Double Bluff & Jetty Island

Double BluffJetty Island

1. Double Bluff

   mixed · cross-on

   Double Bluff runs two miles along the south shore of Whidbey Island, under bluffs that reach 300 feet.

   intermediateadvancedhuge rigging room

   In seasonOct to Mar

   The model here carries the month's average wind rather than a count of windy days: it reaches 14.2 kt in December, the strongest month it models for this spot.

   Double Bluff: the long version, the launch and the rules

   More on Double Bluff

   The tide does most of the work: between high and low water the shoreline can move more than 2,500 feet, and at low water the bay becomes a shallow, firm sandflat you can stand on a long way from shore. It is a winter spot. Southerly and southwesterly fronts from October through March bring the wind onshore to side-onshore, sometimes far past 30 knots, and in a big one the same beach that was slick and flat throws up head-high swell. Any west in the direction and it is off. At high tide the beach narrows to a driftwood-strewn strip, so sessions get planned around the tide table rather than the clock. Getting here means the Mukilteo-Clinton ferry.

   Getting on the water

   The launch is a sand spit at the beach. At low tide there is an enormous expanse of firm sand and the setup is simple and safe. At high tide the usable beach shrinks to a strip littered with driftwood, and people move back to the grass behind. The county park has parking, toilets and freshwater showers, though the showers are shut through the winter months.

   If it goes wrong

   No lifeguard and no rescue service. The prevailing southerly blows onto the beach, so a swim in is with the wind rather than against it, but in winter you are often the only one there. Emergencies go through 911, and help comes from the island, not from the beach.

   Rules and access

   2026: dogs must be leashed in the developed part of the park; the off-leash area starts roughly 500 feet west of the parking lot and is marked by a windsock on a flagpole, with a $500 fine for the leash law up to that line. No kite-specific restriction is recorded for the beach.

   Everything on Double Bluff

2. 

   Jetty Island

   mixed · beginner ok

   Jetty Island is a man-made sand island off the Everett waterfront, at the mouth of the Snohomish River in Puget Sound, and locals call it Steady Jetty for the summer NW thermal that turns up most afternoons.

   intermediateadvanced

   In seasonJun to Aug

   1. JanJ2
   2. FebF4
   3. MarM3
   4. AprA2
   5. MayM0
   6. Jun, riders' monthJ2
   7. Jul, riders' monthJ0
   8. Aug, riders' monthA0
   9. SepS0
   10. OctO0
   11. NovN2
   12. DecD2

   modelled: days with three hours in a row at 12 kt or more, between 06:00 and 19:00 local

   Ringed months are the ones riders and schools name: Jun, Jul, Aug.

   The model is wrong here

   The modelled series peaks at 4% of days and never reaches 15% in any month, at a place that is ridden all season. The figures are drawn rather than dropped, and they are not the answer — the months riders name are.

   Jetty Island: the long version, the launch and the rules

   More on Jetty Island

   The wind is side-onshore and 15-18 kt on a normal day, filling in any time between about 14:00 and 19:00 and running into the evening. The water near shore is a shallow sandy flat, smooth when it is light, chopped up with small peeling waves or roughly 3 ft of rolling swell when wind and tide disagree. Low tide opens more than 100 yards of beach; high tide takes most of it back and sends kiters to the north tip, which is where you want to be in ferry season anyway because the middle of the island is full of families. Access is the real filter. There is no bridge, so you need a boat, a paddle craft, a jet ski or the seasonal ferry from Jetty Landing. Outside the warmed shallows the Sound is cold, around 15 C in summer and 7 C in winter. 2026 rules: no pets, alcohol, drugs or glass, no overnight camping, no lifeguards, and children under 12 with an adult.

   Getting on the water

   Island launch on the west side of Jetty Island, which is the side pointed at kiteboarding. Launch and land at the far north tip, away from summer swimmers and because high tide removes the beach everywhere else. The island sits 200-300 yards off the Everett waterfront, and access is by private boat, personal watercraft, paddle craft or the seasonal ferry from the Port of Everett and Jetty Landing.

   If it goes wrong

   No lifeguards anywhere on the island and no kite rescue service; swimming is at your own risk and only on the west shore. Lesson students get water cover, since Urban Surf ferries them out and stands by on a RIB and jet skis and is the state's only internationally certified kite centre. Riding independently, your cover is the other riders and whatever you carry, so cross with a life jacket and tell someone ashore your plan.

   Room to rig

   Huge at low tide; limited elsewhere at high tide except the north-tip sand clearing.

   Rules and access

   2026: no pets, alcohol, drugs or glass containers on Jetty Island; children under 12 must be with an adult; campfires only in designated areas; no overnight camping; no lifeguards, and swimming only on the west shore at your own risk. Kiteboarding is pointed at the west side of the island, and riders are asked to stay 100 yards or more offshore of the active tidal line where beach users are; riding the inside lagoon is reported as off limits. Access is year-round by private boat or personal watercraft, and the foot ferry runs 8 July to 6 September 2026, Wednesday to Sunday from 10:00 (evenings to 17:45, or 18:45 Friday and Saturday), $4-$7 a head with under-2s free and reservations required. A $1,000 fine for pets, bikes and alcohol is reported but appears on no official page.

   Everything on Jetty Island

• Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA)

Kite bag rules for your airline

Type the carrier you are flying: what it charges for a kite bag, and the year of the policy that says so.

Known for USA:Southwest AirlinesDelta / American / United

Every carrier, with limits and what riders report at the counter →

1. Jetty is the friendly summer learning spot, but its good wind is a narrow thermal window, often a late-afternoon northwest push rather than an all-day forecast you can trust blindly.

   consensus×5 riders

2. Double Bluff is a storm-season Puget Sound call, not a resort beach: southerlies, tide height, driftwood, bluffs and current decide whether it is easy or awkward.

   consensus×5 riders

3. Jetty access is part of the session: outside ferry season you need a boat, kayak, SUP, or raft, and the short crossing can still have cold water and current.

   consensus×4 riders

4. On busy summer days Jetty stops feeling empty near the main launch; high tide and family beach traffic squeeze kiters toward the north end.

   majority×4 riders

5. The two-spot bundle makes sense for Seattle riders, but not as a simple fly-in holiday base; one spot is summer thermal and boat-accessed, the other is cold-front and tide-sensitive.

   majority×3 riders

• Jetty Island began in the late 1800s as a rock riprap jetty to keep the Snohomish River's navigation channel clear, only becoming the sandy island it is today after decades of dredge-material deposits; the Port of Everett has owned it since 1929.
• Freeland was founded as a socialist commune in the early 1900s, with some of its founders coming from the nearby Equality Colony experiment.

What we could not settle. Ride here? These are the gaps worth filling.

• Is 'Double Bluff & Jetty Island' the name riders actually use for this area?
• No Double-Bluff-specific parking, access point, or dog-beach rule was confirmed - only general South Whidbey/Freeland context
• No kite school or shop specific to Double Bluff was found
• Clinton-Mukilteo ferry fares/schedule were not independently confirmed