San Juan Islands Sea Kayaking from Anacortes

The sweetest days of summer are here. September is everyone's favorite month here in the San Juan Islands. Warm sunny days are punctuated by crisp, cool evenings and the sunsets are spectacular. As the children go back to school the crowds thin out, and a relaxed atmosphere descends over the communities out here in the islands. The sea kayaking is spectacular right now.

Over the last few weeks we've had some extraordinary days out on our kayak tours. The Sunset Tours in particular have been outstanding, with some amazing cloud formations being lit up by the fantastic evening light. It helps that the kayak trips get in early enough now to catch dinner in Anacortes after the tour. (The images posted here are of a sunset from the campground on Patos Island; and Mt. Baker during sunrise from Pelican Beach, Cypress Island. Taken by our guide Freddie on a couple of recent overnight kayaking trips.)

A few trips have had encounters with the big Steller Sea lions that come into the San Juan Islands to stay for the winter. It's an exciting experience to be so near animals that rival Grizzlies in size! The Resident Orca whales have passed through Rosario Strait on numerous occasions as well, but it is the Transient, or mammal-eating, orcas that have all of us on the lookout these days. In September the waters of the San Juans are flush with loads of freshly weaned seal pups, a favored food source for this population of whales. It's impossible to predict where or when these secretive interlopers will appear, but over the last two weeks we've seen them here in the eastern San Juan Islands more than a few times. Last week we were up near Lummi Island watching a large group of about 10 whales stalking seals. We were lucky enough to witness two successful attacks that resulted in a couple of seals becoming lunch for the most awesome predator in the sea. Just two days ago we had another group come in from the south side of Lopez Island. They appeared to be headed for Deception Pass, but changed course and swam north by Burrows and Allan Islands. In the afternoon they skirted the western shore of Guemes Island and headed up Bellingham Channel and through the Cone Islands. We didn't witness any confirmed attacks on this day, but it was exciting just to watch them pass by. Lots of our guests ask if they should be nervous about having a large predator in such proximity to a sea kayak. We always remind them that there has never been a documented case of a wild orca whale ever attacking humans. It's a natural reaction to get a little jittery around them, but there is no reason to fear Orca whales.

Most of our overnight trips have booked up for the rest of the summer, but we still have a few spots left on some weekend departures. Give us a call if you want to experience the beauty of kayaking in September!