Orca Island, WA

My wife and I have talked about flying up to Washington state to visit
Orca island. My understanding is that they have Oracs that live their
year-round (they don't migrate).
Can anyone suggest..

1) Best place to land ( I understand you can land on one of the
islands and you don't need ground transportation??)
2) Best place to stay
3) Best Orca activity. Do you need to get tickets for a charter boat
to go out to see them. What are the odds of actually seeing an Orca?
4) What other activities can you do on the island?

-Robert

"Robert M. Gary" wrote in message
om...
My wife and I have talked about flying up to Washington state to visit
Orca island. My understanding is that they have Oracs that live their
year-round (they don't migrate).

It's "Orcas Island", with a short s ("Or-kiss").

Orca whales can be found in and around the Puget Sound area, and the San
Juans (Orcas Island included) are popular places to start out on a
whale-watching tour. It is not true that the whales are present year-round,
but summer is definitely a good time to see them.

Do a Google search on "whale watching san juan island" or "whale watching
orcas island" for a variety of operators and other information.

Can anyone suggest..

1) Best place to land ( I understand you can land on one of the
islands and you don't need ground transportation??)

Depends on where you land. There's only one public airport on Orcas Island,
at Eastsound, and to my knowledge no whale-watching tours depart from
Eastsound (there's no marina there). I don't even know where whale-watching
tours would depart from Orcas Island, but probably around Deer Harbor or
near the ferry docks, both several miles from Eastsound, to the south and
west.

Probably a better bet for you, if you want to be able to walk, would either
be Friday Harbor or Roche Harbor, both on San Juan Island. Friday Harbor is
the biggest town and harbor in the San Juans, and there will be a number of
whale-watching operators there. Roche Harbor is a private airport serving
the resort there, but is open to the public ($5 landing fee, paid on the
honor system), and I would guess (but don't know) that you could get an
all-in-one package at Roche Harbor that includes lodging and whale watching
tours (or at least arrange for it all in the same place).

Whether you
2) Best place to stay

Best place? Who knows? There's lots of good places to stay. Roche Harbor
(San Juan Island) and Rosario (Orcas Island) are both popular resorts, but
there are numerous bed-and-breakfasts and other hotels. Kangaroo House B&B
in Eastsound is right next to the airport there, and while it's been several
years since we've stayed there, it was very nice and well-run then.

3) Best Orca activity. Do you need to get tickets for a charter boat
to go out to see them. What are the odds of actually seeing an Orca?

If you go in the summer, odds are good. Yes, you purchase a ride on a
charter boat, and if you wanted personalized service, you could probably
charter a whole boat yourself (though that would probably be a lot more
expensive). Most of the operators use a network of lookouts to track the
pods. At least one operator offers a guarantee: you pay once, ride free
after that until you see a whale. My guess is that's not uncommon.

I think I'm probably the only pilot in the Puget Sound area to have never
seen a pod of whales from the air. Everyone I know says they've seen them,
but the only time I've ever seen a whale, it was one that had been in the
same spot for weeks (a small bay near Poulsbo) and that was just one whale.
As long as your luck is better than my miserable track record (and it'd be
hard for it not to be), you could probably find at least one of the pods
during the summertime simply by cruising around the islands in your
airplane. Just be careful...the airspace in the San Juans can get pretty
congested in the summertime.

I suppose if you want to maximize your chances of seeing whales up close,
the best thing to do would be find one or more pods by air, then land right
away at Friday Harbor, get on one of the tours, and tell the operator where
you saw the pod(s). But the operators do a pretty good job on their own, so
that may not be necessary.

4) What other activities can you do on the island?

Depends on which island you mean, though activities are similar throughout
the chain. One of my favorite activities on Orcas Island is hiking the
state park that's there. There's a lookout tower that's fun to climb up to,
a couple of nice-sized lakes to walk around, and a network of trails.

There are many artists, in any variety of media (glass, pottery, paint,
sculpture, etc.), scattered around the islands. In all of the towns, you'll
find galleries, and then if you look around, you'll find other studios in
the outlying areas. On Orcas, there's a "artist barn" down near Doe Harbor,
toward the southeast end of the island.

Biking is a very popular activity, as is golf and horseback riding. Or you
can just hang out in any of the towns, walking around seeing the shops,
picnicking down by the water (beach or marina), or exploring any of the
number of historical museums that are there.

