This is mainly for the winter season but also the island as a whole. This may get an update in the summer. Orcas Island is really pretty. The water views are fantastic. If you're lucky, you'll see a whale or pod of whales. However, I definitely do not recommend coming here in the winter. Everything is pretty much closed -- at least all the really good stuff. If you want breakfast, forget about it. Pretty much all the breakfast restaurants are all closed for the season, which makes zero sense, so you only have one option (Island Skillet). It's not a bad restaurant, but imagine you're visiting the island for a week. That's all you pretty much have unless you want to eat pastries at the bakery all the time, but those are a bit pricy. The weather also ruins a lot of the fun. Don't even try to visit Mount Constitution because you won't see anything. We paid $10 for a state park parking pass and saw the view for about 5 minutes before a wall of fog rolled in. Then it just poured with heavy winds. The nearby towns are okay. You drive in, you drive out. Not much to see. This isn't really a touristy island. It is an artsy place, though, so I appreciate all the galleries. Olga gallery is a good one. All the clothing stores are mainly targeted toward an older demographic and older women. There's a toy shop in a pharmacy and a bookstore, but that's pretty much it for younger people. This is a good island to get away from it all but I personally love San Juan since that has more to see and do. read more

It's the best island compared to the ones we've been to which are Shaw, Lopez, and San Juan. The East Sound has a lot of inns, shops, and restaurants. Camping at Moran State Park can be the closest thing to heaven. There are walkable beaches everywhere. We love the flowers that blooms everywhere around the July time. read more

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I am baffled as to why Orcas Island has such a low review on Yelp! Perhaps if you're visiting the island expecting ample entertainment, shops, restaurants, nightlife and such then yes, this island will certainly not meet your expectations! But if you're looking for peace, solitude, a place to escape and get away from the hubbub of Seattle or wherever home is for you, then Orcas is perfect! Getting there by car can be a mission and since the island is quite small, consider just getting a walk on ticket at the Anacortes ferry terminal. You'll be glad you saved the money! There's plenty of stunning nature to keep you occupied for days, and when the busiest thing on the island is the occasional ferry turning up, you'll be able to relax, unwind and put up your feet! read more

Don't be fooled by the Google map showing lots of friendly laneways leading to the shoreline. All laneways, and most of the roads are marked "Private, residents only" etc. The only road we found where we could walk down, Killbrew Lake Rd, had no footpath/sidewalk. The only things we got to see were the wharf, the roadway and water glimpses. The numerous cars slowed down only to stare at us; I guess to make sure we weren't stealing. The bike hire guy almost did not say a word, pointing to the pricing. We didn't hire. It all points to one obvious conclusion: this island is hiding a secret so hideous, that all residents have a shared interest in getting visitors to stay away . Have you seen that film "The Hills have Eyes"? Seriously though, I hate it when you can't get anywhere because the locals are trying to bar everyone else. Some shoreline should be public, and more of this place should be national park. If you want to experience the San Juans, I can recommend Lopez Island. read more

Orcas Island - Main landing point - Public Services & Government Near Me - Eastsound, Washington

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Lots to do on this island: hike, camp, shop, jaz fest at certain times of the year, or just relax. We used the bus to see how it was - absolutely fantastic. It runs pretty regularly, the driver is a wealth of information and very friendly. You can't go wrong. If you want to take a taxi, make a reservation. The driver is great - personable beyond words, but its an "only". In deference to one of the earlier reviews, I agree its spread out. But, its an island that has become a destination. What do you expect? read more

Orcas Island - Taxi at Orcas landing - Public Services & Government Near Me - Eastsound, Washington

I love this island but not for the reasons you might think. One does not come to Orcas Island to do the kinds of things you might do in Hawaii or in the Caribbean. You come here because you want quiet or to reconnect with nature or do outdoors activities: hiking, kayaking, fishing, etc. This is a superb little part of the Earth, and if you keep what I said in mind, you'll love it too. Be aware that many of the resorts and specialized housing is priced through the roof! One can easily pay more than $300.00 clams a night! However, if you're willing to go rustic you can get a house on the waterfront a very reasonable prices (I write this from one such place and "It's fabulous darling!")! Speaking only for myself, I intend to return here for respite and the recharging of my batteries. The pace is unhurried, unlike so much of life, and that's something all of us can use! read more

Peaceful and scenic with abundant nature and a cute downtown. Several very good restaurants, a couple decent bars, and some interesting shopping (depending on your tastes). I knocked off a star because I've never been on an island so averse to bikers and walkers. Several times I got dirty looks or honked at aggressively while walking into town. Also the locals aren't the most friendly. Shame. Besides that the island is great--a must visit if you're in the San Juans. read more

