Charter Power Boating San Juan Islands

Cruising the San Juan Islands in any kind of marine conveyance is fun. Gunkholing around on a nice sized, comfortable powerboat can be particularly fun. We chartered a boat from Anacortes, cruised through the islands to end up at Jones Island, then on to Roche Harbor on San Juan Island, cruised around some more before going to Stuart Island, and ended up at Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. Plenty of beautiful sites, wildlife, on-island hiking, and off-island hanging out.

Jones Island consists entirely of a 188 acre state marine camping park, including floating dock, moorage buoys, and marine-accessible campsites with drinking water and pit toilets. A hiking trail goes across the lower middle “saddle” of the island and around its west side for great San Juan Island views.

San Juan Island is the most populated and developed of the San Juan Islands. Roche Harbor has a picturesque resort, gardens, historical lime kilns, restaurants, and a terrific 19 acre outdoor sculpture park run by the San Juan Islands Museum of Art. Friday Harbor is more developed and commercialized, but with good amenities and the state ferry dock.

Stuart Island also includes a state park accessible via docks on two bays, but most of the island is privately owned. Walking around the single main dirt road of Stuart Island reveals the school house that educated children for many decades but just recently closed (only two children in the entire final school across all grades). You can walk right into the open doors of the unattended small library. Venturing further will go to a historic cemetery that includes short biographies of all the people in the cemetery, including their connection to the island. A few farms and residences are sprinkled further along the roads, ending up at the bluff of Lover’s Leap and the open grounds of Turn Point Lighthouse.

Get on up to the San Juans!