If you are an experienced sea kayaker, you may be eligible for our “advanced kayak rentals”. This allows you to rent a top quality tandem or solo sea kayak for exploring anywhere in the San Juan Islands. If you lack sufficient experience, you can still rent kayaks but will be limited to paddling in our safest waters.
Click Here to Read About Our “Beginner Kayak Rentals” on San Juan Island.
Before you consider our advanced kayak rental option, you should know that the San Juan Islands are prone to strong currents, and weather forecasting can be tricky for those who don’t have ample experience in this region. For those reasons and more, we require our advanced kayak rental customers to have a significant amount of prior paddling experience. To be eligible, you will need to have practiced self-rescue skills, and for those who wish to rent a solo kayak it is best if you provide us with some form of proof, such as a certificate or letter, from your instructor or school where you learned these techniques. Give us a call if you have any questions about this.
If you don’t have the experience for an advanced kayak rental, or just want a more stream-lined reservation process, check out our beginner kayak rental page. We can get you on the water quick and without an application. Many renters it works best for single-day kayak rentals anyway and the exceptional quality of the kayaks is the same in both programs.
If you’d like to be approved for an advanced kayak rental in the San Juan Islands, please provide us with the following information for the rental trip leader: your experience level, past sea kayaking experiences, rescue training experience, self-rescue techniques you are adept at, your proposed trip plan route and itinerary with dates. Other members of your group do not have to be as qualified, but must pledge to follow the instructions of their experienced leader and stay close at all times. You may use our contact form page to request our formal application for advanced kayak rentals.
Why Choose Our Quality
Kayak Rentals on San Juan Island?
- Best kayak rental prices in Washington’s San Juan Islands.
- Best launch points for orca whale watching in the US.
- Top quality expedition-grade sea kayaks in excellent condition.
- Fully-outfitted tandem and solo kayaks made for all sea states.
- We can deliver the kayaks to most beaches on San Juan Island.
After you’ve considered all the facts, you may decide you’d prefer to kayak with one of our guides for the benefit of extra safety, local knowledge, and the education our guides provide. For a “full service” experience, join one of our popular guided kayak tours where we provide breakfasts, dinners, and all camping equipment. For a more self-sufficient and personalized event, consider our guided kayak rentals. Guided kayak rentals are also called “self-catered kayak tours” as you provide your own camping gear and meals. Only your friends and family will be invited to join a guided kayak rental and an experienced kayak guide will be with you at all times to teach, provide advice, and maintain safety.
Advanced Sea Kayaking Rentals in The San Juan Islands
Our Experienced Kayak Rental Fees are shown below. Beginner kayak rental fees and guided self-catered rental fees are shown on their own description pages. Fees are based on a calendar day – for each full or partial day you rent the kayak a full day’s fee is charged. If you are looking for hourly or partial day rates please check out the beginner rentals. Kayak rental fees include paddles, skirts, PFD’s, rescue float, rescue streamer, pump, and bilge sponge.
Experienced Sea Kayaking Rental for The San Juan Islands
Our San Juan Islands rental kayaks are made by Boreal Design and Wilderness Systems. Both are the highest quality expedition-style sea kayaks made.
Tandem kayak rentals are the 19.5-foot-long Esperanto model with two bulk-headed compartments and a third center hatch that accesses another storage area. The Esperanto are suitable for beginners to top-level paddlers, provided they have an experienced trip leader.
The solo kayaks are Tempest 165 and Tempest 170, both very narrow high-performance Greenland/British-style designs suitable for moderate to advanced level paddlers only.
Rental Fees Include Werner paddles, fitted skirts, quality PFD’s, rescue float, rescue streamer, pump, and bilge sponge.
Optional Fees are applied for renting equipment not included in the package such as VHF radios, tents, etc. You can also rent one our expert kayak guides for a guided rental to take advantage of their local knowledge and skills in finding and identifying wildlife. Our guides can also provide instruction to improve your skills and counsel on safe decision-making throughout your kayaking trip.
Delivery / Pickup Shuttle Fees are not included. Self-transport can be accomplished if you have a strong roof rack and secure straps. If you lack straps we have them available for $15/day per kayak. Most people who require shuttles only want their kayaks delivered and picked up and meet us at their chosen beach. Others want us to shuttle their group which often incurs more time and miles. Shuttles up to 15 total miles for a maximum of 3 kayaks and 6 passengers costs $59 each way on San Juan Island. Shuttles for longer distances or more kayaks or people are $119 each way. Shuttles to other ferry-served islands cost an additional $39 per hour to the fees shown above. Non-ferry-served outer islands require water taxis and rates are determined by quote.
Group Discounts for kayak rentals and shuttles are available. We can transport larger fleets of rental kayaks for church groups, boy scouts, and family reunions using our custom trailers. These groups often prefer to have an expert guide accompany their kayak trip and should refer to our webpage for guided kayak rentals for details and fees.
Our Standard Kayak Rental Fees are shown below. The fees are based on a calendar day. For each full or partial day you rent the kayak a full day’s fee is charged. There are no hourly or partial day rates. Kayak rental fees include paddles, skirts, PFD’s, rescue float, rescue streamer, pump, and bilge sponge.
| Kayak Rental Fees | 1 Day | 2 Days | 3 Days | 4 Days | 5 Days |
| Solo | $149 | $249 | $349 | $449 | $549 |
| Tandem – Esperanto | $199 | $299 | $399 | $499 | $599 |
Accommodations in Friday Harbor are numerous and diverse. To have the most flexibility, book your stay as far in advance as possible. Options include:
From the Anacortes Ferry Terminal, enjoy a ferry ride to Friday Harbor, the main town on San Juan Island.
