Anacortes–San Juan Islands ferry
Ferry routes in the U.S. state of Washington / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Anacortes–San Juan Islands ferry is a system of ferry route operated by Washington State Ferries. The routes serve Anacortes, Lopez Island, Shaw Island, Orcas Island, San Juan Island, and Sidney on Vancouver Island in Canada.[2][3] The ferry routes are part of State Route 20 Spur (SR 20 Spur).[4]
Locale | San Juan Islands | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Waterway | Rosario Strait Haro Strait (Sidney only) | ||||
Transit type | Auto/passenger ferry | ||||
Route | Anacortes–Lopez Island–Shaw Island–Orcas Island–Friday Harbor–Sidney, BC | ||||
Carries | SR 20 Spur | ||||
Operator | Washington State Ferries | ||||
Travel time | 1–2 hours (Anacortes–Friday Harbor) | ||||
No. of terminals | 6 | ||||
Yearly ridership | 1,890,458 (2022)[1] | ||||
Yearly vehicles | 921,088 (2022)[1] | ||||
Connections at Anacortes | |||||
Skagit Transit | |||||
SR 20 Spur | |||||
Connections at Sidney, BC | |||||
BC Transit | |||||
Hwy 17 | |||||
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The mainland hub for the system is Anacortes on Fidalgo Island in Skagit County, which is connected to the rest of the state by SR 20 Spur.[3] The ferries travel across Rosario Strait and through Thatcher Pass to reach the San Juan Islands. In the fall and winter, the water becomes can be very rough in the Rosario Strait, often resulting in canceled runs.
The route is served by between three and five vessels. Year-round three vessels are used for domestic travel to the islands, with one of those vessels equipped for international travel between Anacortes and Sidney, BC (Vancouver Island) during the spring, summer and fall. A fourth vessel for inter-island travel between the islands is added during the spring, summer and fall schedules. During the busy summer tourism season, a fifth vessel is added to the route for domestic travel to the islands.[5]
As of December 2021[update], the main year-round vessels on the Anacortes–San Juan Islands routes are:
As of December 2021[update], the MV Tillikum is used as the inter-island vessel during the spring, summer and fall schedules.