Lime Kiln Half-day Kayaking Tour
This trip packs a lot into a short time! Launching from San Juan County Park into federally designated Whale Sanctuary on the west side of San Juan Island, you’ll spend a few hours paddling pristine coastline and enjoying spectacular views of the Olympic Mountain range and Vancouver Island, Canada. Besides killer whales, keep your eyes peeled for humpback whales, minke whales, Dall’s and harbor porpoise, river otters, harbor seals, and Stellar sea lions. Bald eagles soar overhead and seabirds forage along the eddy lines.
Lime Kiln Kayaking Full Day Tours in San Juan Islands
Enjoy a scenic drive to San Juan Island’s west side and launch with the team into prime killer whale country! You will maximize your time to view wildlife such as bald eagles, river otters,porpoise and harbor seals and, if luck is on your side, orca whales! For a different perspective, you’ll take a short walk on a spectacular coastal trail and, from an elevated viewpoint, enjoy a complimentary lunch with nothing but islands and ocean as far as the eye can see! Diverse wildlife, stunning vistas, and spectacular coastline make this an experience to cherish.
Sunset Tour
This three-hour sunset kayak tours depart daily in the late afternoon and are the perfect way to end the day! Enjoying the long shadows of the last light of day, we will paddle in uncrowded waters with seals, porpoise, otters, bald eagles and seabirds and watch spectacular alpen-glow colors paint the icy flanks of Mt. Baker! This is a special time to be on the water because no one else is. Griffin Bay is a great vantage point for views of the Olympic Mountains and the setting sun falling behind the fields and forests on San Juan Island!
Griffin Bay 3-Hour Tour
Although just one mile south of Friday Harbor, Griffin Bay is a world away from it all! This trip offers peace and quiet and superb views of glacier-covered Mt. Baker and the Olympic Mountain range. Unhindered by strong tidal currents, it is an ideal trip for families and anyone wanting to experience sea kayaking in a uniquely peaceful, beautiful environment.
You will explore picturesque Dinner Island and it’s colony of chubby resident harbor seals, then turn south toward quiet coves. You may see bald eagles, Dall’s or Harbor porpoise, river otters, mink and oodles of migratory sea birds such as scoters, harlequin ducks, loons and mergansers along with our local herons, cormorants, gulls and kingfishers! This trip moves at an easy pace and offers a chance to get away from the crowds.
2-Day Orca Quest
This super-popular overnighter covers 19 miles and traverses prime transient and southern resident orca country! The trip is planned only when tidal currents are just right to aid our journey each day, but the trip is for the fit and adventurous! After a day of paddling, kayak sailing, and hiking, you will enjoy a seaside campsite on an island accessible only by boat. After a scrumptious dinner, you will hike to a secret lookout to watch the sunset over the Canadian Gulf and Vancouver Islands. From our mossy aerie, you will be able to view feeding Dall’s and harbor porpoise and harbor seals below, while sunset colors bathe the British Columbia Coast Range in pink and purple!
On day two, continue your search for whales! The west side of Henry and San Juan Islands is prime orca habitat, as your local pods move up and down Haro Straight in search of salmon, and will spend the last afternoon paddling with eyes wide open. This trip launches from Griffin Bay to the southeast, but never looks back, because it finishes in Westcott Bay at an exclusive landing beach on the northwest tip of San Juan Island. It has an exciting, two-mile crossing into Spieden Channel with a river of current behind us and intimately explores rugged, steep coastlines and inter-tidal zones where sea stars, sea cucumbers, and urchins go about their daily lives!
3-Day Coastal Explorer Kayaking Tour to San Juan Islands
Classic Three-Day Coastal Explorer, you’ll start from San Juan Islands’ southeast side and steer north and then west exploring remote coves and beaches along the way! Keep a constant watch for orca, humpback and minke whales, as you spend a day and a half in prime whale country. Rugged coastline, an abundance of wildlife and a last-night island jewel campground reserved exclusively for San Juan Kayak Expeditions highlight this trip.
4-Day Island Adventure
This Four-Day Islands Adventurer is for those who really want to maximize their San Juan Islands experience and encounter as many local critters as absolutely possible! You’ll explore the coastlines of more than 20 islands, large and small! You’ll paddle and sail your sea kayak up to 37 miles and see shores of awe-inspiring beauty and variation! Explore the rocky cliffs of Speiden Island rising hundreds of feet out of the ocean; the warm, sandy beaches and impenetrable forest of Henry Island; the spectacular hiking and vistas of Jones and Yellow Islands and American Camp National Park.
This is an ideal expedition for kayaking with orca whales (we spend a day and a half paddling and camping in prime orca whale habitat), stellar sea lions, humpback and minke whales, porpoise, otters and other marine mammals and to observe the varied flora and fauna of the San Juan Islands.
Four days gives you time to hone your sea kayaking skills, more opportunities to experience the joy of sea kayak sailing and to really get into the rhythm of a sea kayaking expedition. You will enjoy three spectacular and unique campsites, savor scrumptious cuisine and see breathtaking colors on our sunset hikes and paddles! Bioluminescence paddles are also a great way to end a full day of adventure!
5-Day “The Ultimate”
Remote campsites, scenic vistas, wild coastlines and the chance to see every critter that lives in these parts are all a part of the package! This trip is only for fit, adventurous people willing to accept a challenge. You must be active, muscle-toned and ready for excitement. For those who meet these criteria awaits an adventure with cozy campfires, sea glass hunting, whale watching, sea kayak sailing and scrumptious camp cuisine. Marvelous sunset hikes and bioluminescent paddles will make this trip the highlight of your summer!
The “Ultimate!” is scheduled only when the tides are just right to aid you with favorable tidal current each day of the trip. Learning about tidal flows and observing the beauty of a moving sea adds greatly to your education and enjoyment of this unique environment. Your guides are experts at using tides whenever possible to sweep you along coastlines and make open-water crossings. Wind and/or rough seas may require prolonged paddling at times, so all participants must be fit and have a can-do attitude.
Camping at a uniquely beautiful, seaside campsite each night gives you the chance to explore special islands. By kayak and on foot we’ll experience Jones Island, Sucia Island, Matia Island, Clark Island, Turn Island, Yellow Island and Obstruction Pass (we avoid overcrowded, damp and dark Stuart Island). In between these locations lie majestic sandstone cliffs, pristine beaches, dense coniferous forest and intertidal abundance. You’ll hike coastal and old-growth forest trails, relax in hammocks we carry along and enjoy sunset views that will astound.
