Did anyone every fly into Orcas Island?

[Sebastian Noack]

Hi,

I'm debating whether to take a rental car and the ferry again, or whether I should try something new this time. Kenmore Air is offering flights from Seattle to Orcas Island. Did anyone did that before? How is the experience? What aircraft do they use? And most importantly, how would I get from the airport on Orcas Island to the Doe Bay resort? It seems to be just a ~20min drive, but are there any taxi cabs/Uber/Lyft on the island?

Sebastian

[Will Scott]

I took the kenmore flight up in 2016. They'll shuttle you to Doe Bay as part of the price. The plane will vary based on how many people they have going up to orcas that day, I ended up in a 4 seater Cessna. It was a clear day and a really nice view when I did it.

--Will

[Aakin]

I have friends who took it, and said it was a good experience. One thing to note is that they limit the baggage you can take on. 

- Aakin

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[rml...@gmail.com]

If you fly on their float planes then 25lbs per person, you can pay for more.  If the winds get above 25kts or outside VFR then they start canceling or delaying flights. Their usual fleet are otters and beavers. June should be fine, but be aware of the risk if you have a flight to connect to in SeaTac on your return.

You can also fly them out of BFI to the East Sound airport - less likely to have a weather issue. 

If you can get a group together you can charter and they may be able to just drop you at doe bay. 

-richard

On Feb 5, 2020, at 08:04, Aakin <aa...@aakin.net> wrote:



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[Sebastian Noack]

That sounds awesome!.

I also reached out to Kenmore Air and received following information:

> Kenmore Air offers service from Boeing Field to Eastsound on Cessna Caravans year-round.

> Depending upon the time of year, we also fly DeHavilland Otters and Beavers from Lake Union to Rosario Resort which is 15 or so minutes away.

>

> You could contact Orcas Island Taxi Service at (360) 376-8294 or orcasislandtaxi.com.

So it seems they don't shuttle you to Doe Bay (unless you book a charter?) but there is a taxi service.

If anyone is interested in sharing a charter, please contact me.

On Wednesday, February 5, 2020 at 11:17:18 AM UTC-5, Richard wrote:

If you fly on their float planes then 25lbs per person, you can pay for more.  If the winds get above 25kts or outside VFR then they start canceling or delaying flights. Their usual fleet are otters and beavers. June should be fine, but be aware of the risk if you have a flight to connect to in SeaTac on your return.

You can also fly them out of BFI to the East Sound airport - less likely to have a weather issue. 

If you can get a group together you can charter and they may be able to just drop you at doe bay. 

-richard

On Feb 5, 2020, at 08:04, Aakin <aa...@aakin.net> wrote:



I have friends who took it, and said it was a good experience. One thing to note is that they limit the baggage you can take on. 

- Aakin

On Wed, Feb 5, 2020, 07:57 Will Scott <!@wills.co.tt> wrote:

I took the kenmore flight up in 2016. They'll shuttle you to Doe Bay as part of the price. The plane will vary based on how many people they have going up to orcas that day, I ended up in a 4 seater Cessna. It was a clear day and a really nice view when I did it.

--Will

On Wednesday, February 5, 2020 at 7:16:19 AM UTC-8, Sebastian Noack wrote:

Hi,

I'm debating whether to take a rental car and the ferry again, or whether I should try something new this time. Kenmore Air is offering flights from Seattle to Orcas Island. Did anyone did that before? How is the experience? What aircraft do they use? And most importantly, how would I get from the airport on Orcas Island to the Doe Bay resort? It seems to be just a ~20min drive, but are there any taxi cabs/Uber/Lyft on the island?

Sebastian

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[Jaren Havell]

Sebastian- I would be interested. 

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[Mike Waggoner]

Flying Kenmore by float plane from Downtown Seattle / Lake Union into Rosario Resort will drop you within a few miles of Doe Bay.  I believe a charter float will allow docking _directly_ at Doe Bay.  Hitching with locals has worked to/from Rosario dock in past years.  The return flight drops into lake Union immediately adjacent to the space needle with great effect.

...politely ask to sit up front, don't touch the pedals.

-----------

Also interested in a chartered boat from Anacortes / Bellingham / similar.

Now is probably a good time to mention one of the only bus companies connecting the mainland ports, Bellair Charters https://airporter.com/ , with multiple reliable routes per day.

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[Sebastian Noack]

I asked Kenmore Air and they are not allowed to land in Doe Bay because of strong current. The closest that they can get you to Doe Bay (with a chartered seaplane) would be Olga. The seaplane cannot dock there though, so they would send out a skiff from the shore to get you, and from there it's a 10 min drive to Doe Bay. I suppose that could be an option if we can organize a shuttle from Olga to Doe Bay.

BTW, do I assume correctly that June 23 will be the arrival day and June 28 will be the departure day at Toorcamp 2020?

On Thursday, February 6, 2020 at 7:08:34 PM UTC-5, here wrote:

Flying Kenmore by float plane from Downtown Seattle / Lake Union into Rosario Resort will drop you within a few miles of Doe Bay.  I believe a charter float will allow docking _directly_ at Doe Bay.  Hitching with locals has worked to/from Rosario dock in past years.  The return flight drops into lake Union immediately adjacent to the space needle with great effect.

...politely ask to sit up front, don't touch the pedals.

-----------

Also interested in a chartered boat from Anacortes / Bellingham / similar.

Now is probably a good time to mention one of the only bus companies connecting the mainland ports, Bellair Charters https://airporter.com/ , with multiple reliable routes per day.

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/toorcamp/51add798-7bcb-4019-869d-546c91afd2d1%40googlegroups.com.

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[Sebastian Noack]

I got some quotes from Kenmore Air. If we'd get a group of 2, 6 or 10 people together, chartering a seaplane to Olga would come down to $798-945 per person. Alternatively, we could charter a 9 passenger plane to Eastsound airport which if full would be slightly cheaper with $742-840 per person. Also you could just book a regular flight through their website to Eastsound for $348 (round-trip).

I guess at this point I'm out for the charter. Still debating whether to book the regular flight or rent a car.

[William Miller]

I live in Washington. The best way is boat or driving over the bridge. 

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[Yosef]

I've flown both times to Toorcamp using Kenmore Air on their larger 10-seater planes. The 70-pound limit can be fudged by a couple of pounds, but it does kinda limit what you can bring to Toorcamp (or lug around). Also the turbulence in the 2016 flight was pretty bad. There is a Taxi service on the island, which you can reserve ahead of time. Personally I'll probably rent a car as it will make life a whole lot easier.

On Wednesday, February 5, 2020 at 7:16:19 AM UTC-8, Sebastian Noack wrote: