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Trip Report    

Sea Kayak - Burrows & Allan Islands

Perfect conditions for a student paddle from a lesser used launch site.

Marie Mills Marie Mills
July 01, 2024
  • Road suitable for all vehicles

  • The currents did not exceed 1.5 knots, which was perfect for student kayakers who have  not been paddling very long. We encountered few rips and little wind. There are many submerged rocks  to watch for if you stay close to shore. One person accidentally found a sharp one, but was quickly back in deep water when another paddler managed to pull them off. This is a good area to be aware of and keep your distance from  sunbathing seals and sea lions and the birds roosting on Williamson Rocks, to avoid disturbing them.

We launched from Cabana Beach around 10:30. Much of Cabana Beach is private but there is public beach access with enough room to easily launch a dozen or more kayaks (pink circle on map below). The beach is smooth gravel (at least at 2.5' using the station on Allan Island) and not very steep. It is a short carry with just a few low beach logs to step over on your way to the water.
To get there, drive Skyline Way to Cabana Lane. Just past the Marina office take the first right. Follow that road to a cul de sac ending at a fence where the private beach begins. There are three regular parking spots facing the public beach and one disabled parking spot. No parking pass is needed.
There is plenty of free street parking in the area, though it may all be taken on a sunny summer weekend! In that case, you can buy a day parking pass at the Marina ($9) to park in their gravel lot a short distance from the public beach. On busy weekends, this lot can also fill up. There are no bathrooms at the beach. You can use the Marina bathrooms during open hours (7am – 6pm in summer) but you need to get the code from the office.
We paddled across Burrows Channel, dodging boat traffic, and down the west side of Burrows. We then headed down Allan pass, south along Allan Island, looped down and around Williamson Rocks (a National Wildlife Refuge), up the west side of Allan and back to the lighthouse for lunch just after 1pm.
Enjoyed a very leisurely lunch. There was napping, eating, wildflower ID'ing, and lots of good conversation. After lunch, we headed back into Allan Pass and up the east side of Burrows to Alice Bight, where we spent about 45 minutes practicing rescues. Then made the final crossing - boat dodging back to Cabana Beach around 4:45 pm. A long and very enjoyable 8.5 NM.
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We had mostly overcast conditions and not too hot. The students got to practice paddling in a bit of wind, some squirrely currents, sitting a long time in the boats without a break, several open water crossings, dodging boat traffic, paddling in boat wake, and climbing up and down rocks to get to the lighthouse.
A big thanks to Alex of BodyBoatBlade for working with me to rent gear to the students. This is a new service for them and it worked out really well. This is why I chose to launch at Cabana over Washington Park. BBB has a locker just a short wheel away from the launch site and were flexible with our return time, so we didn't have to rush the day. For details on renting and to reserve gear, go to their website: https://www.bodyboatblade.com/kayak-and-drysuit-rentals/