10 Tips for an unforgettable San Juan Island Honeymoon

San Juan Island is an amazing place to spend your honeymoon. It simply has it all: breathtaking vistas, amazing wildlife, stunning beaches, fun adventures like whale watching, kayaking, hiking and biking, rich history and the adorable coastal town of Friday Harbor with shops, restaurants, boutiques, museums and galleries, all in walking distance. Whether you want to get away from it all or be entertained and awed every minute of your trip, you’ll find it here, on beautiful San Juan Island.

1) Make your hotel room a cozy nest of love
We here at the Bird Rock Hotel love people in love. Call us to book a deluxe Jacuzzi Suite for two, and order fresh flowers, champagne and island-made chocolates for your arrival. We also like to help with setting up spa appointments, making restaurant reservations, booking whale watch and kayak tours, giving general and specific advice just to help you have exactly the experience you’re dreaming about. We can’t wait to help you!

Bird-Rock-Bed-with-Binder-Main-Room-Photo

2) Rest & refuel with a Spa Day
A wedding is emotional and exhausting, good emotional and good exhausting, but nevertheless... Take a day to rest up, sleep in, have breakfast in bed and get pampered at the Spa at Earthbox. Relax in their indoor heated pool, sauna and hot tub, before heading to your side-by-side couple’s massage for the ultimate relaxation.

The Spa at Earthbox in Friday Harbor, WA

3) Have (at least) one crazy fancy dinner
Dress up and indulge your senses at one of San Juan Island’s acclaimed Farm-to-Table restaurants. Maybe a sunset dinner with a water view in Roche Harbor at the elegant McMillen’s Dining Room. Or a chef’s tasting of the best island-grown concoctions at the romantic COHO Restaurant, just a few blocks from the Bird Rock Hotel.

4) Go on a wild wild ride
Marriage is being in the same boat. Dare your Sweetie to go on a adventure whale watch tour. Your chances of seeing Orcas are very high on this fast, exhilarating, 2½ hour ride.

5) See art and make a wish
Stroll the 20-acre San Juan Island Sculpture Park, along serene Westcott Bay. See over 150 outdoor sculptures by artists from all over the world in fields, the woods and around a natural pond. Write down a wish and place it in the Tibetan wishing urns or carve your name in the Friendship Totem pole.

6) Buy something remarkable for each other
Meander through cute Friday Harbor and browse the many shops and galleries. Buy original Native American earrings at Arctic Raven Gallery or a piece of handmade furniture for the new house at Harbor Song Gallery to remember your honeymoon.

7) Taste the San Juans
Visit San Juan Distillery and taste handcrafted, island spiced brandies, gins and vodkas. Shuck your own oysters and tour the beautiful Westcott Bay Shellfish Farm. Do a wine tasting at San Juan Vineyard’s historic tasting room in an old island schoolhouse.

8) Kayak into the sunset
Marriage is teamwork. Paddle the crystal-clear Salish Sea in a tandem kayak at sunset and watch for whales. San Juan Outfitters’ slip docks make getting in and out of the kayak a breeze.

9) Have a sunset picnic at Whale Watch Park
Buy some tasty local cheeses, crusty bread, a couple of slices of freshly made quiche, and a good bottle of local wine from San Juan Island Cheese and head to Lime Kiln State Park for sunset. There is a waterfront table waiting just for you.

10) Put those phones down
Take lots of pictures and nothing else. Update your social media after you get home, don’t check your work email. Be present with the person you will spend the rest of your life with.

Be. Here. Now.