After a coolish spring and summer, the Outdoor Odysseys garden located on the outskirts of Friday Harbor, San Juan Island is finally coming into full bloom! We continue to have organic zucchini, squash, rhubarb, basil, and several varieties of lettuce to send out on our overnight trips, and just a few days ago we harvested a number of cherry tomatoes and the first of our cucumbers. The larger tomatoes and lemon cucumbers are looking quite promising as well. All should be ripe within the next week! Join us for one of our sea kayaking trips and sample some of our…

This past week, I had a friend in town who was visiting the San Juan Islands for the first time. Wanting to show her as much of the islands as possible (and wanting to do a bit of exploring myself!) I decided to take the opportunity to visit a couple of the other islands in the San Juans. The Washington State Ferry, which runs between Anacortes and Friday Harbor, also provides service to three other islands in the San Juan archipelago: Orcas, Lopez, and Shaw. Of the four islands served by the ferry, San Juan is the most populated, Orcas…

Beginning this summer, Outdoor Odysseys will be offering a brand new “Island Exploration” day tour on San Juan Island, where guests will have the opportunity to sample some of the best things that the island has to offer. We’ll spend the day exploring our favorite local spots, including Mount Finlayson, Lime Kiln Point State Park, and the Pelindaba Lavender Farm, and we’ll finish the day with wine tasting at San Juan Vinyards or cider and gin tasting at Westcott Bay Cider.

As June draws to a close on San Juan Island, summer continues to pick up speed. Last week brought some sunny weather to the island and live music at The Doctor’s Office (a coffee shop—not an actual medical center), the Rumor Mill, and the San Juan County Fairgrounds. Cask & Schooner, a restaurant and pub in town, celebrated its grand re-opening after a multi-year hiatus, and downtown Friday Harbor was abuzz this weekend with visitors who’d come over on the ferry. We here at Outdoor Odysseys are just as excited as the visitors that the season has begun. This Saturday…

This afternoon I sat down with second-year guide Will Bingaman to talk with him about a trip he led earlier this week. Like most of our one-day trips at Outdoor Odysseys, the trip launched from San Juan County Park on the west side of the island, went south to Deadman’s Bay where the group stopped for lunch, and back north to the county park. Will met his four guests at the Friday Harbor ferry terminal on the morning of the trip. Two were from Australia, two from Chicago, and all had been sea kayaking before, though never in the San Juan Islands.

  With over 17 hours of sunlight, 70-degree days with a cool ocean breeze, and an abundance of migrating wildlife; it’s no wonder why summer is the most popular time to visit Friday Harbor and San Juan Island. Nestled in the rain shadow of the Olympic mountains, the island gets less than 24 inches of rain annually (with less than 6 of that falling in the summer months), making this climate arid enough for prickly pear cactus to grow on some of the islands. Summer new and full moons boast over 11- foot tidal exchanges, creating remarkably low tides that…

No experience is necessary! Beginners are welcome on all of our Eagles & Orcas tours. Your safety is our number one priority. We use very stable double kayaks that tend to be wider and much more stable than single kayaks. We employ mature, seasoned guides who will give you a very thorough on-land orientation before you start your trip. You will learn the basics of kayak paddling including how to steer and fit the boat. We won’t get on the water until everybody feels comfortable with ocean kayaking techniques. Throughout your kayak trip, your guide is always there to give…

We tend to approach the age topic on a case-by-case basis since not all folks have generic body sizes and capacities for activity. As a general rule, 13 to 14-year-olds are able to paddle the double sea kayaks. However, it really does depend on the individual. We have also taken paddlers out as old as 82. We have several triple kayaks that hold three people. In this case, we could put a younger person in the center cockpit, with the forward and aft cockpits occupied by older, more competent paddlers. We have taken out kids as young as 8 on…

The southern arm of San Juan Island where American Camp, a national historical park, is located, offers a number of great hikes and walking trails with amazing views. Of course, it is always interesting to check out the history while exploring the grounds of American Camp, but just a short distance from the Visitor Center are a number of San Juan Island’s gems to explore. Mt. Finlayson is the highest point in American camp, offering great views of Mt. Baker to the east, Mt. Rainier in the southeast, the Olympic Mountains to the south and British Columbia to the west.…

As we set out, it was great to be on the water. I was fascinated by the forest of algae underneath us in many locations of our trip. You could see so much from the kayak, including rock beaches, houses and sailboats traveling in the distance. You could not experience all this any other way! After lunch, we headed back to our original destination. Not long after launching, our orca experience started! I remember seeing a whale tail ahead of us and almost jumped out of the kayak seat in excitement. Soon, fins started to approach us. People would ask…