"Whidbey Island, Washington State " a Whidbey Island Travel Page by royalempress

Welcome to our home in Coupeville, on Whidbey Island. I will be developing many more pages on Whidbey in the next few days.
Whidbey Island and Puget Sound were carved our by Glaciers during the Ice Age. Upon the Glaciers retreat, they left deep gouges which turned into many hundreds of miles of water ways and hundreds of Islands. Many of the Islands are inhabited and many are not. Some Islands have been set aside as preserves for the protection of breeding birds and marine life. The first inhabitants of the region were the Salish Indians. Later on many different Indian tribes settled in the area.
From the mid-sixteenth century, Spanish, Russian and the English exployers and traders frequented our region. In 1792 Captain George Vancouver sailed into the area trying to find the fabled NorthWest Passage. It was thought that there was a passage from our East Coast through the interior to the Pacific Coast . Captain Vancouver sailed down the Straight of Juan de Fuca to Puget Sound thinking he had found the passage.
Many of our Islands were named after Spanish Captains and traders. They frequented the San Juan Islands and Canadian Gulf Islands.

This picture was taken in front our home on Whidbey. As you probably noticed there are many high banks on Whidbey. Much of the high bank waterfront has access to those who love to walk the beaches.***** If you come to Whidbey to enjoy walking the beaches please watch the tides. Always walk on a outgoing tide or know when the tide will be high. On many of the beaches the water comes right up to the banks. It is not unusual to have 13 foot tides.

Whidbey Island is a long narrow Island which is approximately 50 miles long. At its narrowest it is a mile wide. The weather differs greatly on the Island. Down in the southern part of the Island, the rainfall is equal with Seattle which is around 60 inches a year or more. In the middle of the Island, (which is my home)Coupeville, the rainfall is from 15 to 19 inches a year. The reduced rain fall in our area is because we are in the rain shadow of the Olympic mountains. The farther North you go from Coupeville, the rainfall averages increase.

There are 4 main towns on Whidbey Island. The only fairly large city is Oak Harbor, and the population is around 30,000 people. Langley, a small town on the far Southern end of the Island is an upscale community. There are many small art and antiques shops. Next is Freeland, which consists of a grocery store, bank and hardware store. Next comes Coupeville(center of Island), a very historic small town, and then Oak Harbor. Please enjoy the pictures of Whidbey Island as I can post them.