Deception Pass received its name from Captain George Vancouver,
the first European to identify the area near Whidbey Island as a passage, which
he named Deception Pass. The Captain thought the island was a peninsula. Tidal
flow can be extremely rough and low tides create standing waves, huge
whirlpools and roiling eddies. With the small islands between Whidbey and
Fidalgo Islands, the passage appeared to many early explorers to be sides of a
small bay or perhaps the mouth of a river. It was Vancouver's chief navigator Joseph Whidbey who sailed into the pass and followed the water south into the Saratoga
Passage, disproving the bay theory. Vancouver named that island Whidbey in
honor of his assistant, Joseph Whidbey, who was at his side when Vancouver
realized the mistake. The captain named the inlet at which he was anchored
Deception Pass to commemorate the error.
Next stop…San Juan Island, Washington!
