The 6th North American Echinoderm Conference will be held at the Rosario Beach Marine Laboratory, a campus of Walla Walla University. Rosario is located approximately two hours north of Seattle, WA and two hours south of Vancouver, BC. Rosario is located just south of the city of Anacortes on Fidalgo Island, and just north of Deception Pass which separates Fidalgo Island from Whidbey Island.


Flying
Most people find that flying into Sea-Tac Airport (Seattle-Tacoma, airport code SEA) is the most convenient. From Sea-Tac you can rent a car and drive to Rosario (approximately two hours), or you can take the Airporter Shuttle (www.airporter.com) to Anacortes. If you take the Airporter Shuttle have them drop you off at the Shell Station at 14th & Commercial (only 15 minutes from Rosario). Call us (360-293-2326) in advance and we will pick you up.

Other airports include Bellingham, WA (airport code BLI, also serviced by the Airporter Shuttle) and Vancouver, BC (airport code YVR). PASSPORTS ARE REQUIRED FOR TRAVEL ACROSS THE US/CANADA BORDER IN BOTH DIRECTIONS.


Driving
The address is 15510 Rosario Beach Road, Anacortes, WA 98221. Entering “Rosario Beach” into Google Maps will show you the location of the Rosario Beach Marine Laboratory and you can get driving instructions. Or you can use these directions:
      1.      The Rosario Beach Marine Laboratory is about halfway between Seattle, WA
                and Vancouver, BC.
      2.      Take exit 230 off Interstate 5 (sign reads "Route 20, Burlington, Anacortes").
      3.      Go west on Highway 20 (toward Whidbey Island and Anacortes).
      4.      About twelve miles from the interstate exit (after passing an oil refinery on your
                right, and just after passing a golf course on your left) turn left at the stoplight
                (sign says "Oak Harbor, Port Townsend Ferry"). If you go straight instead of
                turning you will end up in Anacortes.
      5.      About 5 miles later, after passing Pass Lake on the right (this will be the
                SECOND lake that you will drive by on this road), turn right onto Rosario Road,
                toward the "Rosario Beach Area" of Deception Pass State Park. Be careful!
                This turn can be easy to miss. If you do miss the turn, you will end up at the
                Deception Pass Bridge.
      6.      After driving about 0.8 miles on Rosario Road, look for a sign that says "Rosario
                Beach Area". Turn left onto Cougar Gap Road which slants down (this road,
                which slants down, can be hard to see). After just a few seconds you will come
                to a "Y" in the road; keep left. After a few more seconds you will find the
                entrance to Rosario on the right (and the entrance to the state park straight
                ahead).

BEWARE: OUR "ROSARIO" IS NOT THE SAME AS THE "ROSARIO RESORT", LOCATED ON ORCAS ISLAND.