Guemes Channel 2
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Guemes Channel runs east from Rosario Strait to Padilla Bay, between Guemes Island to the north and Fidalgo Island (Anacortes) to the south. It's about 3 miles long and roughly half a mile wide at its narrowest, with plenty of depth — 8 to 18 fathoms.

Timing

Guemes Channel runs east from Rosario Strait to Padilla Bay, between Guemes Island to the north and Fidalgo Island (Anacortes) to the south. It's about 3 miles long and roughly half a mile wide at its narrowest, with plenty of depth — 8 to 18 fathoms.

Coast Pilot, In Plain Words

Here is what the U.S. Coast Pilot says about Guemes Channel and the water around it. The official text is below.

Read the official text

Skagit Bay to Bay View

Guemes Channel, between Guemes Island on the north and Fidalgo Island on the south, leads east from Rosario Strait to Padilla Bay. The channel, which is about 3 miles long and 0.5 mile wide at its narrowest point, has depths of 8 to 18 fathoms. Lighted buoys mark the channel at the west end.

Local magnetic disturbance

The current velocity in Guemes Channel exceeds 5 knots at times. It is reported that the flood (east current) is accompanied by an eddy between the east end of Guemes Island and Cap Sante with the west countercurrent extending about 200 yards from the shore along the north side of Fidalgo Island. See the Tidal Current prediction service at tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov for specific information about times, directions, and velocities of the current at numerous locations throughout the area. Links to a user guide for this service can be found in chapter 1 of this book.

Ship Harbor is a bight close east of Shannon Point, at the west entrance to Guemes Channel. Washington State ferries to the San Juan Islands and Sydney, BC, depart frequently from facilities on the west side of the bight. Vessels anchoring here in heavy weather should be cautious of dragging anchor because the bottom is not good holding ground.

Anacortes is on the south shore of Guemes Channel. The port is incorporated as the Port of Anacortes. Commerce includes logs and petroleum products.

Source: U.S. Coast Pilot 10, Chapter 7, 7 ed. (NOAA, Office of Coast Survey). Updated weekly. Official Coast Pilot ↗

Local Knowledge

  • Watch out

    Current in the channel can top 5 knots. On the flood, an eddy forms between the east end of Guemes Island and Cap Sante, with a countercurrent running the opposite way close along the Fidalgo Island shore for about 200 yards.

  • Tip

    Ship Harbor, near the channel's west end, is where Washington State Ferries dock for the San Juan Islands and Sydney, BC runs. Boats anchoring there in rough weather should set extra scope — the bottom doesn't hold an anchor well.

  • Tip

    Anacortes sits on the channel's south shore and is the area's main port, handling log and petroleum cargo alongside all the recreational traffic passing through.

Plan a Trip Through Guemes Channel

1. Start from

2. Cross to the other side of Guemes Channel

Squalicum Harbor → Guemes Channel · 14.0 nm · ~1h 45m at · from the northeast

Full departure plan →

Stations & Data

Times are NOAA predictions, not live readings. Open a station for its full tide and current charts.

Questions

What is Guemes Channel?
Guemes Channel runs east from Rosario Strait to Padilla Bay, between Guemes Island to the north and Fidalgo Island (Anacortes) to the south. It's about 3 miles long and roughly half a mile wide at its narrowest, with plenty of depth — 8 to 18 fathoms.
What should I watch out for at Guemes Channel?
Current in the channel can top 5 knots. On the flood, an eddy forms between the east end of Guemes Island and Cap Sante, with a countercurrent running the opposite way close along the Fidalgo Island shore for about 200 yards.
What does Class 2 mean?
Class 2 is BoatRoutes' own 1-to-5 rating of how costly a timing or judgment mistake is here — it is not a NOAA scale. Class 2 means one thing to plan around (depth, a schedule, or mild current); getting it wrong costs time, not safety.

Predictions, not observations · U.S. Coast Pilot 10 (7 ed.)

U.S. Coast Pilot text is a work of the U.S. Government and is in the public domain. Per 17 U.S.C. §403, no copyright is claimed in that text. BoatRoutes is not endorsed by NOAA.