San Juan Island is situated in the center of a small group of islands off the coast of Washington State in the Pacific Northwest. This small island group is known for its famous orca whale sightings, outdoor recreation, and rich cultural scene. There are so many things to do on San Juan Island, but don’t forget to schedule in some relaxation time!

In this guide, I will share my favorite things to do on San Juan Island that you can use to create your ideal weekend itinerary. After moving to Washington in 2018, I committed myself to exploring every corner of the state, including the incredible islands. I fell in love with the San Juan Islands, especially THE San Juan Island.

As a full-time teacher and part-time adventurer, I take my personal time and vacation time very seriously. A weekend trip to the San Juan Islands is the perfect mix of adventure and leisure, so I feel relaxed, recharged, and rejuvenated by the time I return to school on Monday.

If you’re looking for things to do on San Juan Island, then this is the place for you! Let’s get into it!

Just a heads up! This post contains affiliate links, which means I could earn a small commission on purchases made through this site. Thanks for your support!

What is there to do on San Juan Island?

San Juan Island is one of four main islands in the cluster, including Orcas Island, Shaw Island, and Lopez Island. All of them are accessible via the Washington State Ferry, and they each offer something unique.

Friday Harbor is the town where the Washington ferry docks and where your adventure will begin. This area is bustling with plenty of shops, restaurants, and art galleries. If you’re doing a whale watching tour, you will likely be leaving from Friday Harbor.

Here is a short list of things to do on San Juan Island:

• Whale Watching Tour
• Sea Kayaking (Day Trip or Overnight)
• Wine Tasting
• Shopping
• Hiking
• Camping
• Wildlife Watching
• Visit Art Galleries
• Beach Walking

San Juan Island is the perfect place to spend your morning enjoying local wildlife, your afternoon strolling through shops, and your evening sipping a glass of wine.

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Whale Watching Tour

The hope for every visit to the San Juan Islands is seeing the magnificent Orcas. The entire resident orca pod, the J-Pod, can be seen swimming and hunting together throughout the San Juan Archipelago. While you can see the orcas from shore in many of the county parks and even on the ferry, the best way to view these marine mammals is on a whale watching tour.

There are plenty of different tour companies to choose from, but my favorites are the Western Prince Whale Watching Adventures and San Juan Safaris. The small boat gets around quickly, making it easier to find wildlife. It definitely gets chilly on the water, but the experience is so exciting you hardly notice. We had an incredible naturalist on board providing background information and history about marine life in the area.

Read my guide to learn more about whale watching in Washington!

San Juan Islands Sculpture Park

If you’re looking for a free activity on San Juan Island, the Sculpture Park is an incredible place to spend your morning or evening. Located near Roche Harbor, this area is about a 15-minute drive from Friday Harbor.

This 20-acre park filled with over 150 unique sculptures is free to the public to explore. This park is dog-friendly and child-friendly. You could spend 15 minutes or 3 hours here, depending on how much time you want to spend perusing the artwork.

They do accept donations, and if you can, I would encourage you to do so.

Wine Tasting at Madrone Cellars

Madrone Cellars has a tasting room in Friday Harbor and at their vineyard. You’ll need a reservation for their vineyard, but their tasting room in downtown Friday Harbor does not require reservations.

We did a wine tasting in their tasting room, which provided 4 tastings for $20. The tasting room offers ample space to spread out, with indoor and outdoor seating.

This tap room is “dog friendly for friendly dogs”!

San Juan Vineyard

Another winery also located on the island is the San Juan Vineyard. This vineyard is about 10 minutes from Friday Harbor by car.

San Juan Vineyards is the only operating winery producing estate-grown wines. You can find their wine all over the San Juan Islands, including Downriggers, Westcott Bay Shellfish, and at King’s Market.

Whale Watching at Lime Kiln Point State Park

Lime Kiln State Park is one of the most popular places to go whale watching on the island! I currently have a 50% luck rate of watching pods as they swim through the Sound!

Lime Kiln Point State Park is actually considered one of the best whale-watching spots on Earth, and you can often find orca pods, harbor porpoise, seals, and, if you’re lucky, a minke whale.

The trails in this park are well graded and easy to follow, perfect for young children. There are picnic benches throughout the park along the shoreline. You can bring a picnic lunch and spend an hour or two searching for whales.

In the summer months, the lighthouse is open and staffed with volunteers from the Friends of Lime Kiln Society (FOLKS) to share information about the resident and transient whale pods. They even have a whiteboard with sightings!

To access this state park, you will need a Discovery Pass, which you can purchase here!

View Foxes at American Camp

American Camp is a National Historical Park located on the south end of San Juan Island. The park is known for its island foxes, which can be found scampering through the island’s long grasses.

There is an interpretive center for the park where you can learn about the land dispute between the United States and Great Britain and the infamous pig. Here you can pick up a “Bark Ranger” badge for your pup! My dog, Meatball, earned his Bark Ranger badge in 2023.

There are dozens of trails in this park to hike along, including a long beachfront where you’ll find large sculptures of driftwood.

