This was my second tour with this company and once again, I was not disappointed! We did not see…read moreany larger whales (it WAS the "Orcas Only" tour lol) but we were blessed with the T65B Orca pod . Our guides were knowledgeable and our captain was awesome! They guarantee whales or you get to go back for FREE! I hope to visit again next year! (Or sooner if I can help it!)

Great tours! You WILL see whales, or they'll invite you back free. Very informative staff, and they…read morewere super helpful when we missed our tour due to a very long delay at the ferry. We went on two tours. Highly recommend!

You have an excellent crew. The tour was great…read more All you need is a professional photographer with a telephoto lens with photos we can upload.

a fantastic trip! Captain JB, naturalist Kate and the orcas made this a wonderful adventure. The…read moreboat is fast, smooth and comfortable with great viewing when we got to spend nearly an hour following a pod of frolicking orcas. The borrowed suits kept us warm, the borrowed binoculars enhanced the views, and the staff were informative and very attentive! A great ex from start to finish.

I have been eyeing San Juan Cruises for at least two years and this year my oldest son wanted to…read morecelebrate his birthday exploring by boat. Booking our adventure was extremely easy via the San Juan Cruises website. I greatly appreciate how detailed the reservation information was, and most importantly how courteous the entire team was throughout our time aboard. The team went into great detail about our journey, history on each island we passed, and insights on the protected wildlife we could possibly encounter during our voyage. The vessel was extremely accommodating for all of us on board, ample seating, viewing opportunities, and two restrooms. The team makes an excellent warm lunch was provided; while snacks and beverages were available throughout the entire duration of the voyage (grab a cup of coffee Blue Herron coffee beans based out of Bow, WA makes a great cup!) We managed to encounter eagles, seals, walruses, dolphins, a gray whale, and two different orca pods. Each sighting was absolutely breathtaking and majestic! I could not ever imagine going to a theme park to view these magnificent animals. The voyage takes between 5-6 hours plan, you'll be surprised at how quickly that time goes by. Helpful tip for parents bringing children feel free to pack coloring books, board games, binoculars, and snacks for your littles the San Juan Cruise team welcomes it for the little voyagers. My parents have already had planned to book an excursion during their visit next month, and I highly recommend for anyone who lives in or visiting the area to do so as well!

My boyfriend and I booked the afternoon whale watching cruise at San Juan Cruises not knowing what…read moreto expect and it ended up being the highlight of the weekend. The crew was very friendly and I loved that it was guided by the Captain and Naturalist onboard. I learned a lot about islands in the Salish Sea and we saw several species of animals. There are several great viewing spots on the boat and it's easy to see from inside if it gets too windy. I learned so much about the Biggs orcas, sea lions, and harbor seals. It's not promised, but we saw two different groups of the orcas right at the beginning of the trip and surprisingly at the end in Bellingham bay. It was so nice to learn about them and get an up close view (within safe distance). They served a lunch onboard which was included in the cost, however we packed our own. They also have beverages and snacks for sale throughout the ride. I didn't bring binoculars on board, but I did see people with them. My iPhone was enough to get close up videos and pictures of the animals! I would definitely recommend this to family and friends!

Such nice and helpful people…read more.. Last weekend my wife and I rented a boat from them and Chris was super helpful in getting us prepped with everything we needed. What I really liked was that no one at this facility read the riot act as they were walking us thru the process, which is what my experience with a LOT of boat rental places is... everything was done in a very relaxed manner and everything was explained very nicely We really enjoyed the 4 hour boat ride and did a loop around Waldron Island. Our boat died in the water after about three hours. Nate, Chris and Natalie were there within 15 minutes and helped us get back. They are all SUCH KIND and NICE people, they took care of the issue immediately, put us on a new boat and brought us back meanwhile towed the other boat. Despite the minor hiccup, a worthwhile experience...

Wonderful opportunity to rent a boat and explore the area from the water. Well worth doing as part…read moreof a visit to Orcas Island. The people who run it are very nice, and informative. Only negatives are the web site is out of date and they don't actually rent everything that's currently advertised. It's not an especially inexpensive way to spend a day (depending on your personal situation) but is a memorable, scenic experience. Not recommended if you don't have some boating skills, there are some shallow spots, rocks and tidal conditions to be aware of that could turn a fun day sour - but this isn't their fault of course. Overall a very good & fun experience that also felt safe. Seeing the islands from the water and not just from the ferry route is great!

Brett took 4 of us out on 9/10/24 and was amazing. 2 of us were very experienced and 2 were…read moremoderately experienced. Boat and gear were in great shape. We felt he structured the trip to our skills. We limited out. Definitely do it again.

