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Suggest a Feature →Naval Base Kitsap — Kitsap Peninsula, Washington
Submarines and Tridents on Puget Sound. Rainforest access included.
Naval Base Kitsap is a consolidated installation combining the former Naval Station Bremerton and Naval Submarine Base Bangor into one of the Navy's largest installations by area. It's home to the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines of the Pacific Fleet and a major surface ship home port — operationally, one of the most significant bases in the Pacific.
The Kitsap Peninsula is separated from Seattle by Puget Sound, which means you're simultaneously close to a major city and deeply embedded in a specific place with its own identity. Ferry access to Seattle takes 35-60 minutes on the water. Driving adds an hour. Most Kitsap families find they don't go to Seattle as often as they planned — the peninsula has enough.
The landscape is magnificent. Olympic Peninsula rainforest is within 45 minutes. Mt. Rainier is visible on clear days. The Sound is everywhere — ferries, kayaks, fishing, and seafood that arrives fresh from local waters. The rain is real and it's 9 months long. That's the honest trade.
Must Eat
The spots worth eating at before you PCS out.
Westside Pizza (Poulsbo)
"Legitimately good NY-style pizza in the middle of the Sound."
Thin crust, generous toppings, multiple locations in Kitsap. The Poulsbo location is closest to Bangor. Reliable for pizza nights on the peninsula.
Order ahead — they get busy on weeknights. Large is actually large.
Anthony's Homeport (Bremerton)
"Waterfront seafood with views of the Sound and shipyard cranes."
The Pacific Northwest seafood chain done right — Dungeness crab, salmon, clam chowder. The Bremerton waterfront location has good views of the naval shipyard across the way.
Happy hour 3-6pm has the best pricing. The clam chowder is the standard by which all others are judged.
Mora Iced Creamery (Poulsbo)
"Artisan ice cream that people drive from Seattle to get."
Small-batch, rotating flavors with Pacific Northwest ingredients. Lavender honey, Dungeness crab (yes, it works), marionberry. The Poulsbo location is the original.
Check the weekly flavor list online. They sell out of popular flavors by mid-afternoon on weekends.
The Ramblin' Jack's Rib Eye
"Silverdale sports bar with a surprisingly good kitchen."
The go-to for Silverdale on-call nights and after-shift dinners. Big portions, good beer selection, and a crowd that skews heavily toward the base.
The ribeye special on weekends is the reason people drive from Bremerton.
Harbor Public House (Eagle Harbor, Bainbridge)
"Bainbridge Island waterfront pub with 40 taps and good food."
Worth the ferry ride to Bainbridge Island. Eagle Harbor waterfront, solid Pacific Northwest craft beer selection, and a menu that goes beyond bar food.
Bainbridge ferry from Seattle or Bremerton. The walk from the Bainbridge terminal to the pub is 5 minutes.
Outdoor
Get outside. The land around military installations is usually the best reason to be there.
Olympic National Park
"Rainforest, glacier, and Pacific coast in one park. 45 minutes away."
The Hoh Rain Forest, Hurricane Ridge, Rialto Beach — one of the most biodiverse NPS units in the country. You can walk through old-growth temperate rainforest and reach the coast in the same day.
Hurricane Ridge road closes without notice in winter. Check conditions before driving up. The Hoh is worth visiting in the rain — it's designed for it.
Hood Canal Scuba and Diving
"Some of the best cold-water diving in the country."
Hood Canal has wolf eels, giant Pacific octopus, lingcod, and remarkable cold-water visibility. Sund Rock is the premier site. Rentals and air fills available in Belfair.
Water temps run 48-52°F year-round. Dry suit recommended — wetsuit divers are cold before they hit depth.
Green Mountain State Forest
"Ridge hiking with Sound views, 20 minutes from Bremerton."
Popular trail network with summit views of Puget Sound and the Olympics on clear days. Good mountain biking. Relatively uncrowded compared to trails near Seattle.
The summit trail is best April-October. Winter mudslides can close trails without notice.
Culture & History
Places with stories. Most military towns sit on deep history — dig in.
Bainbridge Island Museum of Art
"Free. Genuinely excellent regional art. One ferry away."
Pacific Northwest art museum that punches well above its size. Rotating exhibitions with strong representation of local artists. Free admission. Connected to the Bainbridge ferry terminal.
Walk off the ferry and the museum is 5 minutes away. Combine with Harbour Public House for a full island day.
Naval Undersea Museum (Keyport)
"Free naval museum dedicated to undersea warfare. Right on base."
Operated by the Navy near Keyport — covers submarine history, torpedo development, and deep-sea exploration. Includes a bathyscaph and a DSRV. Free admission.
Keyport is 10 minutes from Bangor. The museum is free and often empty on weekdays — an underrated stop.
Family
Stuff to do with the kids. Rated by people who have brought actual children.
Kitsap Forest Theater
"Amphitheater in the rainforest. Seattle's best-kept secret."
Camp Brotherhood outdoor theater performs shows in a literal forest clearing. Family shows and Shakespeare under the trees. Bring blankets and food.
Bring layers and rain ponchos — it rains even in summer. Shows go on regardless of weather.
SEA Discovery Center (Poulsbo)
"Touch tanks and live Puget Sound marine life."
Small but excellent marine science center on Poulsbo's waterfront. Touch tanks with sea stars, anemones, and crabs. Run by the marine science center, very family-oriented.
Check for low tide walks on the beach — the program runs seasonally and kids love it.
Day Trips
When you need to remember there's a world outside the gate.
"Ferry across the Sound. Pike Place, Capitol Hill, and the Olympic Mountains on the return."
The Bremerton-Seattle ferry (1 hr) or Kingston-Edmonds ferry (30 min) puts you in the city without driving. Pike Place Market, the Space Needle, MoPOP — Seattle is a real city with real things to do.
"The volcano that defines the Pacific Northwest skyline."
Paradise Visitor Center at 5,400 feet. Glacier walks, wildflower meadows in August, snowfields year-round. Clear days from Kitsap offer views — visiting delivers the full experience.
"Victorian seaport turned artists' colony. Wooden boats and good coffee."
Ferry from Keystone or drive around the peninsula. Victorian commercial district, excellent restaurants, Fort Worden State Park (the filming location for An Officer and a Gentleman).
Ferry schedules run everything on the peninsula. Download the Washington State Ferries app and check real-time loading before you drive to the dock.
No state income tax in Washington. If you're moving from California, Texas, or another income-tax state, this is a real net pay increase. Account for it in your budget.
The grey season (October–May) is real. Vitamin D supplements are not a joke here. Invest in good rain gear and outdoor lighting. SAD lamps are common for a reason.
Silverdale Costco is heavily used by military families and gets very crowded on commissary pay days. Go early morning on weekdays.
Cell signal on parts of the Kitsap Peninsula is spotty — especially near the canal and in forested areas. Don't rely on Google Maps in Olympic National Park without a downloaded offline map.
The submarine community tempo here can be brutal for families. SSBN deployment schedules and refit periods affect shore life significantly. The peninsula is isolated by water in ways that matter — if you or your family struggle with the rain and the ferry dependency, Kitsap gets hard. But if you lean into the outdoor culture, there is nowhere in DoD with better natural access.
This guide is built by people who've been stationed here. If there's a spot we got wrong or a gem we missed, tell us.