The three main islands are San Juan, Orcas, and Lopez, from busiest to
quietest. Friday Harbor is pretty much the only town with anything
approximating a "nightlife", and even there you're not going to find a
Studio 54 or anything like that. Lopez is well-known for EVERY driver
waving to EVERY other driver. It's a nice, quiet, laid back sort of place.
Eastsound is about in between, but I'd say it's a little more toward the
laid-back side of things, and the rest of Orcas Island is definitely more
laid back.

Friday Harbor, Roche Harbor, and Eastsound airports are the only ones within
walking distance to the major activities, and Roche Harbor is more of a
resort destination, so activities there are still somewhat limited. If
you're going to be there for any significant amount of time, you're likely
to want to arrange for some sort of ground transportation at least now and
then, if for nothing else then to move your luggage. Rosario on Orcas
will pick you up at the airport, and my guess is that any of the larger
lodging operations would; don't expect any of the B&Bs to though. They
might, but I wouldn't count on it.

What we usually do when we go up there by plane is to rent a car. But I'll
warn you now: for the usual $30/day or so, you don't get a new car. You get
an "island" car. It's basically like renting an airport courtesy car. But
taxis are hard to find, and there's no public transportation. You can also
rent scooters and bikes and whatnot, depending on your inclination and how
much you're carrying.

Hope that helps.

Pete

In article ,
Robert M. Gary wrote:
My wife and I have talked about flying up to Washington state to visit
Orca island. My understanding is that they have Oracs that live their
year-round (they don't migrate).

I fly from KBFI and go there often, despite the name teh Orcas are NOT
there all year long I'm not sure when they run but I would suspect
that you could find a few this time of year.


Can anyone suggest..

1) Best place to land ( I understand you can land on one of the
islands and you don't need ground transportation??)

Yes, there's an airport on the island ORS
(http://www.airnav.com/airports/kors) great little strip. If you buy fuel
no landing fee.

2) Best place to stay

There are several Bed and Breakfasts on the island and a small 'hotel.'
Do a google search for "San Juan Islands Resorts" and you should be able
to find a list of them. The island is small, and you can rent bikes to
get around, there are taxis on the island as well but no car rentals,
IIRC.

3) Best Orca activity. Do you need to get tickets for a charter boat
to go out to see them. What are the odds of actually seeing an Orca?

I don't really know. I've never actually seen them, I've flown over a
pod 3x on my way to the island, but never went out in a boat. I know that
the charters are pricey.

4) What other activities can you do on the island?

I like to bike up Mt. Constitution, it's a nice hike/walk up as well.
Lots of picnic areas and swimming holes.

On Thu, 3 Jun 2004 10:48:17 -0700, "Peter Duniho"
wrote:

"Robert M. Gary" wrote in message
. com...
My wife and I have talked about flying up to Washington state to visit
Orca island. My understanding is that they have Oracs that live their
year-round (they don't migrate).

It's "Orcas Island", with a short s ("Or-kiss").

snip lots of good advice

What you can do in addition is take ferries all over the place,
including to Victoria, BC, which is certainly worth a day. Hell, just
Busch Gardens (no relation the the American Beer guys) is worth a day.
Now that I think of it, from Victoria, you can take the Canadian
ferries to Vancouver, which is also worh a day -- but you need a car
there, while you can walk the best parts of Victoria.

Actually, I see that Peter is covering this in a response in another
post. Here's an additional suggestion: Rent a car and go north from
Vancouver along the Sunshine Coast. Every few miles, you'll cross the
mouth of a big fjord on a ferry. After several hours you'll run out
of road, but you can then take the Ferry across to Campbell River on
Vancouver Island and drive back down the coast there and take a ferry
back to Vancouver from Nanaimo or Tsawassen. Then fly the same route
in your plane.

Don

Minor nitpick...

"Don Tuite" wrote in message
...
What you can do in addition is take ferries all over the place,
including to Victoria, BC, which is certainly worth a day. Hell, just
Busch Gardens (no relation the the American Beer guys) is worth a day.

Actually, Busch Gardens IS related to the American "beer" guys. But it's
not on Vancouver Island, it's in Virginia (and apparently now in Tampa too,
I see).

Butchart Gardens is on Vancouver Island and must be the one you're talking
about. I agree it's worth a visit.

Pete

"Peter Duniho" wrote in message ...
"Robert M. Gary" wrote in message
om...
My wife and I have talked about flying up to Washington state to visit
Orca island. My understanding is that they have Oracs that live there
year-round (they don't migrate).

It's "Orcas Island", with a short s ("Or-kiss").

