Camano Island is a large island in Puget Sound, located in Island County, Washington State, between Whidbey Island and the mainland. The body of water separating Whidbey Island and Camano Island is called Saratoga Passage. Camano Island is separated from mainland Snohomish County by Davis Slough near the city of Stanwood.
There were 13,358 residents on the island as of the 2000 census, but the population peaks up to 17,000 during the summer months with retired "snowbirds." The island has a total land area of 39.77 square miles.
Camano Island is named for the Spanish explorer Jacinto Caamaño. Charles Wilkes, during the Wilkes Expedition of 1838-1842, named it MacDonough Island in honor of Thomas MacDonough for his victory of the Battle of Lake Champlain during the War of 1812. Following this theme, Wilkes named the the body of water between Camano and Whidbey Island after MacDonough's flagship the Saratoga. When Henry Kellett reorganized the official British Admiralty charts in 1847, he removed Wilkes' name MacDonough and bestowed the name Camano to honor the Spanish explorer. The name Saratoga Passage was retained.
