Deciding where to stay on Orcas Island is really one decision: which side of the horseshoe. The island is 57 square miles of hills with a village at the top of the bay, and the difference between the east lobe and the west lobe is 30 to 40 minutes of winding road. On an island with no bus and effectively no rideshare, that gap decides how your days feel.
Below: the four areas, what each is for, and the booking timing that actually matters.
Read this before you book anything else.
If you are bringing a vehicle, you need a Washington State Ferries vehicle reservation for both directions, and you need to make them before you book a room. A reservation is free and is not a ticket. Without one in summer you are in the standby lane at Anacortes, and standby on a July Friday routinely means waiting for the third or fourth sailing, or not getting on at all that day.
The return leg is the one people forget. No fare is collected eastbound from Orcas back to Anacortes, so it feels like it does not need booking. It does. Reserve both legs at WSDOT, free, no card charged.
The four bases, compared
| Area | Price | To Moran State Park | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eastsound village | $$$ | 20 min | A first visit, walking to dinner |
| West Beach & the west shore | $–$$ | 30 min | Sunsets, camping, families |
| Olga, Doe Bay & the east lobe | $$ | 5–15 min | Hiking-first trips, quiet |
| Deer Harbor & the west lobe | $$–$$$ | 40 min | Boating, seclusion |
Eastsound village, if it is your first trip
Eastsound is the only place on the island with a walkable core: restaurants, a grocery, a bakery, galleries, the Saturday farmers market, and the airport a few minutes away. Stay here and you can leave the car parked after a day of hiking and walk to dinner, which nowhere else on Orcas offers.
It is 20 minutes from Moran State Park and 20 from the ferry landing, so it is central to everything without being next to anything. Rooms here are the most expensive on the island and the first to go for July and August. Hotels, inns and B&Bs rather than resorts.
West Beach and the west shore, for sunsets and camping
The west shore faces due west across President Channel, which is the whole point: this is the side of the island where the sun goes down over the water. It is also where the camping is.
West Beach Resort
West Beach Resort has been operating on this beach since 1938 and is the most flexible single property on Orcas, because it covers four different budgets on one waterfront:
- Beachfront cabins directly on the sand and pebble beach, plus ocean-view and garden cabins set back. Fully equipped, so you cook rather than eating out every night.
- Camping. Sites with a picnic table and a firepit with grill, up to six people and one vehicle each, free WiFi at every site, and a clean showerhouse with free showers, which is not a given at a private campground. Some sites are a short walk in from parking. The showerhouse closes mid-November to early March.
- Tent cabins, the glamping option. Ocean-view, partial-view and territorial, with power and water. These are the answer if you want to camp but did not want to bring the gear on the ferry.
- RV sites with hookups, and a marina with moorage.
On site there is a store and café, boat and kayak rental, and a dock, which matters because it means a day where nobody has to drive anywhere. It is around 25 minutes to Eastsound and 30 to Moran State Park.
Check West Beach Resort availability and rates for your dates →
Beach Haven
A little further up the same west shore, log cabins in old-growth forest right on the water, no televisions, and a following of people who have come back to the same cabin every summer for decades. It books further ahead than anywhere else on the island for exactly that reason. If you want Orcas Island beach rentals in the literal sense, cabins with the water at the doorstep, this stretch of coast is where they are.
Olga, Doe Bay and the east lobe, for a hiking trip
If the reason you are coming is Moran State Park, sleep on the east lobe and save yourself 40 minutes of driving a day. Doe Bay on the southeast shore is the well-known one: cabins, yurts, campsites, soaking tubs on the bluff and a café, with a distinctly communal feel that people either love or find a bit much. Olga is a hamlet with a café and a dock.
The park itself has campgrounds on Cascade Lake and Mountain Lake, which are the cheapest beds on the island and go on sale months ahead through Washington State Parks. Obstruction Pass State Park has a handful of first-come walk-in and boat-in sites.
Deer Harbor and the west lobe, for quiet
Deer Harbor is a small marina hamlet on the far west lobe: a dock, a general store, whale watching and charter boats leaving from the pier, and very little else. Rosario Resort on the east side of the bay is the historic grand option, a 1900s mansion estate with a marina and spa, and it is where the bioluminescent kayak tour launches from.
