![]() ![]() That’s because it’s the western-most island where orcas like to hang. While all of them have either tour operators or options for kayaking with orca whales, San Juan Island is the most popular. There are 3 San Juan Islands most people visit: San Juan Island, Orcas Island, and Lopez Island. Which makes it an ideal home all year round for orcas. This helps the water temperature stay consistent throughout the year. Because it’s in a rain shadow, it doesn’t get as much rain as other areas of Washington. This chain of more than 170 islands in the Salish Sea between Washington state and Vancouver Island is the perfect spot for them thanks to its mild weather. While you can see orcas right in Seattle, the best whale watching is about 3 hours north of Seattle in the San Juan Islands. ![]() This won’t help you on a tour, but if you plan to kayak with orcas on your own or they are near shore, you can rush to try and catch them. Check local Facebook groups for whale sightings, such as the San Juan Whale Sightings group.Make sure you go during the best time to kayak with orcas in Seattle: summer between May and September.Consider going on a whale watching boat tour instead of kayaking if seeing orcas is important to you.How to Increase Your Chances of Seeing Orcas ![]() Try not to disturb them, and follow the kayaker code of conduct created by the Kayak Education Leadership Program. However, if an orca comes near your kayak, there’s not much you can do as a kayaker except be still. Both whale watching tour operators and kayakers need to stay 300-400 yards away from orcas, as per the Be Whale Wise guidelines. However, if you do see an orca, you may experience a closer encounter. Instead, all the tour operators are connected through a single radio and are constantly communicating about orca sightings so they can bring passengers to the whales. Whale watching tours from boats, on the other hand, move at higher speeds and aren’t limited by a set path. Guided kayak tours generally have defined routes, depending on wind, tide, and currents, and they rarely put paddlers in the vicinity of orcas.” Amy Nesler, Stewardship & Communications Coordinator of the San Juan Islands Visitors Bureau, said this: During my recent trip to San Juan Island, I decided to contact both the San Juan Islands Visitors Bureau and different whale watching tour operators to organize my kayaking trip.Įvery single one of them said kayaking isn’t the best way to see orcas. I’m sorry to burst your bubble, but this is one of the first things I learned when doing my own research about kayaking with orcas. There is a high probability you will NOT see orcas from a kayak. Now that you know the best time to kayak with orcas in Seattle, let’s get down to all the details to increase your chances of seeing these magnificent creatures. Other wildlife you may see in summer include fin whales, minke whales, harbor seals (and maybe even seal pups in August!), stellar sea lions, dolphins, jelly fish, eagles, great blue herons, cormorant birds, and probably so many other types of birds I couldn’t even name! I always see humpback whales when taking a boat out to snorkel during my 5 day Maui itinerary and can attest they shouldn’t be missed! For example, the majestic humpback whale is near Seattle during the summer before migrating to Hawaii for winter. This is also the best time of year to increase your chances of seeing other types of whales. That’s because their food source, salmon, is most active around this time. But summer between May and September are the best times to kayak with orcas. You can see orcas in Seattle, Washington and the surrounding areas year round. To help increase your chances of an orca sighting, here are all my tips and the best time to kayak with orcas in Seattle. Yet the chances of that happening from a kayak is slim if you don’t know the best time to go. And, if you’re like me, you dream of kayaking within feet of one while witnessing a full jump out of the air (preferably with mountains and a candy-colored sunset sky…hey, a girl can dream right?). Given this, the Seattle area is one of the most popular areas in the United States for whale watching.Įveryone hopes to catch a glimpse of this endangered species. The Puget Sound is home to about 72 resident orcas and even more transient ones drawn to our temperate waters teeming with salmon. “When is the best time to kayak with orcas in Seattle” was one of the first questions I asked when I moved here more than a decade ago. ![]()
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