San Juan Islands

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 This is a kayaking/camping/island hopping adventure in the incredibly beautiful San Juan Islands.  The San Juan Islands are in Northwestern Washington state just along the border of Canada.  You can bring your own kayaks but you're much better off renting some.  If you bring your own, you’ll have to take your car on the ferry and find somewhere to park it on the island while you’re kayaking.  You'll also have to figure out how the tides affect your entire trip.

I’d suggest renting, especially because these guys are extremely helpful – they’ll provide a schedule with tide information and when you should be on and off of the water each day, maps, basic kayaking instruction, wand they'll take care of pickup/drop-off logistics.  They even sent us weather updates via text each day to make sure we were okay.

Here's a little teaser:

San Juan Kayak

 Cost: $115/2person kayak/day = $575 per pair 

 Here is weather data I compiled from weatherspark.com.  My "nice weather" highlights are a little tighter than usual because when you're on the water, you don't want to mess around with wind or rain.  Stick to July/August/early September.

You may also want to consult tide tables to make sure you aren't fighting tides or getting stranded anywhere.  Again, if you rent from San Juan Kayak, they will help you.

 To Anacortes

If you have to fly, you can fly into Seattle and take a shuttle to Anacortes: BellAir Charters from SeaTac.

You’ll want to select SeaTac Airport to Anacortes-ferry terminal if you head straight to the ferry or choose anywhere in Anacortes if you are going to make a stop there for a day.

We drove from Portland to Anacortes, stayed a night in Anacortes, and then left our car at the ferry terminal the morning we started the trip. 

To Friday Harbor

Take a ferry from Anacortes to Friday Harbor.  The ferry takes about an hour and they leave about once every hour in the morning.  Depending on tides, the kayak rental place will let you know what time you’ll want to be at the shop and on the water day 1.

Ferry Schedule

Cost of ferry: $14/person (or $40.70/car plus $14/person if you are bringing your car)

I use Booking.com for all my hotel bookings; just look at the map and choose something in your price range and close to the ferry terminal.  In Anacortes, they have a lot of options ranging from $60-$200 for a night. Booking.com

The campgrounds on the islands are $12 a night for a campsite.  So, for 4 nights, bring $48 in cash to pay for your campsites.

Weight isn’t a big concern since you have a vessel but size matters.  You’ll need to fit all appropriate camping gear, ie tent, sleeping bag, sleeping pads, clothes, and food into your kayak.  Try not to bring anything too bulky - I just use the same core gear as I do for backpacking but if you don't already have fancy lightweight gear, really any standard camp gear will work as long as it works for you.  If you're looking for suggestions, see the Backpacking Gear page.

Keeping everything dry is an obvious concern as well.  I usually pack all my gear in dry bags anyway but that’s even more important in this case.  If you drop something while unloading or, god forbid, tip your kayak, dry bags will keep that from ruining your whole trip.

You’ll also have to bring food for the whole trip as there’s nowhere to stop along the way.  There are water filling locations available at SOME sites, so you’ll also want to have a water container.  We used one of these per kayak: 5G Water Container

 San Juan Kayak will give you a list of things to bring.  There is no need to skimp on clothing since weight isn't an issue but be reasonable.  Here is what I would bring for a 5 day trip:

• (1) Bathing suit, (2) tank tops, (3) T-Shirts, (1) Long-Sleeve T, (2) athletic shorts, (1) long-sleeve sleepwear, (5) undies, (1) fleece/warm top (1) rain jacket, (1) down jacket
• (1) Buff - I was judgy about these at first but then I got one and I swear by it.  It keeps you warm if its a little chilly, keeps hair out of your face if its windy, or wet it down and it will keep you cool.  It's amazing.
• Water shoes for kayaking and launching
• Camp sneakers or sandals

• Cooler
• Sleeping Bag Dry Bag
• Big Dry Bags
• Small Dry Bags
• Rope - to hang your food
• Sunscreen, sunglasses, towel
• Cooking gear, Camp burner, Fuel, camp soap, utensils, spatula, Camp shovel, Wet Wipes, Head Lamp
• Kayak Gloves - Men,  Kayak Gloves - Women's

 Bring a collapsible cooler so the first 2-3 days you can eat fresh food. The Ice Mule is really durable, collapsible and waterproof: Ice Mule Waterproof Cooler

Here’s what we brought for food (per person):

Breakfast:

• (3) oatmeal packets,
• (2) dehydrated breakfasts – I like MountainHouse Biscuits and Gravy and Breakfast Hash
• (5) instant coffee

Lunch:

• (1) loaf of bread or flatbreads,
• (2-3) ziplocks with ham/cheese rations for ham/cheese sandwiches,
• (2-3) mustard packets for the sandwiches,
• (2-3) tuna packets - I like StarKist Tuna Sensations.  They have a ton of flavors to keep things interesting.  Substitute Peanut butter and jelly if you don’t like tuna

Dinner for two each night, multiply if you want to do communal meals:

• Fajitas: (1) frozen fajita veggie, (1) frozen grilled chicken strips, (1) pack of tortillas, (1) packet fajita seasoning, (1) ziplock of some cheese
• Thanksgiving Dinner: (1) pack of stuffing, (1) pack of instant mashed potatoes, (1) pack of brats
• Nights 3, 4, 5 bring dehydrated meals for each night - Choose your Favorite.  Mountain House Lasagna and Chili Mac with Beef are my favorites.

Snacks: Bring a ton of snacks.  Here are some things I like to bring along:

• Shot blocks
• RX bars
• Trail mix
• Dehydrated bananas
• Snickers
• Jerky
• Smoked Salmon and crackers