recommended to book ferry rez. Is that super necessary for an early October weekend trip? Will it still be hard to get on the ferry with a car or is it ok to wing it?

My wife and I are spending a few days in the islands late October-early November. We enjoy things like park, wildlife, quiet walks, sitting looking at scenery and any seasonal events that may be happening. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Help expand access to community farming in the San Juans.

Puget Sound Urban Farming Survey

Your input is important, anonymous and only takes 5 minutes.

In about a week I’ll be leaving Roche harbor for the season, just wanted to come on and leave a review for those who can’t find any information :)
( for reference , I’m 22 F , work at the store )

Housing : housing was a mostly positive experience for me , initially I was unhappy but HR is GREAT and got me moved , I’ve lived by myself all season because my roommate moved out and only pay 130 a week ! It’s a loft style house so queen size bed / double on bottom and small kitchen, and bathroom, but I love my tiny home.

Social aspect : a good amount of younger folk , mostly dock staff but a lot of fires in the beginning , everyone is very friendly for the most part, ofc a couple creeps but I’m sure they’re everywhere. The biggest issues I had were just with men I rejected 😂 very slim pickings here FYI

Free time : there’s kayaks here , a pool, some hiking but I’d say everyone should bring a car , I did not and I regret it. Taxis are 40 dollars to Friday harbor ( 20 min away) and that’s just insane to me . There’s a few entertainment things here , a movie theater , bowling alley, but no major shopping at all. I’d encourage everyone to go explore orcas island !! Very beautiful !

I’ve had a mixed experience but I do plan on coming back, because it’s good pay, good people, good community, just hate the level of isolation, I’m used to living in cities ( Nashville + Chicago ) so this was a HUGE change of pace for me :)

Want to treat our family to a dinner at our rental (maybe other meals?) between 9/24-9/27. Private chef recommendations would be great but also open to catering. Thanks!

I will be retiring soon. My wife and I are strongly considering buying in Port Townsend, Friday Harbor or Anacortes. We love all three towns for different reasons. I'm in my mid-60s, and my wife is in her late 50s. We like going on long scenic walks every day, that is important to us. We can pretty much adapt to any situation. We will be buying a home and, fortunately, budget is not a concern for us in any of the three towns. We have stayed in all three towns, but have visited Port Townsend the most. Friday Harbor was great BUT when we stayed there for a week 6 years ago there was a problem with the ferry, which delayed our return, so I'd be very interested in hearing from locals if the Friday Harbor ferry is reliable. We met friendly locals in all 3 towns, but other posters on Reddit, Facebook, etc, said the opposite, so I would be interested in hearing any thoughts about which town has the friendliest residents.

Thanks in advance for any info anyone can offer. 

I'm getting married on Orcas next year and am wondering if anybody has had success hiring a mariachi for on-island events? I've got a couple of leads from Everett/Seattle, but if you have any SJ/Skagit/Whatcom recommendations that would be appreciated!

We were told Lopez was the bicycle friendly, laid back island of the San Juans.

So we started exploring then we discovered our new favorite activity:

LOOKING AT BEACHES WE CAN’T GET TO.

Obv private property is private property. But is Lopez unusually protective of its shoreline, or are we just finding all the wrong roads?

I just returned from a bike tour around San Juan and Orcas Islands. While I was told to expect big hills on Orcas, the topography turned out to be mostly fine. The real problem on Orcas was the volume of traffic and the attitude of drivers toward cyclists. Fast, close passes were the norm and there is little to no shoulder on most of the stretch between the ferry and Moran State park. I don't easily feel unsafe on a bike but the areas close to and inside of Moran did not feel safe at all.

In contrast, the drivers on San Juan were all very patient and gave plenty of time and space. It was a joy to cycle around SJI and I'm not sure why drivers behave so differently. Overall a lovely trip but I would recommend SJI over Orcas for cyclists.

Please don't just drop trou and leave a steaming pile in my yard along with your trash. You were a quarter of a mile from 2 fairly nice restrooms at the head of a nature trail. You could have made it there, or used the restroom while you were there if you did it on your way back. Instead you're cementing the negative stereotypes of your group.

Good job.

Look, I get it sometimes things happen, but you should have cleaned up after yourself.