Qualla: Saratoga Passage

Saratoga Passage: Introduction

Sat, 21 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Pfly, CC BY-SA 3.0. The water between Whidbey Island and Camano Island carries the name of a warship that never sailed it. Saratoga Passage was named by Charles Wilkes during his 1838-1842 United States Exploring Expedition, honoring the USS Saratoga, Thomas MacDonough's flagship at the Battle of Lake Champlain during the War of 1812. Wilkes had originally named the neighboring island MacDonough Island, but five years later, when British naval officer Henry Kellett reorganized the Admiralty charts, that name was erased and replaced with Camano, honoring the Spanish explorer Jacinto Caamano. Wilkes' name for the passage, however, stuck. In the Pacific Northwest, water holds its names longer than land does.

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Image: Pfly | CC BY-SA 3.0

Saratoga Passage: Charting the Passage

Sat, 21 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Pfly, CC BY-SA 3.0. Saratoga Passage extends 18 miles in a northwesterly direction from its entrance between Sandy Point on the Whidbey side and Camano Head on the opposite shore. At the southeastern entrance, the water drops to about 600 feet. By the time it reaches Crescent Harbor at its northern ...

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Image: Pfly | CC BY-SA 3.0

Saratoga Passage: Forested Banks and a Single Town

Sat, 21 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Pfly, CC BY-SA 3.0. Most of the waterfront along Saratoga Passage rises into high banks of forested sand and clay, giving the passage a walled quality from the water. On the Whidbey side, four low-bank communities break the pattern: Sandy Point, Langley, Bells Beach, and Fox Spit. Of these, only Lan...

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Image: Pfly | CC BY-SA 3.0

Saratoga Passage: What the Water Lost

Sat, 21 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Pfly, CC BY-SA 3.0. Dungeness crab, clams, and flatfish remain abundant in Saratoga Passage. But the salmon are largely gone. Strong runs once passed through these waters on their way to the rivers of the mainland, and the fishing sustained both indigenous communities and settler economies for gener...

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Image: Pfly | CC BY-SA 3.0

Saratoga Passage: Traffic and Shelter

Sat, 21 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Pfly, CC BY-SA 3.0. Despite its relative calm, Saratoga Passage carries considerable maritime traffic. Recreational boats and fishing vessels make up the majority, but tugboats bound for Deception Pass or the Swinomish Channel pass through regularly, and high-speed passenger ferries running between ...

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Image: Pfly | CC BY-SA 3.0