Deer Harbor is the furthest base from Moran, roughly 40 minutes, so it is a choice about atmosphere rather than convenience.
Compare what is actually free on your dates
West Beach Resort availability →
Every stay in Eastsound and across the island →
Pet-friendly lodging
Orcas Island pet friendly lodging is easier to find than on most islands, because so much of the inventory is cabins and campsites rather than hotel rooms. Camping and RV sites take dogs almost everywhere, most cabin operators allow them for a nightly pet fee, and the west shore resorts are generally the most relaxed about it. Small inns in Eastsound are the least likely to say yes. Filter for it at the point of booking rather than assuming, and note that dogs are allowed on trails in Moran State Park on leash.
How far ahead to book
| When you are going | Book by |
|---|---|
| July and August | 4 to 6 months. Ferry reservation first, then the room. |
| June and September | 2 to 3 months. |
| May and October | 3 to 6 weeks. |
| November to April | Days. Check what is actually open first. |
The order matters. Reserve the ferry for both directions before you pay for a room, because a non-refundable summer booking with no way to get a car across is a genuinely bad weekend.
Five things to check before you pay
- Which lobe. Confirm the drive time to Moran State Park, not the distance.
- Whether it has a kitchen. Eastsound restaurants are limited and busy, and a lot of them close early or close for the season.
- Seasonal closures. Showerhouses, cafés and marinas on this island shut for winter. Ask.
- Minimum stays. Two and three-night minimums are normal in summer and over holiday weekends.
- Parking and the ferry. If you are walking on, check the property can get you from the landing, because the taxi will not always be there.
The one booking worth making before you arrive
The bioluminescent kayak tour out of Rosario only runs on the darkest nights around a new moon, which is a handful of dates a month, and the boats are small. Check which dates fall inside your trip before you lock the ferry in. See the new-moon dates and book it →
Whale watching from Orcas Landing
Boats run April through October and sail into Haro Strait and the Boundary Pass waters where Bigg's orcas, minke and humpbacks feed. Check dates and book a whale watching trip →
Where to Stay on Orcas Island: Eastsound, West Beach or Camping FAQs
Eastsound for a first visit: it is the only walkable village on the island, has the restaurants and the grocery, and sits 20 minutes from both the ferry landing and Moran State Park. If the trip is about hiking, base on the east lobe near Olga or Doe Bay to be minutes from the park. If it is about the water and sunsets, or you are camping, the west shore around West Beach is the side to be on.
Hotels and inns in Eastsound, waterfront cabin resorts on the west and east shores, glamping tent cabins, private campgrounds, two state park campgrounds on Cascade Lake and Mountain Lake, RV sites with hookups, vacation rentals and a historic resort at Rosario. There are no large chain hotels on the island.
Yes. Moran State Park has campgrounds on Cascade Lake and Mountain Lake that are the cheapest option on the island and release months ahead through Washington State Parks. West Beach Resort on the west shore runs private beachfront campsites with picnic tables, firepits, free WiFi and a free showerhouse, plus tent cabins for people who do not want to carry gear over on the ferry. Obstruction Pass State Park has a few first-come walk-in sites.
Plenty, because so much of the island's inventory is cabins and campsites rather than hotel rooms. Campgrounds and RV sites take dogs almost universally, most cabin resorts allow them for a nightly fee, and dogs are permitted on leash on Moran State Park trails. Small Eastsound inns are the most likely to refuse, so confirm at booking.
Four to six months for July and August, two to three months for June and September, three to six weeks for May and October. Book the free Washington State Ferries vehicle reservation for both directions before you pay for a room, because the ferry is the tighter constraint and a non-refundable booking you cannot reach is worse than a room you did not get.
A waterfront property on the west shore that has operated since 1938, covering beachfront and garden cabins, tent-cabin glamping, standard campsites, RV hookups and a marina on one site, plus a store, café and kayak and boat rental. It faces west across President Channel, so it is the sunset side of the island, and it is roughly 25 minutes from Eastsound and 30 from Moran State Park.
Yes, but only independent ones. There are no chain hotels. The hotel-style options are concentrated in Eastsound village, with the historic Rosario Resort on the bay and a range of inns, B&Bs and cabin resorts elsewhere on the island.
