Whale Watching near Seattle [Travel]

My husband and I had been planning this trip since 2015. We weren't married yet, but we were celebrating our anniversary. We had to postpone the trip because of family matters. After 4 years we decided to finally make the trip. This time we celebrated 2 years of marriage so we booked our flight to Seattle. Since our anniversary is September 30 we always travel during mid-October (accountant life) which happens to be one of the best times to go whale watching!


STAY
We rented an Airbnb located in Capitol Hill. We literally just spent the night there and headed to Anacortes at 6am the next day. We decided Capitol Hill because it's less crowded than downtown but it still offers good restaurants!

TRAVELING FROM SEATTLE
We booked our trip with San Juan Safaris. They are great! As soon as I booked the trip they called to let me know they are located 2 hours away from Seattle and that we needed to take a Ferry from Anacortes which departs at 8 and 9 am. We made it to the 8am Ferry. The Ferry takes about 1 hour to arrive at San Juan Island, which is where Friday Harbor is located. I know it sounds like a hassle, but let me tell you it is worth it. We rented a car for 3 days since we were also traveling to Mt. Rainier.  You can park your car at the Ferry Station and leave it for the day. We got to Friday Harbor an hour before our tour. So we had a few minutes to explore the small town. We visited the Farmers Market and had some pastries and dumplings. We also bought some ginger cookies and a pumpkin spice latte at Cheesecake Cafe and Bakery, located next to the Ferry terminal. (you can't miss it)
WHALE WATCHING EXPERIENCE 
I took a Dramamine before getting in the boat. I am really sensitive and get motion sickness pretty easily.  The ride was not bad at all. We bought the Classic Whale Watch package which is great for families and groups, it has restrooms, heated cabin with tables and a 360 viewing deck. They encourage to bring some lunch/snacks since the tour starts at 12pm and ends around 4pm. We traveled north towards Canadian waters and the first stop was a small island where you can see from far dozens of Sea Lions! After that, we kept going towards the killer whales. We got pretty lucky that day there were more than 30 orcas swimming around that area. I caught a few ones on my phone and made a small video.  Watching orcas in their natural habitat has been one of my favorite experiences. If you are near Seattle don't think twice and book your trip!

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