san juan outfitters

Yesterday we left Roche harbor for a 3:00 whale watch with the anticipation of a great day ahead of us.  We headed out towards Haro Strait and followed the reports of a large group of whales at around Turn Point.  We got a little North of Turn Point and saw a huge group traveling North through Boundary Pass.  The large group that we were seeing consisted of all of K pod and a portion of L pod as well.  Captain Chris and I estimated about 25-30 whales in the area.  They...

Today we left Roche Harbor at 11:00 with reports of transient orcas in Canadian waters.  We went through John's Pass on the way to the reports of the whales and got a beautiful scenic view of the San Juans.  We got to the area were the transient family was hunting and enjoyed watching them hunt and even make a few kills!  It is always enjoyable to see this animals at their most active hunting state.  We even got to see some surface behaviors including porpoising and even...

Today we left Roche harbor and headed straight out into Haro Strait where we had reports of orcas in the area.  We came across the K14's which include K14 (Lea) and her offspring K26 (Lobo), K36 (Yoda) and K42 (Kelp).  We watching them for quite some time and enjoyed watching them all surface close together and in synchronization.  We enjoyed watching the family for a while and then headed back through John's Pass.  On the way through John's pass we saw a quite a few...

Just got back from an epic kayak tour! We saw whales breaching in the distance as we sat in kelp beds surrounded by harbor seals. The paddle back was blessed with some huge lions mane jellyfish! What a day!

San Juan Outfitters Kayak Guide Owen, 3 hour tour, July 27, 2014

Yesterday we left Roche Harbor with reports of a minke whale across Haro Strait.  We headed across Haro Strait into Canada!  We got a few good looks at the Minke Whale and then decided to go around Stewart Island and through John's Pass.  Minke Whales are the smallest of the baleen whales at about 30 feet in length.  We went through John's pass and saw quite a few harbor seals with their pups.  It is pupping seasons for the seal pups so have been seeing quite a few of...

Today we left Roche Harbor with whale reports down by Lime Kin Lighthouse.  We headed out of Mosquito pass and saw some harbor seals with their pups.  It is currently pupping season so we are seeing the baby seals pretty frequently.  We came out of Mosquito Pass and found the whales a little North of Lime Kiln Lighthouse heading south.  We went south with the whales and got a great look at J27 (Blackberry) and his sister J31 (Tsuchi) a little offshore.  We left the two...

The sun breaking through on a mostly overcast sky gave us the perfect temperature to kayak a great distance. We moved south through Mosquito pass, pausing for a moment through Garrison Bay and English camp, and eventually reached our lunch destination at Open Bay. It was a great paddle and although worn out a bit, everyone was in high spirits.

Kayak Guide Josh, 5-hr kayak tour, San Juan Island Outfitters Whale Watching & Kayak Tours

Today we left Roche Harbor headed North toward positive whale reports.  We headed to Boundary Pass by way of John's Pass.  In John's Pass we saw quite a few seal pups in the calm shallow waters.  We entered into Boundary Pass and found the L pod resident whales traveling South West towards Turn Point.  The whales were traveling at high speeds and were seen porpoising to gain speed in the water.  At one point the whales were traveling at speeds of about 12 mph.  We...

Today we left Roche Harbor on what can only be described as a perfect day on the water.  We went down the West side of San Juan Island and found the whales at Andrews Bay.  We first came across L87 (Onyx).  Onyx usually travels with J2 (Granny) ever since his mom died in 2010.  We then went past Lime Kiln Lighthouse with Onyx and came across the J16's.  The family includes J16 (Slick) and her three offspring J26 (Mike), J36 (Alki) and J42 (Echo).  They were traveling...

Today's trip was full of perfect weather as well as great photo ops for a diverse range of wildlife! From a bald eagle perched atop a a nearby tree to the awesome view of a mother harbor seal playing with her pup, we had great wildlife encounters all day! The jellyfish sure were out today as we were able to identify two common species. The moon jelly and water jelly (not very creatively named, i will say) were all over the place! It was another great day of paddling.

Kaya...