Puget Sound Area

I owe my wife a promised trip to go whale watching.
I have cruised through some of the older threads but was wondering if anyone in the area has any new (changes in the passed year?) advice.
I am interested in just a single overnight stay somewhere nice but need not be fancy.
I had been thinking about Friday Harbor but I am open to any suggestions (I don't know the area very well at all) particularly if there are better choices as far as cost vs quality goes, and I am totally willing to stay at one location and then take a short flight somewhere else for a whale watching tour.

I know a guy that does Whale watching tours out of Friday Harbor. He also is a airplane owner/pilot. I will get his info for you.

Eastsound

You can (or at least you could a couple of years back) camp next to your airplane..Then again I'm cheap...

They have nice showers too.

Frank

If I were you I would fly into the Roche Harbor strip and stay there. My wife and I stay there all the time...you will love it.
They also have whale watch tours right off the dock.

RV7AV8R said:

I know a guy that does Whale watching tours out of Friday Harbor. He also is a airplane owner/pilot. I will get his info for you.

Click to expand...

I found out he no long pilots the whale watching boat. Sorry. Check Friday Harbor CofC, my guess is they still run the whale watching bosts out of there.

Thanks to everyone for their input. We made our trip this past week (Wed./Thurs).
We flew into Friday Harbor. The airport is very nice. Transient parking is convenient to a gate through the fence that gives you the shortest possible walk to the center of town (which is only about .75 miles) We stayed at the Friday Harbor House. Very Nice with a harbor view from the room balcony. It is a little pricey by our standards (even with the construction discount they have going right now while doing some remodeling of their restaurant), but it was very nice. Took a Whale Watching tour the next day with San Juan Safaris. Great staff, nice boat, and we saw a lot of Orca's.
The cost for most everything (lodging, restaurants, etc.) reflects the fact that this is an island where everything arrives either by airplane or fairy boat, but it is our new favorite getaway location. We may even do it as a day trip (made the trip in 1.25 hrs from home base with a slight tail wind).

Eat at the Bowling Alley

Yes, believe it or not, the Restaraunt at the Bowling Alley has some of the best food in town, and it is reasonably priced.
The transient parking at Friday Harbor is the nicest I have ever seen.