While Scott and I might be boatless right now, that didn’t stop us from visiting Snug Harbor Resort on San Juan Island. If we learned anything during the pandemic, it would be how much we appreciate and relish being able to travel. The PNW is one of the most beautiful destinations in the country and the San Juan Islands is top on our list.
Another thing we have learned from the pandemic, is the value of friendships. While our circle of friends is not wide, we cherish those friendships that we have. That includes our friends, Ben and Maria, who we have traveled with the most. It’s not often that you find another couple that makes traveling fun and memorable, so we are thankful to them for their friendship.
We miss cruising Puget Sound
Scott and I haven’t been out on the sound since last September during our San Juan Island charter. We really miss being “on the water”, so last weekend, we took the ferry from Anacortes to Friday Harbor.
The weather was beautiful, although it was very chilly crossing the Rosario Straits.
The ferry ride was about an hour and half long, because we had one stop at Lopez Island. Note in the photo below, those cars are actually loading onto the ferry backwards.
Arriving in Friday Harbor, we walked around town and grabbed some lunch at Herb’s Tavern, the oldest tavern in Friday Harbor. After lunch, Maria and I headed to the Trading Post to buy myself some gloves and a hat. Turns out, I failed to read the email from the whale watching company, that we needed to “bundle up” for the trip and I wasn’t prepared. From there, we drove across the island to Snug Harbor Resort & Marina, which is about 15 minutes from Friday Harbor.
Snug Harbor Resort and Marina
Snug Harbor Resort is a small compound made up of 18 cabins with a small marina. If you want to get away and escape it all, this is the place for you. While they do have Wi-Fi, it is not a place to work remotely. In fact, the cabins don’t even have telephones. This is where you go to unwind, reflect and take in the scenery.
We rented a one bedroom waterfront cabin and it came with everything you need. It had a grill, oven, microwave, fridge, galleyware and cleaning supplies. The cabins do have coffee, sugars, salt & pepper and a lighter for the grill. The freezer does have ice trays, but due to the pandemic, they were empty, so we bought ice from the gift shop. One thing to note, is if you are bringing your own food, be sure to bring Tupperware or Ziplock bags to store your food. Luckily, we were able to buy some at the gift shop. Ben and Maria’s cabin was just three cabins away, so it was easy to get together.
The “fireplace” is controlled by the thermostat and it really gives the cabin a cozy feeling.
Amenities at Snug Harbor Resort & Marina
There is a small coffee shop and a very nice gift shop. The gift shop has some very unique items, plus they offer all kinds of snacks, frozen foods, pre-made sandwiches and beverages, including wine and beer. Another note, the office is only open 9am to 4pm, so plan accordingly if you think you will want to buy anything. Snug Harbor Resort has kayaks you can use to explore Mitchell Bay. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time on this trip.
The Snug Harbor Marina, has brand new docks and is home to a number of permanent boats. There are some transient slips available, however, you must rent a cabin in order to dock your boat AND you may not stay on your boat. Unfortunately, they are also not pet-friendly. It is a fantastic place to get away from life and simply unwind for the weekend.
Lime Kiln State Park
Having arrived about 1:30pm, our cabins were not yet ready, so the four of us headed south to explore Lime Kiln State Park. Set on a rocky bluff at the west end of San Juan Island, Lime Kiln Point is considered one of the best whale-watching spots on earth. Here you can watch porpoise, orca and gray whales enjoying Puget Sound.
This 41 acre park, includes a 1919 vintage light house, a lime kiln and an interpretive center (which is open from May thru September). You do need to purchase a Discovery Park pass to visit the park.
Our first night, the four us grilled up some steaks, celebrated birthdays and finished the night sharing stories around the fire pit. It doesn’t get much better than that.
Exploring Roche Harbor
The next day, I had scheduled a whale watching tour at 1:30pm, so we had time in the morning to do a little bit of exploring. The four us grabbed a quick breakfast at the Lime Kiln Cafe at Roche Harbor, which is about 9 miles away. We then took Ben and Maria up to the McMillan Mausoleum, as they have never seen it. Funny thing about that Mausoleum, is that I have now been there five times in the last 20 months.
