In relax mode at Tomales Bay

Nick’s Cove was the name of the fishing camp that Bay Area restaurateur Pat Kuleto bought to build the property, a string of cabins, cottages and other structures that are at once eccentric and lavishly comfy. Resort guests can walk along and fish on the secluded pier.  (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Ty Tolson flings a crab net into Tomales Bay near the town of Marshall. The area is one of the top oyster-growing spots on the West Coast.  (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Shucking oysters is just another day’s work at Hog Island Oyster Co., a dining institution that farms for oysters along Tomales Bay.  (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Jennifer Polishook, right, slurps down an oyster as her husband Tim, left, shucks one at the Hog Island Oyster Co.  (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

A Nick’s Cove employee heads into the kitchen area of the restaurant on a rainy morning.  (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Abalone shells give the restaurant an artful touch. Most of the offerings come from Marin and Sonoma counties.  (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

The restaurant serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. Mark Franz, the chef at San Francisco’s Farallon, is a part-owner of Nick’s Cove and helps run the restaurant.  (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Nicolina, a cabin at Nick’s Cove that juts out over the water on pilings, is flanked by portholes and features a captain’s bed and highly varnished dark wood ribs that contrast against bright white wainscoting.  (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Suzanne Taylor makes sure her granddaughter Tessa Tarbet, 20 months, is bundled up outside Toby’s Feed Barn in Point Reyes Station, a charming town with plenty to see and do just a few miles south of Nick’s Cove.  (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)