Getting Here

• The only way to get to the island is by water. It’s 20 minutes by car and passenger ferry that you catch in the town of Steilacoom (which is itself a cute place to visit). You can also come via boat or kayak.
• Check the ferry schedule and look at the ferry webcams to see how full the lines are. If you’re not in the first 2 lines, you may not get on the next ferry. Note that the last ferries run during the 10pm hour, so no late nights or you’re stuck on the side you’re on. Be sure to check the website for any alerts before your trip.
• The easiest way to get tickets is to purchase online ahead of time. You can just pull in to the ferry lanes in Steilacoom (entrance on the circle where Union Ave, Rainier St., and Market St. meet). You can also buy a paper ticket if you walk down to the ferry terminal. Someone will come to your car window and scan the online or paper ticket. No ticket is needed on the way back.

While You’re Here

• It’s not really a tourist destination. There are no resorts, motels, or shopping districts. But there is the General Store, parks, lakes, golfing, two places to eat, and the old Johnson farm museum (with a great gift shop).
• There’s actually some good food here between the AI Cafe and the Riviera Lakeshore Restaurant, but be sure to check times to make sure they’re open. The cafe is open for breakfast and lunch every day, dinner on Fri, Sat, and Mon (burger night), and the restaurant is open for dinner every night, lunch Fri, Sat, and Sun, and breakfast on the weekends, so you can work up an appetite doing some outdoor recreation here and have a spot to grab a meal afterwards.
• Definitely make sure you get anything you need before 8pm (sometimes 9pm on the weekends in the summer) – nothing is open after that. If there are any events happening, they have also probably ended by then.

About the Island

• Anderson Island DOES NOT have a town; it’s technically unincorporated Pierce County. There’s no stoplights; heck, there’s only one 4-way stop.
• Around 1/3rd of the island is part of the Riviera Community Club HOA (RCC), aka “the Riv.” Property in the Riv is divided into lots around 7500-9000 sq ft. If any property has more than that, it’s on multiple lots (or it’s outside of the Riv). Member amenities include a marina, campground, parks, and driving range. Amenities open to the public include a restaurant and golf course. It also has property restrictions that properties off-Riv don’t have, but starting at around $10,000 per lot, it’s not a bad investment to have access to the amenities, even if it will be years before you can build on it (no camping on your lot).
• There are no hospitals or urgent care. We do have the amazing Anderson Island Fire/Rescue that has an EMT, in case of emergency. For bigger emergencies, they have an emergency boat and a helipad for Life Flight.
• If you’re spending any decent amount of time here, you will absolutely want to download the Anderson Island App (linked to the browser version, but seriously check out your app store for it), and check out some of the other websites that provide way more in depth information about things here, like the old Johnson Farm (Anderson Island Historical Society), the parks, the Riviera HOA, the Oro Bay Yacht Club, the AI General Store, etc.
• We wave to each other!

About Me

• I am a full-time islander who just does this website as a labor of love. I wanted a more centralized location to find information about the island that wasn’t tied to any particular organization. If you have any questions about the site, feel free to send me an email.