Jetty Island exists only in summer. Each May, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers deposits dredged sand from Everett's shipping channel onto this two-mile barrier island, and by October the tides reclaim most of it. You reach the beach via a squat passenger ferry that shuttles from the Everett waterfront every half-hour, depositing you onto sand still cool from the morning fog that clings to Possession Sound.
“A federally engineered beach that appears each summer and mostly vanishes each winter, accessible only by a free public ferry.”
Credit: UnsplashWhite cliffs over a desert beach
The island feels deliberate in its plainness. No concessions, no lifeguards after early evening, no shade except what you carry. Families claim sections of driftwood—some logs ten feet in diameter, bark worn smooth as river stone—and children tunnel beneath them or balance along their lengths. The water stays shallow for fifty yards, tepid by Puget Sound standards, and safe enough for waders still unsteady on their feet. Bald eagles perch in the island's interior scrub, waiting for the picnickers to leave.
You'll share the sand with kitefliers testing the reliable northwest breeze, teenagers playing volleyball on courts carved into the upper beach, and retirees walking the entire perimeter at low tide. By late afternoon, the ferry line lengthens with sunburned families hauling coolers and folding chairs, their children clutching bags of sea glass and crab shells. The return trip takes five minutes, but the sand in your shoes will remind you of this place for days.
