Sucia Island's name originated with the Spanish Captain Francisco de Eliza, on his map of 1791.

[1] These reefs and broken shorelines are from a geologic folding of the Earth's crust, which brought many interesting marine fossils to the surface.

The isolated coves and bays of Sucia Island once served the Lummi Indians in their seal hunting days.

Still later, the islands played a large role in rum-running during liquor Prohibition of the 1920s and 1930s, and in recent years they have figured in drug trafficking[citation needed].

The Wiggins family had lived previously on nearby Waldron Island, but left for Sucia after government agents seized eight of their children and took them to Chemawa Indian School in Salem, Oregon.

In 2012, paleontologists Christian Sidor and Brandon Peecock discovered a fossilized femur bone from a theropod dinosaur on the island's shore.

Fossil Bay is one of the most popular anchorages, particularly for small boats that prefer to tie up to one of two docks rather than anchor or pick up a mooring ring.

Fox Cove is bordered by Ev Henry Finger point and Little Sucia island.