Pop quiz: How many San Juan islands are there? Five? Ten? Twenty? Trick question; it depends on the tide. There are around 176 islands and reefs in the San Juan island chain but as many as 743 peek above the water line at low tide. But let’s make it manageable: Just a few dozen San Juan islands are inhabited, and public ferries service only the big four—San Juan, Orcas, Lopez, and Shaw. The cluster of San Juan islands is home to scientists and second- (or fourth-) home owners, farmers, and tour guides, but it’s remarkably difficult to tell everyone apart. Here, everyone is on island time.

Pictured above: Westcott Bay on San Juan Island by Kirkendall-Spring Photographers

In This Feature:

Guide to the San Juan Islands

All the farmstands, haunted hotels, and scenic lighthouses you can fit in a long weekend.

03/11/2025 By Allison Williams

Orcas Island: What to Do and Where to Eat

The biggest San Juan island has an artsy heart, a mountain that dominates half its clam-shaped mass, and views that can't be beat. Swim in a millionaire's basement pool and shuck your own clams.

08/01/2014 By Allison Williams

Lopez Island: What to Do and Where to Eat

Welcome to a biker's paradise where drivers wave at every cyclist and where grocery shopping is done at farm stands. Some of the island's best beaches are tucked at the end of Lopez Island's sleepy roads.

08/01/2014 By Allison Williams With Caroline Ferguson

What to Do on Shaw Island—Also Known as the Holy Island

The nuns who live on this quiet San Juan island have been busy farming their bucolic acres, and there's camping right on a sandy beach. And if you can't find something at this island's only store, you probably don't want it anyway.

08/01/2014 By Allison Williams