The Best Months for Whale Watching from Anacortes

The San Juan season runs May through October.

June to August — peak

Highest orca activity, calmest seas, longest days. This is when sighting odds are best across species and when the boats are busiest. Book ahead.

September and October — the humpback window

Outstanding for humpbacks, which have returned to these waters in numbers over the past decade, and with noticeably fewer people. Bigg’s orca activity holds steady into early October. If you want the best trade between odds and crowds, come now.

March to May — grey whale migration

Grey whales pass through the Strait of Juan de Fuca heading for Arctic feeding grounds, and can turn up on trips out of Anacortes. A different animal and a different, shorter window.

Outside the season

Boats largely stop. The animals do not entirely leave, but the operations that take you to them do.

What does not change

The distance rules, and the fact that these are wild animals in open water. No month guarantees anything; some months load the odds better than others.