Pacific Northwest Cruising Guides
Detailed, accurate cruising guides for Pacific Northwest — written for real conditions.
San Juan Islands Cruising Guide
172 islands at the northeast corner of the Salish Sea, straddling the US–Canada border. 55 named anchorages, four ferry-served towns, and tidal currents in the passes that the unprepared learn the hard way. The flagship PNW cruising destination.
- ✓ 172 named islands
- ✓ Orca-watching capital of North America (Southern Resident pods June–September)
- ✓ Friday Harbor — full-services town, customs port, ferry terminal
Cruising Puget Sound: A Complete Guide
A 100-mile glacially-carved inland sea protected from the Pacific by the Olympic Peninsula — over 1,000 miles of shoreline, dozens of state-park anchorages, year-round sailing, and the working home water for half the licensed sailors in the United States. The most accessible bluewater cruising in North America for a beginner and the deepest cruising ground a Seattle sailor never has to leave.
- ✓ Over 1,000 miles of shoreline within 100 miles of Seattle
- ✓ Dozens of state-park anchorages — the Cascadia Marine Trail network
- ✓ Fully protected from Pacific Ocean swell
Seattle Sailing Guide
1,400 slips at Shilshole, the Ballard Locks connecting two lake systems to Puget Sound, and day-sail access to Blake Island, Bainbridge, and the Olympic Peninsula. The largest sailing hub on the Pacific Coast north of San Francisco.
- ✓ Shilshole Bay Marina — 1,400 slips, the working sailing base of Seattle
- ✓ Ballard Locks — the only route between Lake Union and Puget Sound; free, 24/7
- ✓ Blake Island State Park — 9 nm from downtown, accessible only by water
Anacortes & Fidalgo Island Cruising Guide
The PNW's busiest charter port and the standard staging point for the San Juan Islands. Cap Sante Marina, full marine trades district, every chartering company in the region within walking distance, and the islands themselves 25 nm to the west.
- ✓ Gateway to the San Juan Islands and the Gulf Islands of BC
- ✓ Cap Sante Boat Haven — 1,000+ slips, full services, charter fleet hub
- ✓ Guemes Channel and Rosario Strait — busy approach water with real currents
South Puget Sound Cruising Guide
The quiet, underrated end of Puget Sound — from the Tacoma Narrows to Olympia. Warm summer water (up to 70°F in August), exceptional Dungeness crabbing, three working state-park anchorages, and a fraction of the boats that pack the central Sound on summer weekends. The cruising ground most PNW sailors sail past on the way north.
- ✓ Warmest swimming water in Puget Sound — up to 70°F in August in the protected inlets
- ✓ Among the more productive Dungeness crabbing in the state
- ✓ Jarrell Cove, Joemma Beach, McMicken Island, and Penrose Point State Parks
Bellingham Bay & Chuckanut Coast Cruising Guide
The transition zone between Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands — a working waterfront city, a stretch of 1,000-foot sandstone cliffs along the Chuckanut Drive, and a state-park anchorage that is among the more scenic on the Salish Sea. The northbound staging port for Pacific Northwest cruisers heading to the islands or the Inside Passage.
- ✓ Chuckanut cliffs — 1,000 ft of folded sandstone rising directly from the water
- ✓ Bellingham — working waterfront, full provisioning, the Maritime Heritage Center
- ✓ Larrabee State Park — the working anchorage on the Chuckanut coast
Lopez Island Cruising Guide: Fisherman Bay, Spencer Spit, South San Juans
The southernmost and quietest of the four ferry-served San Juan Islands — flat farmland, the friendliest waterfront culture in the archipelago, and Fisherman Bay as one of the more forgiving anchorages on the US Pacific Coast for a beginner. The working introduction to the San Juans for a first-time crew.
- ✓ Fisherman Bay — protected, easy-entry, exceptional mud holding
- ✓ Spencer Spit State Park — the working anchorage south of Fisherman Bay
- ✓ James Island Marine Park — 4 nm south, the remoteness option
Orcas Island Cruising Guide: East Sound, West Sound, Deer Harbor
The horseshoe-shaped largest of the San Juan Islands, with Mount Constitution rising 2,409 ft from the centre and four working cruising harbours arranged around the perimeter — East Sound, West Sound, Deer Harbor, and the exposed west side. Sucia Island Marine Park sits 5 nm to the northeast and is the showpiece anchorage of the entire archipelago.
- ✓ Four working harbours: Eastsound, West Sound, Deer Harbor, the exposed west side
- ✓ Mount Constitution (2,409 ft) — the highest peak in the San Juans
- ✓ Sucia Island Marine Park 5 nm northeast — the showpiece San Juans anchorage
Whidbey Island & Saratoga Passage
A 45-mile island guarding the western edge of Puget Sound, with Saratoga Passage running its entire length on the east — sheltered cruising water, state park moorings, and a quieter alternative to the San Juans.
- ✓ Saratoga Passage — protected cruising water for the entire 35 miles
- ✓ Penn Cove — historic anchorage and the home of Penn Cove Mussels
- ✓ Coupeville waterfront — small Victorian-era town, working harbour
Port Townsend & the Strait of Juan de Fuca
A Victorian-era port at the entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca, with the most concentrated marine trades on the US West Coast and the largest wooden boat festival in North America. The mid-passage stop on every Seattle-to-San-Juans run that takes weather seriously.
- ✓ Victorian-era seaport — 70+ historic buildings in the National Historic District
- ✓ Wooden Boat Festival — largest in North America, every September
- ✓ Northwest Maritime Center — sailing school, exhibitions, working boat shop
Hood Canal Cruising Guide
A 65-mile glacial fjord between the Kitsap and Olympic peninsulas. Warmer water than the rest of Puget Sound, dramatic mountain backdrop, world-class oysters and spot prawns, and a fraction of the boat traffic of the San Juans an afternoon's sail away.
- ✓ 65-mile natural fjord — not actually a canal
- ✓ Pacific oyster harvest on public tidelands (WDFW licence and current closure check required)
- ✓ Spot-prawn season — typically May/June, dates set annually by WDFW