If you're traveling from Port Townsend, this is a full day trip. If you're on the last ferry (3pm) out of Orcas to Anacordes you'd better RACE to get to Coupeville. We raced down, only to make it by 6 min. before the ferry left. Very nerve-racking. Thankfully, they let us on, because the next (and last) ferry was around 9pm. While you're on Orcas, there are about three small towns where you can do pretty much nothing. There are some shops, a few places to eat, but for the most part, it's just driving through forest, coastline, and a few meadows. Pretty, but if you are expecting stuff to do, you've been misled by reading review of all the activities. You'd better check it out in advance to see if there's anything "special" going on. Otherwise, it's like what some call "a chance to re-connect with nature". But that's not something you need to spend the whole day to get to when you're in this general area. You're already there, so I'd recommend another spot with something special. For this area, Orcas Island is not something special. read more

LOW- KEY- LAID BACK- QUIET ISLAND! GO there if you want to get away from the city and want life to slooowwwww down. Its far enough away to feel like on vacation but close enough to go for the weekend! We stayed at doebay resort! It was romantic and outdoorsy. The outdoor hotspring was zen and had the most beautiful views! Orcas has camping- hiking-boating-WHALE WATCHING- fishing! lots of outdoor activities! read more

My family visited Orcas Island recently for the first time. It was a mixed bag. I think part of my experience was tainted because we chose to visit at the worst time - the week right before Independence Day. We rented a place in Eastsound which was decent enough. I was glad that I was able to walk to everything in town from the lodging because parking was pretty much non-existent much of the time. I am guessing that would not be a problem for most of the time, but the last week of June, first week of July, forget it! Just to get the ferry reservations a month in advance was like trying to get coveted concert tickets. We got online first thing at 7 in the morning and watched the spots disappear in a matter of minutes. The food on the island is over-priced, but that is no surprise to me, just expect the usual island prices, no matter the island. What was a little disconcerting is that many of the restaurants have unusually short hours of operation and they were not able to handle the amount of traffic they got the week we were there. They roll up the streets pretty early in Eastsound. We visited the farmer's market and bought some awful handmade sourdough bread. My wife bought some good goat cheese that was made on nearby Lopez Island. We had expensive pizza with hardly any toppings at Hogstones' wood oven. It is cooked in a wood oven and the smoky flavor was very interesting, but my vegan pizza was dough, red sauce and about 5 small leaves of spinach. My family's meat pizza received similar complaints about stingy toppings. My family spend almost $90 for the 3 of them to eat small salads for lunch at Cafe Olga at another part of the island. The mexican food restaurant Mijitas was a bright spot. They had openings on July 4th where others didn't. Their food was very good and I would recommend them. We also ate at La Madrona Bar and Grill and my family enjoyed that twice, although there weren't really any vegan options there. I enjoyed going to Enzo's for coffee in the morning - one of the few places that opens early. The Bear Bakery is okay, but half the island lines up at its doors an hour before it opens, so, no thanks. The high point of our trip was the homey fireworks display at Eastsound on July 4th. They have 2 fireworks displays on Orcas, one in Deer Harbor on the 3rd and then another on Independence Day. We didn't go to the one in Deer Harbor, because we would have had to drive and parking would probably have been an issue. The fireworks had music provided by the Orcas community band which was adorable. The fireworks display itself was very similar to the displays in our hometown area, which is pretty good. We really enjoyed walking down the shore to partake in that event. The low point of our trip was the trip to Moran State Park. Unfortunately, there was so much auto traffic on July 3rd that a person working at the visitor center was outside the center filming on her cell phone the 'amazing' traffic jam, which she apparently was not accustomed to. At the top of Moran park, outside the Friends of Moran shop, we, along with at least a dozen others parked on the side of the road because the parking lot was packed. When we returned an hour later, we took off for the short .25 hike to Cascade Falls. Again, the little lot at that location was JAMMED. So we, along with a couple of others once again parked on the side of the road. Despite being careful not to block access to the trailhead and having bought the proper day pass, our rental car was ticketed. Reading the ticket, I discovered that the little road there is a 'hyway' and despite there being no indication it is a highway, and the lack of "No Parking" signs anywhere within sight I got treated to a $136 visitor tax by way of a parking citation by Mr. Al Nickerson III. I think Orcas Island is a nice enough spot to visit. If I were to do it again, which I don't think I will, I would probably consider a camping option to enjoy things like kayaking and canoeing while keeping the cost down and minimizing travel and dependence on restaurant food. I would make sure any reservations I needed were taken care of well in advance, especially during the hell week that we were there. read more

An island made for tourists. Camping, hiking, etc very nice but there are lots of islanbs in the area you can also do that at. I thought the towns were really made for tourists. T shirt shops, glass blown this or that, ice cream. The architecture looks like it was made by one person in 1985. Its kind of a whatever sort of place that is not worth it read more