Local guide

Read the water.

Why do the tides matter at the Olalla Bay house? On big exchange days Puget Sound's mixed tides swing over ten feet, turning the beach from a narrow strip to a wide flat and back in about six hours. Low tide is the best, and sometimes the only, chance to walk the beach: it is private, so enjoy the walk south and leave the neighbors their quiet.

The bay runs on a schedule. Learn it and everything gets better: the kayaking, the beach walks, the tidepools.

By Assaf, the Olalla Bay editor. Last updated: November 5, 2026.

The water in front of the house is never the same twice. On the biggest exchange days the swing from high water to low water tops ten feet, and the beach goes from a narrow strip to a wide flat and back again in about six hours. Guests who check the tide table get more beach, calmer paddling, and tidepools. Guests who do not still have a great time, but they miss the good stuff.

How the tides work here

Puget Sound has mixed tides: two high tides and two low tides most days, and the two highs are different heights, just like the two lows. One low might be a gentle two feet, the next one a minus two that exposes everything. That uneven rhythm is the whole game. The tide chart looks lopsided because it is.

The practical upshot: never assume today's pattern matches yesterday's. The whole cycle slides about an hour later each day. Check the table every morning the way you check the weather.

Which table to check

Use NOAA's tide predictions for Gig Harbor, station 9446369. It is the closest published station to the house, about six miles away across the water, and it is close enough for planning your day. The Seattle station, 9447130, is the regional reference the local predictions are built from. Either one tells you what you need: the times of the highs and lows, and how big the swing is.

Bookmark the Gig Harbor page on your phone on day one. You will open it more than the weather app.

Minus tides and the beach

Look for negative numbers on the low tide line. A minus tide means the water drops below the chart's zero line and pulls far back off the beach, exposing rock and pools that are underwater the rest of the time. In late spring and summer these often land in the morning, which is the best tidepooling of the year: daylight, calm water, and the whole intertidal zone laid out.

Walk the waterline slowly and look down. Ochre sea stars in orange and purple, green anemones closed up like olives, small crabs in the pools, moon snail shells the size of your fist. It is all right there off the private beach. You do not need to drive anywhere.

If you want a second spot, Owen Beach at Point Defiance Park, 35 minutes away in Tacoma, is excellent at low water too.

King tides and night minus tides (late November and December 2026)

Winter flips the tide pattern described in the rest of this guide. In late spring and summer, minus tides often land in the morning, which is the best tidepooling of the year: daylight, calm water, and the whole intertidal zone laid out. In late November and December, the lowest lows land late at night, while the highest highs of the season land in the morning. NOAA's National Ocean Service uses "king tide" as a non-scientific term for exceptionally high tides. Higher-than-normal tides typically occur during a new or full moon and when the Moon is at perigee.

At Gig Harbor station 9446369, the closest published NOAA station to the house, the Thanksgiving-week window runs Monday, November 23 through Sunday, November 29. The morning high climbs all week, from 11.71 feet on November 23 to 13.33 feet on Friday, November 27. The night low drops later and lower on the first three nights, reaching minus 3.81 feet at 11:33 p.m. on Wednesday, November 25. On Thursday, November 26, the only daytime low is 8.17 feet at 12:22 p.m.; the deep low that follows arrives just after midnight, at 12:21 a.m. on November 27. The full swing on November 25, from the 6:15 a.m. high of 13.06 feet to the 11:33 p.m. low of minus 3.81 feet, is 16.87 feet.

A second window runs Tuesday, December 22 through Saturday, December 26, and the tides run slightly higher. The morning high reaches 13.66 feet at 7:40 a.m. on December 26, the highest morning high in either window. The lowest low of the season at this station falls at 11:20 p.m. on December 24, at minus 3.89 feet. Christmas Day itself has no deep low: the only low listed for December 25 is 8.01 feet at 12:16 p.m., and the deep low follows at 12:08 a.m. on December 26.

The morning highs bring water to the top of the beach, with the dock pilings showing the high water level and the bay looking fuller than at other times of the season. The night lows are a guest experience on the private beach, under this guide's look-only rules: wet hands, bare rock only, and every rock put back. A night minus tide needs a headlamp, boots, and a firm turnaround time because the path out floods first on the return, as it does during daytime lows. These are predictions, not observations. Wind and weather can move the actual water away from the predicted line, so check the station table again on the day.

Look, don't take

This part matters. Wet your hands before you touch anything, step only on bare rock, and put every rock back exactly where you found it. Do not pry animals off the rock. Do not take shells with animals still in them. The tidepool is someone's whole world, and it has to survive until the water comes back.

One factual note: taking shellfish or anything else from the intertidal zone requires a Washington shellfish/seaweed license from WDFW. This guide is look-only, which needs no license at all.

Tides and the kayak

The hour around the tide change is called slack water, and it is the easiest paddling: the water goes quiet before it turns around. Mid-ebb and mid-flood are the opposite. That is when Colvos Passage moves real water, and the passage is the deep channel right out front.

NOAA runs a current prediction station almost on our doorstep: Anderson Point, station PUG1518, about a mile north of the house. It publishes predicted max ebb, max flood, and slack times. If you plan to cross the passage, check it first. If you are staying in the bay, you can mostly ignore all of this. Read the full kayaking guide for where to paddle.

Timing your beach walks

Low tide gives you the most beach. That is also when the seals haul out on the rocks and the otters work the shoreline, so a low-tide walk doubles as a wildlife walk. Mornings are best: low water, calm air, animals out.

One safety note that applies everywhere on Puget Sound. The tide comes back over the low flats first, which means the path you walked out on can flood before the ground you are standing on does. Keep an eye on the turn, give yourself plenty of time, and never get so absorbed in a tidepool that you forget the water is coming back.

Questions people ask

When is low tide in Olalla Bay?

It changes every day, sliding about an hour later each day. Check NOAA's Gig Harbor station, 9446369, for your dates. That is the closest station to the house.

What is a minus tide?

A low tide predicted below the zero line on the chart. The water pulls far back and exposes the most beach and tidepools. In late spring and summer they often land in the morning.

Is it safe to kayak in Colvos Passage at peak current?

Mid-ebb and mid-flood move real water through the passage. Paddle near slack water instead, and check NOAA's Anderson Point current station, PUG1518, before crossing.

Can we pick up the sea stars?

Look, do not lift. Wet hands, bare rock only, and put everything back where you found it.

Where is the best tidepooling near the house?

The private beach at a minus tide. Owen Beach at Point Defiance, 35 minutes away, is the best public backup.