Pros: Beautiful nature, boat ride, fish you get to take home!, nice people, did I mention the…read moreviews!! Cons: none ! We planned a fishing trip with R&R Charters in February, and knowing nothing about fishing Captain Brett taught us so much! He was an awesome captain to have on the boat because he pointed out landmarks, took us north enough to see canada, explained every process on the fishing/gear/how it works, and he helped us catch fish! This was a great hands on experience that helped me understand and learn about fishing. We started kinda early in the morning, but the nice office had FREE COFFEE and a good heater. Then we went out on the boat which was loaded and ready to go (aka i didn't have to do anything ) and went out to multiple fishing spots. Just the boat ride out made me so happy. You could sit inside or outside the heated cabin on our boat which made the ride fun for my boyfriend who wanted to be outside and comfy for me inside. Then Captain Brett set up lines and taught us everything we needed to know! Honestly this was a great addition to our trip to anacortes and The best way to see the San Juan Islands, catch fish, it was educational, and we even got to see seals at the end! This was an awesome date, and would be great for a family trip or with kids. I can't wait to go back and do it again!!

Top notch half day sea kayak tour! Staff have ACA training which shows a commitment to high…read morenational standards and safety. I trust their knowledge of the area, their kayak skills, and safety mindedness. The kayak guide was fun, knowledgeable, and had everything going smoothly. I'd gladly do another kayak tour with these folks!

An absolutely perfect day; a perfect experience with wonderful guide. We can't give Brandon credit…read morefor the weather, but after such a breathtaking experience, we were praising him for the perfect weather, too. Booking was a breeze, advanced communication was timely and informative, check-in was friendly and easy, and even the drive across the island from Friday Harbor was engaged and informative. But the real magic happened on the water, where we started under mild, overcast skies, and ended with sunshine and perfect weather. Along the way we saw: 1 black fox, 2 harbor seals, 1 harbor porpoise, a rhinoceros auklet (unique diving sea bird), 13+ Bald Eagles, AND TWO HUMPBACK WHALES! The beach side lunch was fantastic... the best turkey sandwich I've ever had, made exceptional by the views and the company. The lack of an Orca sighting made this full day trip an eyelash shy of perfect, but we could not have otherwise been more thrilled with our experience on the water with Brandon and the Discovery Sea Kayak team. Thank you for a magical day on the island. PS - we paid half as much for a full day tour with Discovery as we did for a half day tour on Orcas Island, so this group gets our strongest recommendation!

FISH ON, multiple double hook ups! Action packed two days of fishing. Highly recommend booking with…read moreNorth Shore Charters. Capitan Marty made our experience unforgettable. My husband and I have fished Many different charters all over, but we have never had an experience like this. Capitan Marty knew exactly where and how to put us on the fish. The boat and the gear were top notch. We limit out both days for Coho Salmon and Dungeness Crab. AMAZING

Professional safe fun knowledgeable great wild life whale experience. Everything went well!read more

We had a excellent experience on our four hour excursion with an Island Boat Rentals 16' RiverHawk…read more Scott gave us a brief but thorough period of instruction about the boat, and navigation system. He also offered some suggestions for islands to visit, things to see, places orcas might be visible, and locations for public docks and restrooms. The boat was more than roomy for my family of four plus beagle, and had comfortable seats. The boat, and navigation worked flawlessly, and we had a great time! I highly recommend this experience over a chartered tour. You are your own captain, and you four legged family members are welcome. Pointer: Force your family to dress warm. Mine underestimated the cold factor despite my warnings. Even when the weather is beautiful, it's cold out on the water when underway.

At first this business owner seems like a nice enough guy. We rented a boat not know much about…read moredriving a boat. The day looked like it was easy and calm but as we headed out to seat the water was great super choppy and we felt unsafe. We turned around and headed back to the mainland. When we returned he first said everything looked ok and we were good to go. As we were jumping into our car the owner runs up to us and says hey you guys broke a piece of the propeller and we need you to fix it. It will cost between $500-$3,000. We were really confused because we didn't hit anything!!!! The we asked what the insurance policy was and he said he didn't have any. So us not knowing much we google this "so called part" it only cost $113. After being told it would cost $3,000 I sprinted into a local attorneys office and told him what had happened and he quickly shared that it was illegal for us to be driving a boat unsupervised anyway and that he was aloud to even be charging for a service like that. You can not operate, unless under the direct onboard supervision of uscg liscesned captain, a boat with more than 15hp in wa state. Be very careful this company is NOT legal and will take advantage you!!