When you take that first step onto a ferry bound for the San Juan Islands, you ll leave behind the stop lights and congestion and enter a world that doesn t object when time seems to pass slowly. During your journey you ll glide by a string of evergreen jewels, the largest of the 743 islands created during the Ice Age. You ll pass rocky points that define sheltered coves, and beaches surrounded by madrona trees.
Many visitors time their arrival for early spring when fawns are born and eagles build their nests.
Others arrive during summer months at the height of our visitors season, when the sun takes hours to disappear below the horizon. Crisp autumn days that offer opportunities for contemplative hikes are followed by short winter days that invite solitary beach walks and long evenings in front of the fireplace during the most tranquil part of our year. The islands are located in the banana belt of the Northwest, so we see the sun 247 days of the year, and average about 18-28 inches of rain. You ll be in shirt sleeves and shorts during summer months when temperatures average 70 degrees. Sweatshirts and sweaters are necessary during the remaining seasons when average temperatures range from 40-60 during the day.