Any quaint fishing villages in the San Juan Islands

We're thinking of visiting the San Juan Islands in Washington State

in March or April. I'd like to try to photograph something like the

quaint fishing villages in Nova Scotia. Are there any in the San

Juans? How does that kind of photography compare to the Oregon and

California Coasts?

The San Juans are really more like Mendocino than Nova Scotia. The scenery is gorgeous, but the islands' habitations are composed largely of vacation and retirement cottages and mansions, plus resorts, and finally the community necessary to serve them.

What you may see are killer whales, eagles, red-barked madrona trees, ferries jostling for docks in small bays and expensive yachts. My sister, who lived in Friday Harbor for many years, calculated that there were several hundreds of millions of dollars worth of yachts anchored in Roche Harbor on one Fourth of July. There is a quaint hotel at Roche Harbor that might be interesting to photograph.

Orcas and San Juan Islands are beautiful and accessible. The view from the top of Mount Constitution on Orcas can be spectacular--with views toward the Cascade Mountains, Vancouver, B.C., Vancouver Island. Friday Harbor is the liveliest of the towns on the islands.

As far as fishing villages, the nearest thing would probably be at La Conner, which is on the mainland on the way to Friday Harbor. However, La Conner has turned into a tourist-y place.