The beauty of the Olympic Peninsula is a gift that residents of Jefferson County experience on a daily basis. The holidays are a good time to share the secret of this county’s beauty with an “experience” gift for a friend or loved one.

An experience gift isn’t a physical object, but instead is an outing, such as going on a kayak trip, taking a skiing class, or going on a bird watching cruise. These gifts can be purchased ahead of time (or just promised) and are a nice way to show your friend or family member that you want to spend time with them and give them the gift of experiencing nature and beauty. They’re the perfect gifts for the adventurers in your life, who would rather get outside than unwrap a present.

Below is a list of ways to give the gift of the Olympic Peninsula’s natural beauty:

Kayak your way through the Hood Canal estuary

Hood Canal Adventures, located on the western shore of the Hood Canal on the Olympic Peninsula in Brinnon, offers a variety of kayak tours through the intertidal zones of the Hood Canal.

Their Tide Pool Tour is the perfect gift for someone who may be less experienced at kayaking. The hour-long trip led by a marine biologist heads through low tide waters to view marine invertebrates like sea stars, sea cucumbers, nudibranch, chitons and crab. You may also see bald eagles, jellyfish, heron and sometimes a seal or two. Hood Canal Adventures also offers other options, such as the Oysters on the Beach Tour, a three-hour adventure paddling to a small secluded beach to shuck oysters and eat them for lunch. During the Crabbing Tour, kayakers will learn to catch their own crab, while the Duckabush River and Estuary tour takes kayakers along the river to experience the marine animals in an estuary.

To buy a tour for a friend or family member, call 360-301-6310 to talk with owner Christina Maloney, who will guide you through all the options of tours and prices. You can pay over the phone and she will send a gift certificate to the recipient of the tour. But do it sooner than later, so Maloney can get those presents in the mail. Visit their website, kayakbrinnon.com, to see a full list of tours and adventure possibilities.

Cruise around Protection Island

Protection Island National Wildlife Refuge is home to many different marine bird species that nest, breed and land on the chunk of land that lies in the Strait of Juan de Fuca off the mouth of Discovery Bay. The island contains one of the few nesting colonies of tufted puffins in the Puget Sound and is home to around 1,000 harbor seals as a pupping and resting area.

Every year, the Port Townsend Marine Science Center leads a variety of seasonal wildlife cruises to view the changing community of birds and mammals using the island as a sanctuary.

A special treat for the wildlife enthusiasts in your life is the New Year’s Eve cruise, from 1 to 4 p.m. on Dec. 31. This cruise is perfect for birders, who might be interested in seeing the rhinoceros auklets, glaucous-winged gulls, pigeon guillemots, oystercatchers, cormorants and more floating and flying around Protection Island. Sign up before it’s too late at ptmsc.org/cruises, where you will also find a list of later season cruises, including the puffin cruise which happens in June, July and August, and the Adventuress sail around Protection Island, which typically takes place in September—all great gift ideas.

Dive into Port Townsend’s “Octopus Gardens”

Know a diver or an aspiring diver? The perfect gift for them is the experience of diving in the Puget Sound, where you can see amazing underwater sights such as the wreck of the wooden hulled Ranger off Boat Haven, Fort Worden’s underwater park, or Ed’s Fault, a boat dive abundant with sea life. 

Octopus Gardens Diving, located at 2410 Washington Street in Port Townsend, is a full service diving center with training, continuing education and equipment for new and experienced divers. For the aspiring divers in your life, sign them up for a training course that will help them become SCUBA certified, with online courses and in-person courses with Octopus Gardens’ instructors.

For those you may know who already enjoy diving, sign them up for a guided dive with a certified divemaster at any site in the Puget Sound or Hood Canal. To learn more about prices and tours, visit octopusgardensdiving.com, or call 360-385-3483.

Hike the Olympics

This gift is perfect for friends and family who have not yet experienced the Olympic Peninsula’s many hiking trails. The Olympic Hiking Company offers guided tours and transportation to some of the Peninsula’s most famous, and most stunning, hikes, such as Rialto Beach and the Hoh Rainforest, Hurricane Ridge and Marymere Falls, Sol Duc Falls and Lake Crescent. Each hike has a different mileage and difficulty level, but all have stunning views of the Olympic National Park. The tours run from May through September and provide transportation to the trailhead from Port Angeles. They can be booked now on their website at hikeolympic.com. They also offer private guided hiking tours for those who want a customizable experience.