Cruising Strait of Georgia

The Strait of Georgia, sometimes known as the Georgia Strait, is a strait in the eastern North Pacific that separates the eastern coast of Vancouver Island from the southwestern coast of the Canadian mainland. Among the more than 3,000 species that call the Strait of Georgia home are global superstars like the largest octopus on record, 100-year-old rockfish, massive schools of herring and salmon, millions of birds, seals and sea lions, dolphins, whales, and the renowned southern resident killer whales.

It has an average length of 138 miles and a width of 17 miles. The strait is divided from the Johnstone and Queen Charlotte Sounds to the north by a cluster of islands. The San Juan Islands of Washington, in the United States, constitute the southern boundary. The strait’s main islands are Texada and Lasqueti, and its midchannel depth is between 900 and 1,200 feet. Vancouver, located at the mouth of the Fraser River, is one of the many inlets cutting into the mainland shore. The water in the Gulf, as the strait is called by the locals, flows generally counterclockwise, and the outflow from the Fraser River helps to facilitate this. The strait connects Seattle to Skagway and is a part of the scenic and protected Inside Passage.