25 minutes from the Sou’wester
Willapa Bay and the Oysters
The quiet side of the peninsula: mudflats, oyster beds, and no surf at all.
The peninsula has an ocean side and a bay side, and most visitors only ever see the ocean. Willapa Bay is the other one, twenty-five minutes from us and completely different in character.
It is one of the cleanest estuaries in the United States & one of the most productive oyster-growing waters in the country. A large share of the oysters farmed in America come out of this bay.
Nahcotta
The working centre of the oyster industry on this side, with beds visible at low tide and boats working them. This is where you eat oysters freshest.
Tide tables matter here more than opening hours. At low tide the bay empties out into mudflat and the whole place changes.
What else is over here
Willapa National Wildlife Refuge
Salt marsh, tidal flats and forest, protecting habitat for migrating shorebirds along the Pacific Flyway.
Oysterville
Founded on the oyster trade in 1854 and now a preserved village on the National Register: a church, a handful of nineteenth-century houses, and quiet.
Leadbetter Point State Park
At the very tip of the peninsula where the bay meets the ocean. Part closes seasonally for nesting snowy plovers.
Eating them
Oysters here are sold by the dozen at the source and served across the peninsula & in Astoria. Our dining guide has where we send guests.
Where to stay
We are in Seaview, ten minutes from Cape Disappointment and five from the beach. You can stay in a restored vintage travel trailer, a 1950s cabin, a suite in the historic 1892 lodge, or bring a tent or RV to one of our camping and RV spaces.
More in our guide to things to do on the Long Beach Peninsula.