Area guides

Every guide to the area, in one place

Ten guides and counting: food, outdoors and wildlife, wellness, day trips, and local stories. Each one verified against official sites and reviews.

Written by the Olalla Bay editor.

The homepage shows a rotating few. This page is the full shelf. Everything below is a short drive from the house unless noted, and every pick inside was checked in 2026.

Eat & drink

Where to Eat in Gig Harbor

Eleven verified restaurants about fifteen minutes away: waterfront seafood, brunch, wood-fired pizza, Mexican, Italian, a brewery, the local roaster, and wine bars.

Vegetarian & Vegan Guide

Vegan donuts in Port Orchard, tofu everything in Gig Harbor, Tacoma's vegan scene 35 minutes away, Vashon, farmers markets, ethical shopping, and farm animal sanctuaries.

Outdoors & wildlife

Kayaking Olalla Bay

Four kayaks, a private beach, and a calm bay full of seals and eagles. Our local guide to paddling it right.

Wildlife Watching

Seals, otters, bald eagles, and orcas, all visible from the deck. Who lives in the bay and how to see them.

Orca Watching

Which orcas travel Colvos Passage, when to watch from the deck, and the rules that protect them.

Tides

Read the water. Which tide table to check, minus tides and tidepooling on the private beach, and how the current in Colvos Passage affects your kayak.

Wellness

Wellness Guide

A women-only Korean day spa in Tacoma, float therapy in University Place, hot yoga and sound baths in Gig Harbor, and an honest list of what you will not find.

Trips & planning

Day Trips

Gig Harbor in 15 minutes, Vashon by ferry, Tacoma in 35, the Olympics in 90. Where to go when you leave the deck.

Things to Do in Olalla

The market, the lavender festival, the winery, the beaches, and the forest trails. Everything worth doing in Olalla, all within twenty minutes.

Local stories

Starvation Heights

Olalla's true-crime story: the early-1900s fasting sanitarium, told with period photos.