Sailing to Lopez Island: The Quiet San Juan

Sailors who’ve visited Orcas often say Lopez Island doesn’t get the attention it deserves. That’s partly true, and partly by design. Lopez is the third-largest San Juan Island and the most visited after San Juan Island and Orcas — but it carries its popularity quietly. There’s no mountain, no resort village, no drama. What there is: one of the best all-around anchorages in the archipelago, a genuinely lovely cycling culture, farms that sell eggs on the honor system at the end of the driveway, and a pace of life that makes a three-day stay feel like a week.

Sailors who appreciate finding a protected anchorage without a crowd tend to become Lopez regulars.

Getting There

Lopez is the southernmost of the main San Juan Islands and the easiest to reach from the mainland. The ferry route passes directly through it; sailboats have more options.

From Anacortes: 12–16 nm depending on route. The direct approach passes through Guemes Channel (watch for current), then northwest past the south end of Cypress Island into Upright Channel, which leads directly to Fisherman Bay on Lopez’s west shore. This is the most common approach.

From Friday Harbor (San Juan Island): 6 nm south through San Juan Channel, then east into Upright Channel. Quick hop — easy as a day sail between the islands.

From Bellingham: 20 nm via Eliza Island and south through Rosario Strait, then west through Upright Channel. A full day’s sail or a comfortable half-day.

From Seattle/Puget Sound: 40–55 nm depending on departure point (La Conner, Edmonds, or Eagle Harbor). Passage through Deception Pass or Swinomish Channel is the standard southern approach. Plan for an overnight or an early start.

Upright Channel: The 5-nm channel between Lopez and Shaw Islands that leads to Fisherman Bay has 1–2 knots of tidal current — check the tables. Current runs NW (flood) and SE (ebb). No hazards outside the channel edges; straightforward navigation.

Fisherman Bay: The Main Anchorage

Fisherman Bay is why sailors come to Lopez. It’s a broad, shallow bay on the island’s west side, well protected from nearly every direction by low hills and the long spit that forms its mouth. The anchorage is capacious — room for 40–50 boats without feeling packed — and the holding ground in the inner bay is excellent mud.

The approach: Enter through the narrow passage at the bay’s north end, following the marked channel. A shoal extends from the south side of the entrance — stay to the marked channel and you’ll find 8–12 feet at MLLW. Inside, depths range 6–15 feet; anchor in the 8–12 foot range on the west side of the bay away from the mooring buoy field.

Islands Marine Center occupies the east shore of the bay — Lopez’s only full-service marina. Transient moorage is available at the dock; call ahead (VHF 16 or phone) in peak season. Fuel, pumpout, showers, and a small ship’s store. The staff here are knowledgeable about island conditions and the surrounding anchorages.

The character of the anchorage: Fisherman Bay faces west into the afternoon sun. Summer evenings here, watching the sky over Upright Channel go orange and pink behind the silhouettes of other boats, are the kind that make people extend their cruising plans by several days. In the morning, a walk around the bay’s north spit — a low, sandy peninsula — gives views back across to Orcas and Shaw.

Lopez Village

Lopez Village is a 10-minute walk or bike ride from the marina — a cluster of perhaps a dozen businesses that constitute the island’s commercial center. It is deliberately small. There’s a grocery store (Lopez Village Market — well-stocked for an island store), a handful of restaurants, a pharmacy, a hardware store, and several galleries.

Dining: The Bay Café, on the waterfront at the village’s edge, has a reputation that extends well beyond the San Juans — Pacific Northwest farm-to-table with ingredients sourced almost entirely from Lopez farms. Reservations advised in summer. Holly B’s Bakery does excellent pastries and bread in the mornings.

Farmers market: Saturdays, May through September. Lopez farms produce serious food — the island’s flat terrain is unusually good agricultural land for the Pacific Northwest, and local farms grow berries, vegetables, flowers, and raise livestock. The market is a genuine food destination, not a tourist event.

The Lopez Wave: Lopez islanders have a local tradition of waving to everyone on the road, regardless of whether they know them. Visitors find this either charming or slightly unnerving. It is charming.

Spencer Spit State Park

Spencer Spit is on the northeast corner of Lopez — a long, curved gravel spit that extends into Lopez Sound, forming a shallow lagoon behind it. Washington State Parks has a dozen mooring buoys here; anchoring is also possible in the coves on either side of the spit in 10–20 feet, though the north cove can be exposed to NE chop.

The park has walk-in campsites, fire rings, and trails through the madrone and fir forest above the spit. The beach itself is excellent — mixed gravel and sand, with low-tide exploration of the exposed tidal flats on the lagoon side. From the spit, the views across Lopez Sound to Orcas are some of the best in the islands.