Perhaps Friday Harbour would be best. I was looking for something with
a quiet town that I could mostly walk around. I was looking for
something that has good access to tour boats for Whales hunting
(looking that is).

Last year I took the boys down to Mexico to pet grey whales in central
Baja. That was a great time!!


-Robert

"Robert M. Gary" wrote in message
om...
Perhaps Friday Harbour would be best. I was looking for something with
a quiet town that I could mostly walk around. I was looking for
something that has good access to tour boats for Whales hunting
(looking that is).

If you want a quiet town to walk around, within walking distance of an
airport, that's Eastsound.

If you want a party town to walk around, within walking distance of an
airport, that's Friday Harbor (no "u").

Catching a whale watching charter and walking around a quiet town might be
mutually exclusive. At least not at the same town (but it's a quick 10
minute jaunt between Friday Harbor and Eastsound).

I guess it does depend on your definition of "quiet" too. But Friday Harbor
is definitely tourist-central in the San Juans, and I don't know anyone
personally who considers it quiet.

Last year I took the boys down to Mexico to pet grey whales in central
Baja. That was a great time!!

Note that in the US, protected species are actually protected, and you won't
get within petting distance of an Orca.

Pete

(Robert M. Gary) writes:

1) Best place to land ( I understand you can land on one of the
islands and you don't need ground transportation??)

I landed at ORS and got along without a vehicle most of the time.
(We have family there who gave us a couple rides.)

4) What other activities can you do on the island?

hanging out and enjoying the scenery
http://lairds.us/Kyler/photos/disk00...g/image_viewer

--kyler

"Robert M. Gary" wrote in message
om...
My wife and I have talked about flying up to Washington state to visit
Orca island. My understanding is that they have Oracs that live their
year-round (they don't migrate).
Can anyone suggest..

1) Best place to land ( I understand you can land on one of the
islands and you don't need ground transportation??)

You don't need much ground transportation. Best thing to do is to try to
visit all the islands. They each have their own character. Orcas has the
most varied geography and the highest point, Mt. Constitution. The view from
there is worthwhile, as is the bike ride down. Orcas has the largest artist
community. Best place to stay on Orcas is camping at Moran State Park, but
you need reservations.

Lopez is worth a visit. It is a quiet island good for long beach hikes,
bicycling, and just relaxing.

San Juan Island has the most activities. Friday Harbor is where the whale
tours depart and there is a whaling museum there. It also has some good
restaurants. It is actually a shorter walk to town from the transient
parking area than it is to the terminal. In town you can rent scooters and
other vehicles. Walking the hill back up to the airport at the end of a day
of exploring can be bit challenging. Roche Harbor has an interesting marina
and is convenient to one of the major sites in the San Juans, English Camp.
English Camp is noted for its colonial era buildings, ancient trees, and the
infamous Pig War. American Camp is at the far end of the island and there
are no original buildings left, no trees, and not much of a view of
anything, but Pickett (of Pickett's charge at Gettysburg) once commanded
there.

2) Best place to stay
3) Best Orca activity. Do you need to get tickets for a charter boat

You get the tickets at the charter offices with the big "whale watching"
signs on them. It is not cheap. Orcas are generally in the area from May to
October. It is best to make reservations before you go. You will almost
certainly see whales.

to go out to see them. What are the odds of actually seeing an Orca?
4) What other activities can you do on the island?

WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT PLAN TO STAY ANYWHERE IN THE SAN JUAN ISLANDS UNLESS
YOU HAVE CONFIRMED RESERVATIONS!!!!!

Otherwise your chief activity will be flying somewhere else. The San Juans
are an extremely popular tourist destination. Most places are booked up well
in advance. Those that are not are not worth staying at. My personal opinion
is that the best place to stay anywhere in the San Juan Islands is Roche
Harbor, followed by Rosario.

Every year hundreds of tourists take the ferries to the San Juans and cannot
get back the same day and end up stranded with no place to stay. With an
airplane you won't be stranded, but without reservations you won't be
staying on the islands, either.

"Peter Duniho" wrote in message ...
Note that in the US, protected species are actually protected, and you won't
get within petting distance of an Orca.

I could be wrong but I think the law says you can't approach marine
mammals. We never approached any whales in Mexico. They swim up to you
and rub their backs on the boat. They obviously understand what is
going on because they could tip over these little bitty boats without
any effort. The fact that they don't seems to indicate that they don't
want to. (The boats you take out to the bay would not even qualify as
life boats).