Crystal Seas Kayaking

We had a great full-​day kayaking with Erin as our guide. We saw a lot of wildlife, including an orca breaching across the water. Erin listened carefully and shared a lot of information about the geography, wildlife, and history of the region. We look forward to doing this again. Bring water, a snack, sunscreen, and layers. You’ll have a terrific time if you are up for paddling all day.

Indeed, I have experienced a much better San Juan Island kayaking tour, which is led by multiple guides and provides drinking water and lunch.
I brought a Groupon. I reserved for a whole day tour in May. However, due to low enrollment, my tour was canceled at the last minute. I moved my reservation to July.
Today my friend and I had a young tour guide (Erin) who is informative but not experienced to give padling instructions to beginner like my friend. As a result, my friend has not paddled correctly and hurt his hands.
The front desk staff members are friendly but lack professionalism.
Overall I was disappointed. My other San Juan Islad kayaking tour surely sat my standards high.

We did a 2-​day kayak/​bike trip with an overnight at a working farm. Woke to sounds of chickens, ducks, pigs, and a donkey… great family fun. Guide Maya did an awesome job — flexed the program to our desires, demonstrated a wealth of knowledge about the area and killer whales, was great with the kids, and had the perfect balance of guiding us vs. letting us go on our own!

First off we had a blast! Our guide Erin was amazing. She answered all of our questions and made my wife and I super comfortable on the water. She was full of information about the sound and its wildlife. We couldn’t have asked for a better time and day to go on. The water was almost empty as we started and due to the other half of our party not showing we got a guided tour for just the two of us. It was so personal. Again I can’t express how much we enjoyed ourselves. I can’t beleive we haven’t taken this trip sooner.

We saw orcas! Jim was knowledgeable and super helpful giving us information on the island. He even drove us to the airport so we wouldn’t miss our flight. Awesome guide — couldn’t have asked for better

My wife and I recently went on a three day/​two night kayak camping trip with Crystal Seas and the trip surpassed our (high) expectations. Our guide was excellent: knowledgeable about the islands and wildlife, lots of kayaking experience, and a personable, interesting person. The food was terrific and plentiful; I’ve never eaten so well on a camping trip and it was obvious they’re buying higher end, local and organic foods. If you like to eat you won’t be disappointed. And then the islands! They were splendid, as always.
This was an excellent trip and Crystal Seas runs a professional, high quality operation. I strongly recommend a visit to the San Juans and a kayak trip with Crystal Seas.

My partner and I did a sunset kayak tour with CS and had a WONDERFUL time.
We didn’t see orcas, but then we didn’t expect to.* We did see seals, a sea lion (a bit unnerving, as he was in an area you usually don’t see them and seemed to be following us for a bit), eagles, lots of other birds, and of course a gorgeous sunset.
Our guide Elena was awesome — she was clearly, genuinely interested in what she was telling us about the Islands and the wildlife, and while I know she was keeping tabs on us to monitor our pace and to see if we needed help, she was very subtle and unobtrusive about it (I have sciatica, so I tend to shift around a little; she noticed the movement and asked if I needed help making adjustments, but again, wasn’t pushy or overbearing about it).
* I think it’s highly unlikely that you’d see orcas on a half-​day or sunset trip. I just don’t think most people would be able to cover enough ground. If you’re really focused on them, and don’t want to take a whale watch boat, I’d opt for at least a full day trip and cross-​reference locations of the most recent sitings with where the kayak outfitters start from/​paddle to.

A large group of friends and I chose Crystal Seas Kayaking for a few hour tour. Several of us had never kayaked previously. From start to finish, it was a great experience. Our check-​in was smooth. The van ride to the harbor was fun. Our guides were friendly and knowledgeable about the island, the kayaks, the wildlife, and much more. Great times!

This was my first time in San Juan Island and the 3^rd time kayaking. This trip was for my 30^th birthday, i wanted to see orcas in the wild before i turned 30. The tour company was amazing. They helped me out with everything i needed, were super friendly and even recommended things to do while we were on the island. Our guide was Joe and he was great. He was really friendly, answered all questions and told us all about the island and the wildlife. He made sure we stayed out of the conjestion of all the other kayakinbg tours. We saw orcas during our lunch break nad the nthey came back again and we got our own private show. The tour company made this birthday wish the best I have ever had. I will recommend it to all of my friends and will probably be back next summer to do it again! Thank you so much for a wonderful experience.

Bought the sun set kayaking from groupon and went with few friends. It’s really a fun and Definately recommend. We got Irine and abbey as our kayaking instructor and they were really cool and told us a lot of the San Juan islands history while kayaking towards the sunset.

