Pleasant Harbor

This perfectly named cove, with its wooded shores and calm waters, is a fine place to visit when the summer crowds have thinned out. It offers ample guest moorage, a state park float and enough room for anchoring. Not only is this the most protected harbor in Hood Canal with the most marine facilities, it’s beautiful besides.

Moorings and Anchorage
The state park float is on the north side just inside the entrance. Depths are good on either side of the 100-foot float. There are no facilities here, and the maximum stay is 36 hours. Fees are collected at the self-service pay station at the head of the ramp.

Visitor moorage is also available at Pleasant Harbor Marina, beyond the state park float and the smaller, private marina. All slips at Pleasant Harbor Marina have electricity and water. Reservations can be made by telephone (360.796.4611) or by VHF channel 16 or 9. If you arrive after hours, moor at the fuel dock and check the list of vacant slips posted there. A self-service pay box is outside the marina office.

All other floats and mooring buoys in Pleasant Harbor are private. Anchoring is good almost anywhere in the harbor.

The green peaked roofs make Pleasant Harbor Marina easy to spot.

Getting Ashore
Use the state park float or the Pleasant Harbor Marina floats. The marina charges a dinghy-landing fee that gives boaters who anchor out full use of its facilities. All other floats are private.

For the Boat and Crew
The marina has gas and diesel fuel. Repairs can be arranged through the marina office. The marina store has a few groceries and a small deli. If you stay at the marina, you can use its covered barbecue deck and picnic area, the swimming pool and hot tub, and the marina’s showers and laundromat. Except on holiday weekends and during shrimp season in early May, boaters at anchor (not at the state park float) may use these facilities if they pay a dinghy-landing fee; to confirm, check at the marina office. There are no facilities at the state park float.

If you have a skiff and the tide is rising, head north about a mile to Dosewallips State Park, which has picnic areas, campsites and restrooms with showers. Upriver you can pick up a tidal trail; maps are posted on information boards throughout the park, which has more than 400 acres and 5,000-plus feet of shoreline. It’s a good idea to take along rubber boots, as most of the shoreline is river delta and mud flat. Watch the time or you may be stranded until the next high tide. Going or coming, stay away from the raft east of the river, an important resting spot for a large group of harbor seals.

Sailor, writer and teacher Migael Scherer, who divides her time between Seattle and Lopez Island, is the author of “A Cruising Guide to Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands,” published by International Marine/McGraw-Hill. The guide can be purchased online through Armchair Sailor Books & Charts, Captain’s Nautical Supplies, Amazon and other retailers.