Improved, two-season schedule in San Juan Islands starts Sept. 21

SEATTLE – For the first time in over 20 years, the fall state ferry schedule for the Anacortes/San Juan Islands route will stay in place through winter and spring, providing additional service for island communities. This less traveled, “off-peak” season starts Sunday, Sept. 21 and goes through Saturday, June 13, 2026, and is a result of community input.

Last session, the Legislature appropriated funds to give the San Juans increased service through the winter season. Keeping the schedule the same during these nine months gives island residents more service. It also helps Washington State Ferries employees on this route to live locally with more predictable work schedules. 

“After a robust public engagement process and seeing our updated spring schedule work over a full sailing season, we feel confident that this schedule will work well from mid-September until early June,” said WSF Planning Manager Jason Rogers. “We’ll continue to monitor the schedule’s performance and see how we can maximize this critical service for ferry riders.”

Vehicle reservations during the nine-month off-peak schedule

Riders can review the off-peak schedule online. Even though this schedule will run for nine months of the year, the first batch of vehicle reservations will continue to be released in three-month intervals for each of the four sailing seasons. This helps make sure everyone can get the reservations they need. 

More off-peak service

The off-peak schedule will provide island residents with more service this winter than in previous years. The route will now have 144 sailings a week, including five daily interisland trips on weekends and more weekday afternoon and evening departures from Anacortes. That's up from 130 last winter, when emergency funding allowed WSF to add weekend interisland sailings. Prior to that, the route had 116 trips a week in the winter.

More stability for local ferry employees 

A more consistent schedule will also help WSF employees plan for regular work on the Anacortes/San Juan Islands route. This change makes all vessel deck crew shifts permanent, helping with staffing and service in the long run by making it easier for workers to live in the San Juan Islands year-round.

A better sailing schedule

The new off-peak schedule is built off a two-year community engagement process to rewrite outdated sailing schedules. After trialing the new schedule last spring, WSF planners made some critical adjustments that will help the route stay more on time.

WSF, a division of the Washington State Department of Transportation, is the largest ferry system in the U.S. and safely and efficiently carries tens of millions of people a year through some of the most majestic scenery in the world. For the latest service updates, sign up for rider alerts and track each ferry using the real-time map online.