My friend and I did a half-​day kayaking your which lasted about three hours. We didn’t read the website and instructions well so we didn’t realize that the tour departed from the other side of the island (not from the office in Friday Harbor), but it’s only a ~25 minute drive (and a free shuttle if you don’t have a car).
We arrived early for our scheduled trip, but they were nice enough to squeeze us on to the earlier tour which was really nice. The kayaks were really stable and sturdy, and the staff was very helpful making sure we were properly equipped.
The half-​day tour is the right amount of time. We aren’t experienced kayakers so it was just enough for us to feel as though we accomplished something for the day without us being completely exhausted. The fog was as thick as pea soup but it was the perfect weather for kayaking — we even saw a baby seal and a couple of bald eagles!

Did the three hour sunset kayak tour. It was definitely one of the best experiences I’ve had on the island. We went on a Tuesday, and our group was a good size — 8 people total (4 kayaks), including the guide.
We had a really good time and our guide, Kevin, was very knowledgeable. He told us informative facts about the different kelp and seaweed, and even recommended some for us to try out! He was also really nice and often went back to help and instruct people who were having trouble controlling the kayak. Really, really helpful and nice.
While on the tour, we saw seals, a bald eagle, jellyfish, and of course, the phenomenal sunset. This experience was definitely a bucket list item.
TIPS:
— Remember to bring cash to tip your guide!
— Don’t worry too much about your cameras/​phone. They won’t get wet, and you’ll want to bring something to take pictures with.
— Bring some bottled water — you can strap it to the front of the boat.

My girlfriend and I went on the three-​hour tour. The goal was to see killer whales, and even though we didn’t see any (it’s really just down to luck), I didn’t even mind, because there was still so much to see.
We had a lot of fun. Our guide was really friendly and I think we all (there were four couples on our tour) really felt free to go at our own pace. There was no sense of rush or rigid structure, just people having fun in the water.

Great little three hour tour.
Sets off from Snug Harbor (the West side of the Island has better weather — something about how clouds break up over the ONP). It is really peaceful there, as was the trip. A young man (Cory) met us who was very nice and efficient and got us into the water very quickly. I did miss the Groupon and have to pay the $ 85/​person rate but it was well worth it. Saw seals swimming and laying on rocks, blue herons, bald eagles, ducks and interesting marine life (negative tide). Later in the year (June and after) you’ll probably see whales. Beautiful houses to look at and Canada to the west.
By far, the best part was the info from Cory. Usually. I’d rather rent a kayak and do whatever I want — Luckily I booked this tour instead; we learned about the history of the Island, types of marine life and birds, how to identify birds by the position of their nests and about the homes we past by. Really did learn a lot of interesting things.
Did you know that the world’s foremost authority on Killer whales has a house on the island and does his work there? Or, that the Campbell’s soup family owns a home on this coastline and has a room in the shape of their soup can? Or, that there is an Island that was bought by the owner of Oakley sunglasses and turned into a wild game hunting reserve?
They have good boats and spray skirts so we stayed warm and dry. Our guide was so knowledgeable; he led us a bit and then let me and my lady have some space to goof and whisper sweet nothings. Remember to bring cash to tip your guide — if you forget you can do it at the office in Friday Harbor, though.

After calling another company and figuring out through their non-​reply that they would not open for business for another month, we were happy to receive a quick reply from Angie at Crystal Seas.
Although rain and wind was in the forecast, we decided to hang in there and go ahead with our plans to escape Seattle for the weekend. We did an early morning hike at Mt. Finlayson in rain and cold wind. Angie called us and said it was raining but the seas were calm and asked us if we wanted to cancel, but we were still game.
In typical Northwest weather fashion, when we arrived at Snug Harbor, it suddenly stopped raining and the sun started to glow behind the clouds. The paddling was glorious, with eight to ten different species of birds including varieties of gulls, bald eagle, oyster catcher (red eyes!), king fisher, guillemot, cormorant, great blue heron, bufflehead, geese, and possibly a merganser. A few seals here and there poked there heads up to spy at us out in Haro Strait as we rolled on the low waves from Juan de Fuca Strait.
Our guide, Adam, a native of San Juan Island, was full of information about the local flora and fauna, history, and a good instructor in kayaking technique. Our ten year old daughter was enthralled by his explanations of how kelp grows 18 inches a day in summer, and how the seed patches on the graceful strands form new colonies of kelp.
Although it was too early in the season to see the orcas (and we knew that before booking the trip), I was saddened to learn that 70% of the babies do not survive due to the heavy metals and toxins concentrated in mother’s milk. Paddling today with Crystal Seas Kayaking made us realize what an amazingly beautiful world we live in, and how quickly we are losing it.

Great quick kayaking trip. Go on a sunny day.

Very nice day of kayaking. Lots of seals and beautiful passages through the San Juan Islands. No whales but nice day. Next time I will sit in front and let the other person be in control of the rudders. That was a full time job.