Whale Watching on Maya’s Legacy
Maya’s Legacy whale watching tours depart from Snug Harbor Resort and also Friday Harbor. This inflatable boat is a NAIAD design from New Zealand, built by Armstrong Boats in Port Angeles. She has three 250 Yamaha motors and holds approximately 24 people. Captain Jeff and his first mate April did a fantastic job during the tour.
Leaving Snug Harbor we set a course north to begin our search. First, we stopped by Henry Island to watch for the Peregrine Falcon, but we didn’t see her. As we headed north to Speiden Island, we spotted a number of porpoise. See our route below.
Spieden Island
From Henry Island, we headed north towards the southwest side of Spieden Island. This is a uninhabited privately owned island that is 516 acres. Due to the topography of the island, the southwest side is mostly baron with grass and the north side is heavily wooded. The island has a very interesting history. In the 1960’s two brothers who were taxidermists, purchased the island to create a hunting game reserve for exotic non-native game animals such as Mouflon sheep from Corsica, Fallow deer from Europe, and Sika deer from Asia – along with approximately 2,000 exotic birds such as African guinea fowl.
This outraged locals due to the cruelty to animals and the danger to nearby residents on San Juan Island. Walter Cronkite made it his mission to put the brothers out of business. The island became a marine conservationist center in the 1990’s.
The deer and sheep continue to live on the island, which is still uninhabited.
Now the island is owned by James Jannard, the founder of Oakley sunglasses and RED Digital Cinema. He purchased the island in 1997 for $22 million dollars. We were told that he has it for sale for $40 million dollars.
Lambing season in in full swing with such cute newborns following their moms everywhere. Harbor seals were basking in the sun, mouflon rams were grazing and fallow deer were doing some of both.
Steller sea lions made sure itches were scratched before getting back to their naps, while bald eagles had found lunch around the point on the north side of Speiden.
Over on Flattop Island we found a pair of bald eagles near their nests and black turnstones were foraging in the surf.
Stuart Island
Continuing our search through the islands took us west to Turn Point on Stuart Island (the Northwestern most spot in the Continental US). Here you will find Turn Point Lighthouse, which is active to aid navigation for ships. If you stay in Prevost or Reid Harbor, you can hike to the lighthouse. Be sure to check out our blog about Stuart Island here.
This area can be a busy place for whales so we scanned the waters while taking in the point and Mount Baker. Unfortunately, it was not to be our day with whales on this trip.
We turned south from there to scan further and made a stop at Henry Island to scan for our peregrine falcon. Sure enough, she was in a lower branch of a near by Douglas fir checking on her nesting area. Peregrine Falcons are the largest falcon over most of the continent, with long, pointed wings and a long tail. They can dive up to 240mph to capture their prey.
The whale watching trip was about three hours long. It did get very chilly and I highly recommend bringing lots of layers and your best camera. They do allow food and beverages, but our hands were too cold to try and eat! A few other tips about the tour to keep in mind are: they prefer cash or check for payment and if they do a great job, please remember to tip the crew. Crews on excursions work very hard and the tips go directly to them. After the trip, April sent us some photos and descriptions, which we have included in this blog.
Our trip to Snug Harbor comes to an end
It was a quick 48 hour trip, but we enjoyed every minute of it. When we got back from our tour, we relaxed with a great bottle of Champagne and headed off to dinner at Roche Harbor. Not wanting to drink and drive, we arranged for a taxi with San Juan Taxi Service to take us to Roche. Don’t expect a fancy town car and your van might be a bit smoky. However, our driver Larry was very nice and got us safely home.
The four of us lucked out on the whale watching trip, as the next day the weather forecast called for 40mph across the Rosario Straights. Let’s just say it was a very bumpy ride home on the ferry!
Snug Harbor Resort is a great place to get away and reset. In fact, we would return in a heart beat! Thank you to the entire staff for your hospitality and wonderful time, we’ll definitely be back!
As always, thank you for following our journey! Be sure to watch the full tour below and subscribe to our channel. Follow us on social media @BoatingJourney and be sure to use the hashtag #boatingjourney Cheers, Scott and Ally
Ally, it looks like you and Scott had some fabulous weather for your trip! I’ve only been to the islands a few times but have loved it and we need to try and to it more frequently. If you go in the summer a super fun thing to do is tour the island from a 3 wheeled “SCOOT-COUPE” from Friday Harbor.