How I fell in Love with Whidbey Island

Have you ever landed somewhere, perhaps on a beach or in a coffee shop or maybe in a cute store owned by a member of the community, and found yourself falling in love? Have you ever been somewhere for a few hours and it already feels like home? That is exactly how I fell in love with Whidbey Island, Washington! My first trip was a quick drive through with my soon to be husband as we drove home from Port Townsend.

We took the ferry from downtown Port Townsend on what was then called the Keystone Ferry (now it is the Coupeville Ferry). It was a beautiful fall day, filtered sun, changing leaves and crisp cool air. We drove down the Island and into the town of Langley for a late dinner at Il Bistro. After a lovely dinner we caught the Clinton ferry over to Mukilteo. Little did I know I would not be back for over 5 years.

Home with 3 kids and looking for an adventure, we took a day jaunt to look at properties with my parents, who were contemplating a move to the Island. We took the ferry from Mukilteo to Clinton. We drove around the south end from Langley to Mutiny Bay and back to the ferry. We saw many beautiful white sand beaches, the quaint towns of Langley and Freeland and views that stretched for miles down to the Seattle Skyline and up to the San Juan’s and Canadian Gulf Islands. That is when we knew this would be the place. After many trip to the Island, searching high and low, I was able to broker a sale for my parents’ home in the Crocket Lake Estates, outside Coupeville with a view of the Puget Sound shipping lanes.

The Basics

Whidbey Island is 55 miles long, making it the fourth largest island in the continuous 48 states. It is made up of 3 main centers; South Whidbey, Central Whidbey and North Whidbey. There are three main ways to get onto the Island; The Mukilteo/Clinton ferry on the south end, the Port Townsend/Coupeville ferry, mid-Island and Deception Pass bridge from the north, making Whidbey not dependent on tides, weather etc.

South Whidbey is the home on Langley, a very cute and quaint town where you can spend many hours looking at shops, eating at restaurants and looking out over the water to Camano Island. This is also where you will find the Clinton/Mukilteo Ferry and the beachside communities of Sandy Hook, Possession Point, Useless Bay, Bush Point and Mutiny Bay. You will also discover the great town of Freeland on the end of Holmes Harbor and Double Bluffs and South Whidbey Parks.

As you make your way up the Island to central Whidbey, you will find Greenbank, home of Greenbank Farms. Here you will find the beachside communities of Smugglers Cove and Lagoon Point. North of Greenbank is the oldest township on Whidbey, Coupeville, on the banks of Penn Cove. Coupeville is famous for not only the mussels that come out of Penn Cove but for the old boardwalk and all the quaint, locally owned shops that line the boardwalk as well as the red building out on the end of the town pier. Adjacent from Coupeville is Ebey’s Landing, Fort Casey and the Port Townsend Ferry, along with another beachside community of Admirals Cove.

Traveling north, you hit the Navy town of Oak Harbor and the largest metropolitan area on the island. Here you will find more restaurants, larger shopping areas and entertainment. Just north of Oak Harbor is Deception Pass Bridge and State Park, a must see on any day of the year! The bridge connects Whidbey to the mainland with access to Anacortes, Bellingham and the rich farmland of the Skagit Valley.

We are excited to be able to offer real estate services on Whidbey and look forward to helping you find that perfect property. Whidbey has tremendous investment potential with strong vacation rental markets as well as summer, retirement and commuter homes and working farmland. Please contact us today at info@nwretro.com for your personal tour of the island that I love.