Anchorage

Fossil Bay Sucia Island State Park

Shelter: NW, N, NE, W, SW, S, SE
Seabed: sand
Anchoring: Allowed

Fossil Bay is a sheltered bay on the south side of Sucia Island, a marine state park in the San Juan Islands of Washington.

Mooring buoys
Pontoon
Beach

Guide

Approach and anchoring

The bay is open to the south-east and gives shelter from north-west through south-west winds. Sixteen mooring buoys lie in the bay, along with two moorage docks totalling 640 linear feet. The sand bottom suits a standard anchor for boats waiting for a buoy or dock space.

Practical

Drinking water is available at Fossil Bay, the only supply on the island. No fuel and no shore power. The two docks are popular with smaller boats that prefer tying alongside to picking up a buoy.

Ashore

Park trails lead from Fossil Bay to the sandstone shoreline, where the rock is worn into honeycomb hollows and holds marine invertebrate fossils. In 2012 the first dinosaur fossil found in Washington, a theropod femur, was identified on the island's shore.

History

The Sucia Islands were bought in 1960 by the Puget Sound Interclub Association and donated to the State of Washington as a marine park.

Key facts

Type: Anchorage
Coordinates: 48.74980, -122.89932 (48°44.99'N 122°53.96'W)
Country: United States
Shelter: Sheltered from north-west, north, north-east, west, south-west, south, south-east winds
Seabed: sand
Anchoring: Allowed
Services: Mooring buoys, Pontoon, Beach
Boaters' rating: 5.0/5
Updated: July 7, 2026