This park does not accept Discovery Passes; you will need to purchase a day pass or use your America the Beautiful Pass.

Go Sea Kayaking

Sea Kayaking in the Sound is one of the best things you can do in the summer months. There are plenty of guided tours to choose from, but my go-to tour company is Outdoor Odysseys Sea Kayaking.

I hosted a women’s Sea Kayaking trip with them, where we spent three days sea kayaking around the San Juan Island Archipelago, camping on Jones Island. They offer several tour options from multi-day trips to day trips. I would recommend a multi-day trip because it is just a unique experience to witness the San Juan Islands from a Kayak at sunset.

You also don’t need to sea kayak with a tour company, but do some research ahead of time to make sure you know the rules of the waterway and understand the complex current system that flows in the islands if you plan on paddling self-supported.

Grab a Coffee

There are a few coffee shop options on San Juan Island, but the three I would recommend are:

1. Crows Nest: The Crows Nest is a small coffee shop in downtown Friday Harbor that offers a number of specialty drinks from The Third Eye, Buttercream, and Honey Lavender Latte. My favorite is the Buttercream, but the Mexican Vanilla is also a 10/10.
2. Salty Fox: Located right outside the ferry entrance, it’s arguably the most popular coffeeshop for visitors. They have a delicious black bean burrito and a yummy hazelnut latte.
3. Mitchell Bay Coffee: The Mitchell Bay Coffee Shop is located inside the Snug Harbor Resort. While the coffee isn’t anything to write home about, their cinnamon rolls and location are. I’ve visited this coffeeshop a few times to get some quick work time in on the island while enjoying the gorgeous harbor views.

After all, no adventure is complete without starting it off with an iced oat milk latte.

Learn About the Resident Pod of Orcas

The San Juan Islands are a fantastic place to learn about one of the coolest marine mammals, Killer Whales. At the Orca Survey Outreach and Education Center, you can expand your knowledge of these incredible animals.

This center has tons of resources, but the coolest thing they offer is a virtual reality experience of the resident orca pod swimming around their research team. Even if you do a whale watching tour on the island, it is still worth stopping into the Orca Survey Center.

As a teacher, I received some classroom materials from them that I could bring to my school.

Definitely plan on stopping in here while you wait for the ferry ride to learn all about orca whales in the Puget Sound.

Snag a Beer at San Juan Island Brewery

The San Juan Island Brewery is the place to be on the island. It is a kid-friendly and dog-friendly brewery with excellent beer and great food options.

On my fall trip to San Juan Island, my friend Caitlynn and I went there every day for a beer and to split an order of chicken tenders. What can I say? Their tenders are delicious.

The San Juan Brewing Company also has many events throughout the year, and they even host trivia during the off-season.

Slurp Oysters at the Westcott Bay Shellfish Company

The Westcott Bay Shellfish Company is THE place to go on San Juan Island for freshly harvested oysters.

If you’re going in the summer (which I highly recommend), you will head to their “The Tide Tables” restaurant, which is an outdoor patio. While Westcott Bay specializes in fresh-caught oysters, they also offer other local delicacies and an array of locally produced wine and beer.

In the off-season, you can order from “The Net Shed,” which is only open for a few hours on Saturdays. This off-season restaurant only offers freshly caught oysters and a small array of small bites. It is still worth visiting, though!

Peruse Art Galleries

San Juan Island, and the San Juan Islands in general, are a place where the arts flourish. There are so many different art galleries you can enjoy during your stay on San Juan Island.

Here are some of my favorites:

• Arctic Raven Gallery: This fine art gallery features Northwest Coast and Arctic Native works in Friday Harbor.
• WaterWorks Gallery: A conglomerate of local artists of various media, there is always something beautiful and thought-provoking on display in this gallery.
• Luminous Gallery: I recommend checking the events calendar, because Dana Alkebu-Lan is always hosting fun craft nights!
• The Alchemy Art Center: This is community art center is open to the public on Saturday, but check ahead of time! They offer classes and have a vast variety of mediums. The Yvonne Buijs-Mancuso Studio &San Juan Glassworks is right by the Alchemy Art Center, but is by appointment only.

Friday Harbor also has “First Friday Art Walk,” which is an opportunity to visit local galleries and shops in the evening! The art walk is from 4 – 7 pm.

Search for Creatures in the Tide Pools

The San Juans have some of the best places to go tide pooling in the state. To see some of the incredible creatures the live in the intertidal zone, head over to San Juan Island National Historical Park.

Grandma’s Cove is a short hike in American Camp. Find the hike here!

Tide pooling is a great way to explore coastal areas, but it is important not to disturb the animals that live there. Here are some guidelines to follow while you tidepool:

1. Gently touch animals with one wet finger as gently as you would touch your own eyeball.
2. Do not pick up or remove animals from where they are located.
3. Rocks should stay where they are.
4. Dogs and children should not roam in intertidal zones.
5. Barnacles, mussels, and urchins can be dangerous if stepped on. Always wear sturdy shoes.