We booked a 2 day, one night camping kayak trip in July.
When we booked this, we explained we had to be back in Friday Harbor for a ferry to Seattle on day 2 that was leaving at 4pm. We were told that would not be a problem whatsoever and we would be back in plenty of time. We were leaving on an early morning flight from Seattle the next day so this was pretty critical. So we went ahead.
Before I explain what ended up happening let me first say that the guides we had were super nice, hard working, very helpful, and certainly focused on our safety… no complaints there. The equipment seemed all top notch (although our kayak steering system was broken when we set off and we were delayed an hour waiting for a replacement and lost the trip’s coffee and tea in the confusion). We were also a bit disappointed to learn that we had to go in double kayaks rather than singles, but understandably that was more our own fault for not checking and once out there we realized why — it’s much safer to be in the doubles for novices. Also, on our first day of kayaking we did see some Orcas fly by… though we only saw one group for a flash second as they jumped in unison, and then they were gone after two jumps. Still — great we got to see that. In addition, the food was super tasty — awesome fish tacos, tasty french toast, pesto pasta lunch — A+.
So no complaints there. However, we did notice the weather report looked bad before setting out. It was cold and rain in the forecast, and for day 2 we saw that the forecast predicted 10−20mph winds. We of course depend on the kayak company to make the right decisions in terms of trip safety and the chance to provide an adequate experience when setting out. Although they can’t control cold rainy weather, and while we’d rather have sunny days, that’s out of everyone’s control and shouldn’t prevent a trip. However when you have windy conditions that prevent kayaking safely — that’s when it comes down to the kayak company deciding to cancel excursions rather than put people out.
On our day 2 after a night of pouring rain all night (again while not fun, that’s fine, not atypical for rain in the PacNW — i like hearing randrops on a tent fly anyway) — we began our day and kayaked about a mile on a protected harbor, and then when looking out across the channel, winds and choppy waters were too great for us to advance safely for the remaining 7 or so miles. We camped on a beach and eventually they called the trip off because there was a ‘small craft advisory’ and so we were rescued by a ferry boat kayaks and all and brought back to the harbor. Yes we made our ferry to Seattle, but I left with the distinct feeling that the kayak company Crystal Seas knew in advance that there was a good chance we wouldn’t get to kayak on day 2, but sent us anyway, rather than face refunding us for the trip, or for much of the trip and just having us do a day trip for day 1.
This 2 day one night trip is hardly cheap, and to have lost an entire day of kayaking from the bargain made me feel a bit shortchanged. It seems to me that Crystal Seas should have converted our trip to a day trip and canceled the overnight and return, or selected an itinerary that drastically reduced the chance of that and given us the option in advance whether or not to take the risk.
Contacting the owner afterwards to explain our reaction, he didn’t agree with the above logic and the best we were offered was a 10% discount on a future trip (being we live 3000 miles away not much help for us). He said we could actually have kayaked that day but since we had to be back by the 4pm ferry he couldn’t send us on that longer route. But he knew that was our situation before we left on the trip, and he never mentioned to us when we booked that the 4pm ferry might mean we could miss a day of kayaking. So there was no aforementioned planning for this. The 4pm ferry was stated to be ‘not a problem at all’.
So anyway, good food, good guides, good kayaks, good scenery, but it’s expensive — and beware — once you book, you pay whether you kayak or not it seems.

No orca whales seen, but had a good time!
Booked on Groupon for $ 55 — great deal!
Let me start off by saying don’t be put off by the folks answering the phone. They’re not all that friendly but it’s not reflective of the tour itself. I was worried that the snarky, condescending attitude I got over the phone with both attendants would translate into a bad tour — not the case! William was a fantastic guide and really put in the work to give us a great afternoon of kayaking. Basically he saved the day for Crystal Seas.
Because we didn’t want to be at the ferry docks in Anacortes at the crack of dawn, we decided to go with the half day kayaking trip. First, William got us situated in the kayaks (a real process if you’re not familiar with it) and gave a quick kayaking lesson so that every stroke would count. The wind was strong and the waves were pretty rough, so we spent the majority of the time in calmer waters rather than out in the open area. Though this reduced our chances of seeing orcas (we didn’t), we still saw seals, starfish and many bald eagles!
William was a certified naturalist and provided a lot of information on the local marine life, as well as a bit of history on the old British camp area along the shoreline. He was extremely patient with us, and we never felt pressured to go faster than we were comfortably going. All in all, a fantastic afternoon in the San Juans.

My friend and I went sea kayaking on a Monday afternoon. We walked in and asked if there were any spots available — the lady at the counter called to check at the harbor and confirmed spots. It was $ 75 for each person in the summer.
We were given rides to the harbor on their shuttle. Our tour guide was Matt, who was really helpful and approachable. It was my first time kayaking, and the waters were calm and with his guidance, I felt like I’d been kayaking forever.
He knew quite a lot about the island and was very sociable. We were out with two other couples and everyone was nice to talk to. I had a really great time kayaking and kind of want to buy my own kayak now. This was probably my favorite activity on the island.
We didn’t compare prices because we just decided to walk in and take whatever we could get. I made a comment to my friend about how I’d been spending so much money just on the island. I meant it as a «HAH this is hilarious and sad how poor I’m becoming» and the lady at the counter was super nice and offered me a 10% student discount even though I hadn’t asked. Thanks!