Oro Bay on the south end of Anderson Island in the Salish Sea is a beautiful anchorage with a nearby park, quiet privacy, and wonderful views.

Having grown up in the South Salish Sea, I spent a lot of time at various anchorages and spots that are still fun to visit. One of my all time favorites is Oro Bay, and I was there earlier this year with some friends and had the opportunity to fly the drone and explore via dinghy.

I was cruising with friends on M/V Conundrum on this trip, and always love taking photos of the Narrows Bridge with boats underneath. We had very calm and sunny weather for the majority of our trip.

Oro Bay is located on the southern tip of Anderson Island about 14 nautical miles south of Gig Harbor. A lot of charts call both the outer and inner bays by the same name, but there are actually two distinct bays — one less protected one to the east, and the inner one to the west – our goal and spot for the next few days.

The challenge with Oro Bay is the entrance, which is not that difficult, but can be intimidating if you’ve never been there before. The charts are also woefully lacking in detail both for the entrance, and the bay itself. What you can see that are important when entering are the three buoys. (Keep reading at SeaBits.com to see charted entrance analysis and excellent drone footage of the bay).