The sheltered finger of saltwater that frames Poulsbo's waterfront and gives the town its character — calm enough to learn to kayak on, deep enough that the marina holds several hundred boats, narrow enough to swim across on a still summer evening. The two-mile Liberty Bay Waterfront Park boardwalk runs the length of the marina and meets the downtown shopping street at its centre.
Olympic Outdoor Center, on the dock at the south end of downtown, rents kayaks and stand-up paddle boards by the hour. From the water the views over to the Olympic Mountains are even better than from shore.