West Beach Resort on Orcas Island

Mike and I spend Labor Day weekend in the most lovely, relaxing way - on an Orcas Island camping trip. I've had an itch to ride the ferry and camp in the San Juan's; it's been approximately 13 years since I've been to Orcas Island, specifically. So, I Googled "camping Orcas Island," discovered the cutest little place called West Beach Resort and reserved a spot for Labor Day weekend. From Seattle, we drove north to exit 230 (almost clear the way to Bellingham, my old college stomping grounds!) to catch the ferry to Orcas Island.

After an hour and a half ferry ride, we pulled into the campground around 7 p.m. and were met with a sign that pretty much summed up the weekend:

Slow Down You're on West Beach Time

From there, our weekend followed their recommended leisurely time schedule. It's amazing what you can fit into a day when you don't have errands to run, haircuts to get, laundry to wash, birthday and grad parties to attend, work to finish, cars to wash and oil to change, groceries to purchase and meals to cook...We spent our first evening with drinks, a sunset on the beach and an evening dip in the hot tub that had a view of the water. How great is it to go camping somewhere that has a hot tub! And it wasn't crowded either! West Beach Resort also has a private beach and a looong dock that has a place to moor boats and picnic tables with umbrellas for playing games or watching the sunset. (You can rent games from the little store, which also features homemade waffle cones and ice cream, espresso, grocery items, and crab pots and fishing rentals and purchases.)

The campground has regular, tent camping, or you can also reserve a canvas tent or a cabin on the beach... it's also a very family friendly place and had a neat bonfire pit off the dock, with benches for everyone at the campsite to enjoy. We saw some people playing guitar there the second night.

Saturday we woke up bright and early (hard to avoid when sleeping in a tent), ordered lattes at the little dockside store and bought a crab pot to throw over the side of the dock. Mike was like a kid in a candy store with his crab pot. I swear he checked it every hour, on the hour, all weekend long. One night, he checked his crab pots and the crabs that was there earlier were gone! We talked to some people that said to beware of people who rob crab pots, so there's a word of caution.

From there, we explored Orcas Island, which is so beautiful! I'm amazed at how underdeveloped it is - tons of trees, parks, dirt roads, waterfront views and funky beach houses with property. The weather was perfect, sunny and crisp...Orcas Island doesn't get as hot as Eastern Washington, but we do recommend going in the heart of summer so you get some sun and warmth. The island is actually quite large, with a number of small little port towns. We drove through Moran State Park, hiked a little through the woods, then up to Mt. Constitution to the stone tower built there sometime in the 1930s. The views are amazing, and definitely worth a picture op.

You can also camp in Moran State Park, which is amazing in of itself - most of it was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and features approximately 5,000 acres, with 30 miles of hiking trails. The CCC was formed by Franklin D. Roosevelt during The Depression to put men back to work, improve the economy and preserve the nation's parks. There are really neat pictures and a detailed history of this time period to read inside the stone tower.

From Moran State Park, we drove to Deer Harbor and ate lunch at the Deer Harbor Cafe before we headed to Obstruction Pass State Park to hike some more, walk on the beach and look through tide pools. The Deer Harbor Cafe was super yummy and quaint. They had homemade items such as lasagna and potato salad, and a little outdoor patio. It is also right next to a small park and a dock, so you can take your lunch and enjoy it next to the water.

We then spent the rest of our Sunday night with a couple games of Battleship and Yahtzee and another hot tub swim before heading out the next day. Unfortunately, Labor Day weekend is one of the more popular weekends to head to Orcas Island, so we were warned that sometimes you have to wait eight hours for a ferry - and might not get back until the next day. Yikes. We did have to wait four hours in line, but luckily you can sit out in the park next to the ferry and there are a lot of places to eat, shop and explore while you're waiting.

Final Verdict: Most definitely go back. We absolutely loved this private
campground, and it's features - hot tub, store, crabbing, kayaking - and the
natural beauty of Orcas Island and it's laidback style. The island is perfect
for bike riding, so we'll probably take our bikes next time. In fact, we love
this place so much, we're thinking of making it a yearly tradition. It's that
highly recommended!