Camano Island

Camano Island is in the Puget Sound region of Washington State.

Camano Island beach

Understand

Camano Island (pron.: /kəˈmeɪnoʊ/) is a large island in the Possession Sound portion of Puget Sound, located in Island County, Washington, between Whidbey Island and the mainland. The body of water separating Whidbey Island and Camano Island is called Saratoga Passage.

Camano Island is named for the Spanish explorer Jacinto Caamaño. Charles Wilkes, during the Wilkes Expedition of 1838-1842, named it MacDonough Island in honor of Thomas MacDonough for his victory of the Battle of Lake Champlain during the War of 1812. Following this theme, Wilkes named the body of water between Camano and Whidbey Island after MacDonough's flagship the Saratoga. When Henry Kellett reorganized the official British Admiralty charts in 1847, he removed Wilkes' name MacDonough and bestowed the name Camano, which the Spanish had originally given to Admiralty Inlet in 1790. Wilkes' name Saratoga Passage was retained.

Get in

By car

Take State Route (SR) 532 from Interstate 5 at exit 212. The turn off from Interstate 5 is north of Arlington. Camano Island is separated from mainland Snohomish County by Davis Slough near the city of Stanwood. The island is reached via State Route 532 over the Camano Gateway Bridge in the northeast of the island.

By bus

• Community Transit, ☏ +1 425-353-7433, toll-free: +1-800-562-1375. Operates local and regional public transit bus routes in Snohomish County, except only local routes in Everett. Communities within the county served by this operator's routes include Arlington, Edmonds, Everett, Lynnwood, Marysville, Mill Creek, Monroe, Mountlake Terrace, Mukilteo, Snohomish, and Stanwood. (updated Jun 2023)

• Route 240 Stanwood to/from Smokey Point Transit Center north of Marysville. Transfer to routes 201 or 202 in Smokey to continue towards Lynnwood via Everett and Silver Firs/Ash Way P&R.
• Route 905 Stanwood to Lynnwood via SR-532 and I-5. Transfer to Sound Transit's Link Light Rail 1 Line train to get into Seattle from Lynnwood.
• Island Transit Route 412 provides a direct route to Everett Station while Route 411C goes up to Mount Vernon from Terry's Corner on Camano Island.
• Transfer to Island Transit routes 3, 411C or 412 to get into Camano Island by bus (to Terry's Corner) from Stanwood. See 'Get around' in the below.

• BellAir Airporter, (bus stop) Stanwood Chevron at 26625 Old Hwy 99 N, Stanwood (West of I-5, Exit #212), ☏ +1-866-235-5247. Goes up to Marysville, Stanwood, Burlington/Mt Vernon, Bellingham & Blaine from Seattle and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on one route and west from Burlington to La Conner & the San Juan Ferry Terminal on another. The Stanwood Chevron station is not a regular stop. Therefore, advanced reservations are required for pick-up. (updated Sep 2022)

Get around

• 1 Island Transit, ☏ +1 360-678-7771. Scheduled bus services on Whidbey Island and Camano Island. Service on Whidbey Island includes to Clinton, Coupeville, Freeland, Greenbank, Langley, Oak Harbor with off island connections to Anacortes. Service on Camano Island includes off island connections to Everett (412), Stanwood (3, 411C, 412); and Mount Vernon (411C) from Terry's Corner Park & Ride (location of marker). The following serve as local routes within Camano Island: Free. (updated Jun 2023)

• Route 1 West Camano Island. Fixed route service along East Camano Dr, Mountain View Rd and West Camano Dr along the western shore.
• Route 2 ('On Demand Zone 2') serves as an on demand service along East Camano Dr on the east side of Camano Island. Pre-booking for ride is required.

See

Camano Island State Park

• 1 Camano Island State Park. (updated Jun 2023)

Do

Events

• The Port Susan Snow Goose & Birding Festival (Feb)
• The Camano Island Mother's Day Art Studio Tour (May)
• The Spring Art Show (June)
• Art by the Bay, The Stanwood-Camano Festival of Art and Music (July)
• The Stanwood Camano Community Fair (August)
• The Harvest Jubilee (Sept)
• The AAUW Art for Education Show (October)
• The Stanwood-Camano Chili & Chowder Cookoff (November)

Sleep

• 1 Camano Island State Park. There is camping on a first-come, first-served basis. Different campsites have different prices; campsites with a really good view of the water are more expensive. (updated Oct 2015)