San Juan Islands Sea Kayaking from Anacortes

Last weekend officially kicked off our summer season. Lots of folks braved the grey skies and light rain to come out sea kayaking. Those that did were treated to some truly beautiful scenery. The reality of sea kayaking in the San Juans is that sometimes the best trips are on the days that have what many people consider to be marginal weather. Maybe it is because no one else is out there and we get a "private showing", or maybe it's that Northwest colors come out better under cloud cover. Whatever the case may be, as long as the wind isn't blowing, we like the rain!

The wildlife viewing has been terrific. The seals seem to be getting more active these days, it must be getting close to pupping season. Lots of Harbor porpoise are being seen on all of our tours, and eagles seem to be everywhere. I should also mention that all three families of Orca whales are back in the San Juans for the summer. They were seen traveling down Rosario Strait every day last week. If the timing is right we may see them again today!

Our first multi-day kayaking trip of 2006 took off on Monday morning. Although the forecast was for sunshine.....it was raining. That was no deterent for the folks from Colorado though. They had driven all the way up here for some kayak camping and nothing was going to stop this show!

Luckily the rain let up early in the day and by the time they got to the campground at Pelican Beach (on Cypress Island) the skies were beginning to clear. Over the next two days they had picture perfect weather as they made their way down to Strawberry Island and eventually completed a circumnavigation of Cypress Island. Thanks to Mac, Terry, and the rest of the crew for kicking off our overnight kayak program! (All pictures posted here were taken by Terry).

The rest of the summer is getting pretty booked up for these trips. We've got some space this month, July is pretty much booked solid, and there are still a few dates available in August. If you are thinking of coming out camping in the San Juan Islands, and you'd like to do it by sea kayak, then give us a call soon!