There’s been a lot of information about the San Juan Islands in the news this week due to those creepy Murder hornets that were found in the US for the first time there. But I’m here to tell you all about why the San Juan’s are amazing & you should add them to your bucket. The San Juan Islands are one of my favorite places that I’ve ever been and I plan to return year after year.
ABOUT THE ISLANDS:
The San Juan Islands are located in Northwest Washington. Theres actually 172 Islands total but there’s four main ones that you can take the ferry to from Anacortes, WA: Orcas Island, Shaw Island, San Juan Island and Lopez Island. You can spend your time island hoping between them all or just visit one. I found this website super helpful when deciding which one we wanted to check out.
THINGS TO DO:
We decided we wanted more time on the island so we visited Orcas Island. Each island has its own vibe and Orcas Island has the most forested space. Also fun fact we discovered that Oprah also has a house on Orcas Island.We booked a campsite at Moran State Park. It was a really nice woodsy park with an lake.
There’s so much you can do on the islands. You can go whale watching, go kayaking around the islands, explore the numerous beaches and parks and so much more. We decided for a relaxing weekend and opted to visit some Hot Springs on Orcas. There are some Hot Springs at Doe Bay but they were booked up for a private event the day we arrived so we decided to go check out Rosario Resort and walk the grounds. We were thrilled to find out that they had a spa with a pool that overlooks the ocean. We decided to pay for the day use and spend the day swimming. The pool is also heated to 80 degrees so its really nice and we had the whole place to ourselves. It was a really great day spent exploring and relaxing.
GLUTEN FREE FOOD OPTIONS:
Since the islands are very small, I planned on their not being access to any Gluten Free food. Since we camped at Moran State Park I just treated as any other car camping trip. On the way up we stopped in Seattle and at Capitol Cider for dinner. I brought some gluten free muffins to eat for breakfast along with a supply of fruit and jerky to eat on the go. I brought a backpacking meal for dinners and I also filled up a cooler with ice for sausages. Since the island is super small it didn’t have very many Gluten Free options. I also didn’t want to take resources away from anyone that may be Gluten Free living on the island so I just brought all my own food. However, it didn’t deter me from having an amazing experience and I knew there was a lot of Gluten Free options once I got off the island.
I really want to go back and check out a different island and do some whale watching tours next time.
