Seattle to Desolation Sound: The Classic PNW Summer Circuit

The conversation goes like this every spring. Someone on the dock mentions Desolation Sound. Someone else nods. By May, half the boats in the marina have it penciled in for July. It is the destination that defines Pacific Northwest sailing — the northern limit of warm water anchorages, the place where the British Columbia coast opens into a labyrinth of fjords, islands, and inlets that could absorb a summer without repetition.

This route account covers the full circuit from Seattle — the approach through the San Juans and Gulf Islands, the transition through the Strait of Georgia, the Sound itself, and the side trip to Princess Louisa Inlet that every serious cruiser eventually makes. Two weeks is the right amount of time. A month would be better.

Day 1–2: Seattle to Sidney, BC

The outbound passage from Seattle begins in familiar water. North through Puget Sound to Anacortes or Friday Harbor for a final fuel and provisioning stop, then the push across the Strait of Juan de Fuca into Canadian waters.

Canadian entry: US vessels must report to Canada Border Services upon arrival at the first Canadian port. Sidney, BC — 35 nm from Friday Harbor — is the recommended stop. Port Sidney Marina has a CBSA dock; the reporting process takes 20–30 minutes for a clean crossing. Keep ship’s papers, all crew passports, and a crew list ready. The CBSA Telephone Reporting Centre (1-888-226-7277) handles the call; you’ll receive a clearance number.

Sidney is worth a full afternoon: the town is clean, the marina well-run, and the ferry to Victoria leaves from the terminal down the road if any crew wants a day in the city.

Key navigation note: Haro Strait, between the San Juans and the Gulf Islands, carries commercial shipping traffic. Stay to the edges of the traffic separation scheme and monitor VHF 16.

Day 3–4: Gulf Islands — Sidney to Ganges

The Gulf Islands are what Desolation Sound gets all the attention but probably shouldn’t. The southern Gulf Islands — Saturna, Pender, Mayne, Galiano, Salt Spring — are exquisite cruising in their own right. Warm water, protected anchorages, excellent food, and the distinct feel of BC island life.

Montague Harbour (Galiano Island) is the reference anchorage for the southern Gulf Islands — a BC Marine Park with mooring buoys, room to anchor, and a dinghy landing at the small beach. The pub at Montague is a mile up the road.

Active Pass: The channel between Galiano and Mayne Islands is the main ferry route and a tidal pass running 6–8 knots at peak flow.

Ganges, Salt Spring Island is the social hub of the southern Gulf Islands — farmers market Saturdays, well-stocked chandlery, excellent restaurants. The anchorage off the village is exposed to NW in summer afternoons; the inner coves hold better. Ganges Harbour is often the place where passage plans slow down and become stays.

Day 5–6: Strait of Georgia Crossing

The Strait of Georgia is the 30-mile-wide channel between Vancouver Island and the BC mainland. The crossing from the Gulf Islands to the Sunshine Coast or the Powell River area is the passage that separates the Gulf Islands cruise from the Desolation Sound cruise.

Conditions: Summer NW wind builds in the afternoon (10–20 knots typical) with 2–4 foot chop on the Strait. The morning crossing — departing by 7 a.m. — is almost always calmer and is the standard practice among Desolation Sound–bound boats. The crossing takes 3–4 hours on a direct line; make for Lund or Refuge Cove on the far side.

Smuggler Cove Marine Park: One of the genuinely underrated anchorages on the Sunshine Coast — a hidden cove behind a low islet, accessible only through a narrow dinghy-width entrance at certain tide heights. Worth a night before the final push north.

Day 7–10: Desolation Sound

Desolation Sound Marine Provincial Park encompasses 8,449 hectares of water and shoreline at the northern end of the Strait of Georgia — the largest marine park in BC. The Sound is enclosed by the mainland to the east, Cortes and Redonda Islands to the west, and Quadra Island to the south. The mountain backdrop is dramatic; the water temperature is the warmest in British Columbia.

Why the water is warm: The Sound is a near-closed basin with limited tidal exchange. In July and August, surface water temperatures regularly reach 70–75°F — warm enough for swimming, warm enough to want to stay for a week.

Tenedos Bay (Roscoe Bay) is the anchor spot that appears in every Desolation Sound trip report: a landlocked cove behind a tidal lagoon, accessible only at high tide (minimum 9 feet), with log-fringed shores and a freshwater lake 10 minutes’ hike up the hill. The hike is worth it; swimming in Unwin Lake after days at anchor is one of the better experiences on the BC coast.

Prideaux Haven is the most popular anchorage in the Sound — a cluster of small islets forming several protected pools. In July, 30–40 boats anchor here on summer weekends. Arrive by noon to secure a spot. The snorkeling off the islets is excellent.

Grace Harbour, Squirrel Cove, Von Donop Inlet: The Sound has more anchorages than a two-week trip can cover. Squirrel Cove (Cortes Island) has a small general store, a first-nations art gallery, and fuel. Von Donop Inlet — a long, fjord-like channel on Cortes’s north end — is completely sheltered, rarely crowded after mid-August, and has some of the best crabbing in the Sound.

Day 11–12: Princess Louisa Inlet

Princess Louisa Inlet is 40 nm northeast of Desolation Sound, accessible by transiting Jervis Inlet and the notorious Malibu Rapids. It is the most dramatic anchorage in the Pacific Northwest.

Malibu Rapids: The tidal restriction at the inlet’s entrance is navigable only at or near high water slack — the window is 30–45 minutes, the current through the narrows reaches 9 knots at peak flow. Time your transit to high water slack using the Canadian Hydrographic Service tables for Malibu Rapids specifically. The approach is well-marked; the transit itself is straightforward in the window. Outside the window it is not.

Inside the rapids, the inlet stretches 4 miles through 2,000-foot cliff walls and old-growth forest, ending at Chatterbox Falls — a 120-foot waterfall that drops directly into the anchorage. Princess Louisa is managed by the Princess Louisa International Society; there are mooring buoys and a dock.

Day 13–14: Return via Sunshine Coast

The return south is faster — current-assisted in the Strait, downwind on the standard summer NW. Most boats that have done the full circuit in two weeks motor-sail the return, saving sailing days for the Sound itself. Gibsons Landing or Secret Cove on the Sunshine Coast make good final BC stops before the Strait crossing back to the Gulf Islands and the US border.

Canadian exit: Report your departure from Canada to CBSA before leaving Canadian waters. Keep the clearance number from entry. US Customs clearance on return — use CBP ROAM app or call into Anacortes customs.