Olympia tides

Located at the southernmost tip of Puget Sound, Olympia's coastal environment encompasses Budd Inlet and Boston Harbor. Traditional surfing and ocean-style tide pooling are absent in these quiet, estuarine waters, but the rich, shallow mudflats are prime territory for shell fishing, yielding abundant harvests of oysters, Manila clams, and littleneck clams during open seasons, as well as recreational crabbing. Checking tide charts is strictly necessary when visiting Olympia's tidelands; negative low tides pull the water back dramatically to reveal the mudflats required for clamming, while flood tides quickly submerge the shallow inlet beaches.