Public Beach vs. Private Property

Double Bluff Beach Club strives to be a good neighbor as well as a great steward of our property and planet. There is some confusion as to where the public beach stops and our private property begins. There are numerous signs installed and managed by Island County that most people ignore or are confused by so we wanted to share some information as to put all of this confusion to rest.

Double Bluff Beach Club, as well as several privately held properties next door, own from where the cabins sit at the toe of Double Bluff all the way out to the “ordinary high tide” which is a “meandering property line since the beach is always changing. The simple way to find this property line is to notice where the vegetation stops growing. We installed a large adirondack chair in late 2019 and “rope” fence on the eastern most private property boundary of Double Bluff Beach Club to give a very rough idea of where the property begins. This boundary line is approximate rather than absolute but it gives a pretty clear understanding of where the private/public line is located as per the Island County Park signs.

After recent visits to Double Bluff Beach Club by Island County and Washington State Department of Ecology officials, it was brought to our attention that our property has been overrun by the public in recent years as much of the driftwood covering our property was moved after a big storm making our property much more accessible to foot and paw traffic. As the public has moved more freely across our property, the trampling of the native grass, shrubs and other vegetation has greatly increased. This trampled area is now quite bare and increasingly prone to erosion which is a big problem especially in Useless Bay.

There is plenty of public access to Double Bluff Beach unlike other public beaches on Whidbey Island. We are asking the public to respect our private property but even as important, please help us protect the environmentally sensitive nature of our property and keep foot traffic to beyond the vegetation and driftwood lines beyond the adirondack chair. 95% of he time there is plenty of room to walk on the public property and tide flats even on higher tides (there is approximately 17+ acres of public space between the public parking lot and the beginning of “Double Bluff” whereas there is only 2+/- acres of “private” property in this same area.) When there is a high tide, we have created a single track path near the driftwood for people to use that is technically on our property but we are reasonable and just ask that people keep to the trail.

Thank you for your consideration and respect!

Below are some pictures of the private property on Double Bluff Beach. The private property is clearly marked/outlined in yellow:

If you have any questions about this issue, please contact us. If you prefer, please contact Island County Parks Department. Jan VanMuyden is the Parks Superintendent and can be reached at janv@co.island.wa.us and is familiar with the park rules, regulations and the private and public areas. You can also contact Island County Beach Access as they also can provide feedback and perspective on all things Double Bluff Beach: https://www.islandbeachaccess.org.