If you arrive in Friday Harbour late in the day during the summer season you stand a good chance of finding the marina is full.
There are 2 anchorage areas in the harbour but both involve anchoring in depths of over 15m, are often crowded, and are exposed to wash from passing ferries, seaplanes and motor boats. The first is in the small bay immediately to the north of the marina, whilst the second, which is marginally more sheltered, lies in the area between the ferry terminal and the cable and pipeline area which extends between San Juan Island and Brown Island. However, the holding is reasonable in thick mud.