A San Juan Islands sailing itinerary
Day-by-day routes from Bellingham — anchorages, current timing, and the local details that make a week in the islands work.
Most charters out of Squalicum Harbor in Bellingham run five to seven days, and that is the right amount of time to make a relaxed loop of the San Juan Islands without watching the clock. Below is the route we sail most often, plus a long-weekend version. Treat it as a starting point: wind and current decide the order, and we adjust with you before you leave the dock.
Seven days, round trip from Bellingham
- Day 1 · ≈ 15 nm
Squalicum Harbor → Sucia Island
Provision in the morning, run the boat checkout, and clear the breakwater by early afternoon so the northwesterly sea breeze fills in behind you. Hale Passage or a straight shot across Hale/Rosario brings you to Sucia. Echo Bay is the big, easy anchorage; Fossil Bay has mooring buoys and the shortest walk to the trails.
Anchor in the northeast lobe of Echo Bay if a southerly is forecast overnight.
- Day 2 · ≈ 14 nm
Sucia → Stuart Island (Reid Harbor)
Cross President Channel or run outside Waldron. Reid Harbor is a long, protected notch with buoys and room to anchor; walk the county road out to Turn Point Lighthouse for the best view of Haro Strait traffic and, often, whales.
Time President Channel near slack — an ebb against a fresh westerly kicks up a short, steep chop.
- Day 3 · ≈ 6 nm
Stuart → Roche Harbor
A short hop, so make it a sailing day: reach out toward Spieden Channel and back. Roche Harbor has fuel, water, showers, a market, and the evening colors ceremony. It is also the easiest place in the islands to top off before the second half of the week.
Reserve a slip early in July and August; the buoy field fills by mid-afternoon.
- Day 4 · ≈ 10 nm
Roche Harbor → Jones Island or Deer Harbor
Down San Juan Channel and through Spring Passage. Jones Island's north cove is a marine state park with buoys, deer on the beach, and a cross-island trail. If the north cove is exposed to a northerly, Deer Harbor on Orcas is the calm alternative with a fuel dock and a small store.
Jones Island north cove is a poor bet in a north wind — the south cove or Deer Harbor is the fallback.
- Day 5 · ≈ 9 nm
Jones → Friday Harbor
The one town day. Friday Harbor is the islands' hub: the Whale Museum, restaurants within a block of the docks, laundry, and a full grocery. Watch for the ferries — hold well clear of the terminal approach and monitor VHF 14.
Cattle Pass runs hard. If you plan a day sail south, go with the current and come back on the next flood.
- Day 6 · ≈ 8 nm
Friday Harbor → Blind Bay or Spencer Spit
Through Wasp Passage or up San Juan Channel and into Harney Channel. Blind Bay on Shaw Island is quiet and well protected; Spencer Spit on Lopez gives you buoys, a beach, and an easy morning start back east.
Entering Blind Bay, favor the east side of the entrance — the rock in the middle is charted and unforgiving.
- Day 7 · ≈ 20 nm
Return to Bellingham
Cross Rosario Strait through Thatcher Pass or Peavine Pass, then across Bellingham Channel and Hale Passage home. Plan the Rosario crossing for slack or a fair current, and aim to be back at Squalicum with daylight to spare for fueling and pump-out.
Rosario Strait is the day that decides your schedule. Check the current tables the night before, not the morning of.
Long weekend version
- Friday
Depart Squalicum in the afternoon, sail Hale Passage, and anchor at Inati Bay or Eagle Harbor on Lummi Island.
- Saturday
Cross to Sucia or Matia for the day, hike the headlands, and pick up a buoy for the night.
- Sunday
Long reach home across Hale Passage, back on the dock mid-afternoon.
Bellingham logistics
- Home port is Squalicum Harbor, about 25 minutes from Bellingham International Airport and 90 minutes from Seattle.
- Fuel, water, and pump-out are available in the harbor; the last full grocery run is easiest before you board.
- Marine state park buoys and mooring require a Washington Water Access Pass or nightly fee.
- Crossing into Canada for the Gulf Islands requires passports and a customs check-in — plan an extra day each way.
- We can handle the food entirely: see provisioning.
Sail this itinerary
Bareboat if you're qualified, skippered if you'd rather learn the waters with us aboard. Tell us your dates and we'll build the week around them.