Skagit Bay is abay andstrait located in theU.S. state ofWashington. It is part of the Whidbey Island Basin ofPuget Sound. TheSkagit River empties into Skagit Bay. To the south, Skagit Bay connects with the rest of Puget Sound viaSaratoga Passage andPossession Sound. The boundary between Saratoga Passage and Skagit Bay is between Polnell Point onWhidbey Island and Rocky Point onCamano Island. To the northwest, Skagit Bay connects to theStrait of Juan de Fuca via the narrow strait ofDeception Pass. A third waterway, theSwinomish Channel, connects Skagit Bay withPadilla Bay to the north.
Skagit Bay is bounded by Whidbey Island to the west,Fidalgo Island to the north, Camano Island to the south, and the mainland to the east. The mainland coast consists almost entirely of theSkagit River delta, includingFir Island, between the North Fork and South Forkdistributaries of the Skagit River.
The northern end of Skagit Bay is called Similk Bay. Two islands at the northern end,Hope andSkagit islands, have been designated as marine state parks. TheSwinomish Indian Reservation is located on Fidalgo Island at the north end of Skagit Bay, between Similk Bay and the Swinomish Channel.
The bay is in an area occupied for thousands of years by various cultures ofindigenous peoples. They made use of the bay to gather fish and shellfish, integral to their diets.
Members of the 1792Vancouver Expedition were the first non-indigenous people recorded as having come upon and explored Skagit Bay. On May 30, 1792,Joseph Whidbey led a boat survey team upSaratoga Passage and into Skagit Bay. They spent a day surveying but did not seeDeception Pass, and concluded that Skagit Bay was closed.
The next dayGeorge Vancouver noted the swampy waterway connectingPort Susan to Skagit Bay at the north end of Camano Island. Later, on June 7, Vancouver's ships passed by Deception Pass from the west.Peter Puget and Joseph Whidbey took boats to investigate the opening and found it connected to Skagit Bay, thus they realized the land (to be known as Whidbey Island) comprised an island rather than a peninsula.[1]
48°18′0″N122°26′50″W / 48.30000°N 122.44722°W /48.30000; -122.44722
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