Current note: Lopez Sound and Upright Channel have tidal current; the passages around the north end of Lopez (Thatcher Pass) run 2–3 knots. Time transits accordingly.

Getting there from Fisherman Bay: Spencer Spit is 7 nm by water around the north end of the island. A pleasant day sail if conditions allow, or a longer dinghy excursion in light air.

Odlin County Park

Odlin County Park occupies a gentle bay on Lopez’s north shore, about 2 nm from the ferry landing. It’s a county-operated park with mooring buoys (first-come, first-served, $20/night), room to anchor, a dock, and a small day-use area with fire rings and picnic tables.

The anchorage here is more exposed than Fisherman Bay — open to north and northwest — but in settled summer conditions it’s a pleasant alternative to the main anchorage. The proximity to the ferry terminal and the park’s simplicity give it a different character from the other Lopez anchorages: more day-trippers arriving by kayak from the ferry, less of the cruising-boat scene.

The north shore: The water along Lopez’s north and east coasts is less visited than the main anchorage. In suitable conditions — calm mornings especially — sailing along this shore with the wooded bluffs of Orcas visible to the north is quiet, beautiful, and rarely crowded even in July.

Cycling Lopez

Lopez is one of the few places in the Pacific Northwest where a touring bicycle is a genuinely practical vessel. The island is flat by San Juan standards, the roads are lightly trafficked, and the circuit of the island (about 30 miles of paved road) is achievable in half a day at a leisurely pace.

Bike rentals are available at Lopez Bicycle Works, a 5-minute walk from the marina. The standard island loop takes in Spencer Spit, Shark Reef Sanctuary on the southwest corner (a rocky shoreline with harbor seals and, in lucky moments, orcas visible offshore), Iceberg Point (the southernmost tip, a DNR preserve with dramatic Gulf Islands views), and back to the village via the southern agricultural roads.

Shark Reef Sanctuary: A short trail through old-growth fir leads to rocky shoreline where harbor seals haul out on the offshore rocks year-round. Bring binoculars. Parking is limited; arriving by bike avoids the issue entirely.

Iceberg Point: The DNR preserve at Lopez’s southern tip has sweeping views south through the Strait of Juan de Fuca. On clear days, the Olympic Mountains dominate the horizon. Resident sea otters, sea lions on the rocks, and occasional humpback whales offshore in summer. The point is one of the better orca-watching spots on the island during summer salmon runs.

Tides and Currents

The approaches to Lopez require current awareness, though the passes around Lopez are less challenging than those near Orcas.

• Upright Channel: 1–2 knots max; straightforward
• Thatcher Pass (north Lopez): 2–3 knots; transit within 2 hours of slack
• Cattle Pass (south of San Juan Island, nearby): 3–5 knots; the fastest current in the southern San Juans — transit at or near slack
• Lopez Sound: Light, mostly wind-driven
• Fisherman Bay entrance: Minimal current inside; 1 kt max at entrance

Download NOAA tidal current tables or use a PNW tidal app before departure. The ebb runs generally southeast through Upright Channel and Thatcher Pass; the flood runs northwest.

Provisioning and Services

Lopez Village Market is adequate for provisioning — good produce, reasonable selection of staples, adequate wine and beer. Not a full chandlery stock, but enough for a multi-day extension of your cruise.

Fuel: Islands Marine Center, Fisherman Bay. Call ahead.

Water: Available at the marina dock.

Ice: Marina and the village market.

Repairs: Islands Marine Center handles basic boat work. For anything substantial, Anacortes is the nearest full-service boatyard — 12–16 nm.

Pump-out: Available at the marina.

Best Times to Visit

July–August: Peak season, but Fisherman Bay handles it better than most San Juan anchorages because of its size. Arrive by early afternoon to secure a preferred spot or an open buoy at Spencer Spit. The Saturday market and Bay Café are at their best.

May–June: The best of everything. Fewer boats, long evenings, wildflowers along the island’s farm roads. The cycling is excellent before summer heat.

September: Our recommendation for Lopez specifically, because the farmers market continues into September and the fishing (Chinook salmon runs, Dungeness crab season) is at its peak. Post-Labor Day crowds drop sharply. Nights get cool; days remain brilliant.

Off-season: Lopez handles the winter better than most San Juan Islands because it’s not dependent on summer tourism the way Eastsound is. The farms are quiet, the marine center reduced-hours but operational, and the island has the unhurried quality that makes it appealing year-round. Good foulies and a cabin heater are all you need.

For anchorage details and mooring buoy counts across the San Juans, see the San Juan Islands destination guide and best Puget Sound anchorages.