Some other places you can go tide pooling in the San Juans include: Cattle Point Natural Area(San Juan), Reuben Tarte County Park(San Juan), Obstruction Pass State Park(Orcas), Odlin County Park(Lopez), and Lopez Village Beach(Lopez).

Learn at the Whale Museum

I find myself going to the Whale Museum again and again since there is always something new to see or learn about. The Whale Museum should be a part of every San Juan island Itinerary since it contains so much rich history of the Salish Sea and the various surrounding whales.

This interactive museum is a great place to not only learn about Orca Whales, but also local gray whales, humpback whales, and sea lions. At one of the main displays, you can learn about the resident pods of orcas and the impact that Sea World had on them.

The museum has a few videos you can watch to learn about the orcas, including “Saving Springer,” which is a documentary I show in my Marine Biology class!

Guided Tour of the San Juan Islands Archipelago

Depending on what you’re looking for, going on a Cruise of the San Juan Islands Archipelago is a fantastic way to explore this part of Puget Sound.

Friday Harbour Cruises is one of the best charters to explore the islands, offering private tours, full-day tours, and sunset cruises.

For a fun girls’ weekend activity, consider the Friday Harbor Cruises “Wine & Sunset Cruise”!

Keep in mind if you’re looking for a wildlife watching boat tour, I would recommend San Juan Safaris.

Grab a Bite with a View

Friday Harbor has some incredible restaurants with incredible views of the water. While the food on San Juan Island is incredible, always check hours ahead of time and consider snagging a reservation during the busy season. You can almost always count on San Juan Brewing Company being open, but with reduced hours.

Here are some incredible restaurants to add to your San Juan Island Itinerary:

1. The Restaurant at Friday Harbor House – I love that their seasonal menu changes with the season to maximize local flavors.
2. Roche Harbor Resort Dining – Located on the northern end of the island, Roche Harbor Resort Dining uses ingredients from local farms and waters to create its menu.
3. Westcott Bay Shellfish Co. – For a savory treat on the island!
4. Coho Restaurant – An elevated dining experience with locally sourced seafood.

If you’re looking for a quick bite, I also recommend Golden Triangle, Hermosa, and Jima Sushi.

Shopping in Friday Harbor

You can find some of the best gifts and thrifted finds in the stores in Friday Harbor.

If you’re looking for “San Juan Island” themed merchandise, my favorite place to go is Island Collection. For boutique-style gifts, I would head to FERN. For locally made soaps, Island Thyme is a must. And you can’t visit San Juan Island without visiting Griffin Bay Bookstore & Cafe.

Spend the Day at the Spa

There are two places on San Juan Island where you can visit a spa facility:

1. Roche Harbor Resort and Spa – They have spa facilities, and you can also book a massage, facial, or nail treatment.
2. Earthbox Inn & Spa – Centrally located near Friday Harbor, you can visit one of their three treatment rooms or treat yourself to a deep tissue massage.

Spending time on San Juan Island should feel relaxing, and nothing says relaxing quite like an afternoon at the spa.

Other Activities in the San Juan Islands…

The San Juan Island Archipelago comprises four main islands: San Juan Island, Orcas Island, Shaw Island, and Lopez Island, with plenty of smaller islands available via private charters or personal boats. But the four main islands are accessible via the Washington Ferry system.

If you’re looking to explore more of the islands, here are some suggestions:

1. Watch sunset from Mount Constitution in Moran State Park on Orcas Island.
2. Hike out to Iceberg Point on Lopez Island.
3. Visit the General Store on Shaw Island and grab a brew at Captain’s Taproom (in the summer).

Lopez and Orcas are worth a weekend trip!

Getting to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island

You will need to take the Washington State Ferries to get to San Juan Island from the mainland. The ferry to Friday Harbor departs from Anacortes, a small coastal city 84 miles northwest of Seattle, Washington.

Regardless of the time of year, I will always recommend reserving your spot on the ferry, which you can do on the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT). Check out the website here.

You will reserve your spot by finding your sailing schedule via the route, Anacortes/ San Juan Islands. By searching the route, the ferry schedule will be displayed. From there, you can click the “reserve now” button.

Choose the island you want to sail to, the date of your travel, and your vehicle length. From there, they will display the availability. Don’t forget to reserve your return trip too!

Riding this ferry is relatively expensive, but you will only pay the fare when travelling east to west. In other words, you will pay to get to the island, but your trip back will be “free”.

In the summer months, you will want to join the ferry line 30 – 60 minutes in advance, even if you have a reservation. This is extremely important when travelling off the island.

Have questions about booking your ferry? Drop your questions in the comments, and I would be happy to help ya out!

You might also be interested in reading…

• Guide to the Best Orca Whale Watching in Washington
• Planning a Day-Trip to Bainbridge Island
• A Weekend Guide to the Best Hikes on Orcas Island
• Best Hikes in the San Juan Islands (by Maddy Marq)
• Best Kayaking Spots in the San Juan Islands (by Maddy Marq)