San Juan Island Adventures

Naturalist Olivia | M/V Sea Hawk | August 22nd, 2020 | 13:00

What a day on Sea Hawk! It was so refreshing to have a sunny, calm day out in the Salish Sea- did I mention it was warm? We left the dock with two options of Killer Whales in our waters [YAY!] and had to make a decision if we were heading north or heading south. After receiving word from colleagues in the Pacific Whale Watch Association, the family group far to the south had turned east out of range of our...

Olivia | August 20th, 2019 | M/V Sea Hawk | 5:00pm Charter

This evening, Captain Sarah and I had a private charter booked on Sea Hawk that was a reunion for some old college friends and their families. It was such a fun group of folks right off the bat that came pouring on with all the yummy foods to make it a social outing in the Salish Sea. We headed north through the San Juan Channel in hopes to see a potential whale sighting near Sandy Point off Waldron Island. Being...

Erin | M/V Sea Hawk | Wednesday, August 14, 2019 | 2:00 PM

It was a day to remember in the Salish Sea. We began our trip with no firm reports of whales in the area, but some vague reports of humpback whales very far south of San Juan Island. We were originally going to head in that direction, so we headed west out of Roche Harbor. We were cruising along the west side of San Juan Island when our Captain Erick spotted two large blows in the distance! We had found some...

Erin | M/V Sea Hawk | Thursday, August 8, 2019 | 2:00 PM

What an incredible trip packed full of wildlife this afternoon! We left Roche Harbor with no firm reports of whale sightings, so we decided to head toward Canadian waters and try to search for whales on our own. Whales can be anywhere throughout the Salish Sea, so we were hoping to find them as we made our way through some important wildlife refuges. We arrived at a refuge called Mandarte Rock, which is important...

Olivia | July 14th, 2019 | M/V Sea Hawk | 2:00pm

Heading out of Roche Harbor today, we stumbled across one of our Harbor Seals right as I was giving the wildlife talk about how to spot them, how perfect is that? The sun was shining, and it stayed awfully warm, especially since we didn’t have to travel far before we saw our first whale siting! Despite never getting too cold, I passed out blankets to all 7 passengers so we could stay nice and cozy the entire trip. We...

Erin | M/V Sea Hawk | 2:00 PM | Tuesday, July 9, 2019

What an incredible adventure aboard the M/V Sea Hawk! The sun was shining and the ocean was calm. It was a perfect day to be out on the water. We left the harbor and headed north toward East Point. We were destined for Canadian waters, where we heard that there were some humpback whales! We took a beautiful route through Johns Pass, where we saw a bald eagle resting on top of a flagpole. It was looking quite majestic...

Olivia | July 2nd, 2019 | M/V Sea Hawk | 2:00pm

Today was one of the top trips for both Captain Sarah and me! Sarah is not only our Captain, but also our Lead Naturalist and has been here for six years observing our wildlife. If she says it was in her top 5, you know it was good! We headed out of Roche Harbor through John’s Pass and straight up to Boundary Pass. From there, we caught our first glance at some Killer Whales where we waited for them to turn around East Point...

We’re frequently asked why we only offer sea kayaking with certified guides. Why?

The first and most important reason is safety. Let’s talk sea kayaking 101!

Tides and Currents

The water around San Juan Island is diverse and fast changing. Topography of the ocean floor includes depth changes that in many spots plunge very quickly along oceanic shelves caused by ancient subduction zones. Even our island “count” changes day-by-day based on tidal exchange, leaving land mass...

Erick | 7/6/18 | M/V Sea Hawk | 2:00PM

This Friday, Captain Sarah and I headed out with a great group of humans aboard the M/V Seahawk from Roche Harbor. We headed out and headed north towards Boundary Pass. As we passed into Swanson Channel we saw a few blows in the distance. Capt. Sarah brought us closer and we saw that the blows were from two Humpback Whales. We followed beside them for awhile as they travelled south. It seemed that they were heading to the area in...