A tourist destination in the summer months, Gairloch has a golf course, a museum, several hotels, a variety of shops, takeaway restaurants, a community centre, a leisure centre with sports facilities, a local radio station (Radio Wester Ross), beaches and nearby mountains.

The parish of Gairloch extends over a much wider area, including the villages of Poolewe, Kinlochewe and Aultbea, and has a population of 950.

The main A832 road leaves Gairloch, heading steeply up Achtercairn Brae leading out of the village to the north and on to Poolewe.

[3] In autumn 2017 it proposed additional filtering and sterilization of the effluent, but only during the peak bathing season in the summer, with basic septic tank treatment for the rest of the year.

Beyond Melvaig the road narrows to a 3-mile (5-kilometre) private stretch (which is open to the public and has right of passage for cars) and ends close to the Rua Reidh Lighthouse.

Christina Byam Shaw states in her memoir Pigeonholes of Memory, that her father was able to grow fruiting peaches outdoors.

There is a tourist information service, a 24-hour filling station (card payment out of hours), and dual electric vehicle charging points are at the Gairloch Community Hall and in the Pier Road car park.

[7] From 2013 to 2017 raised funds for a major project to relocate to a new home in the former Cold War Anti-Aircraft Operations Room building in Achtercairn.

The museum reopened in the new building in July 2019 with expanded exhibits as well as a gallery and shop featuring work by local artists.

[citation needed] The site of a 1945 plane crash at the Fairy Lochs near Gairloch is now a designated war grave.

The hilltop crash site, south of the road to Badachro, has been preserved as a memorial to the USAAF servicemen who lost their lives in the accident.

[citation needed] The area has also been featured in several older educational and promotional films and TV programmes, including the 1955 film Crofter Boy, and the 1990s documentary Last Postbus to Gairloch (Channel 4), featuring the postbus (mini-van carrying passengers & mail) that was an additional link for various parts of the nearby community, before being withdrawn by Royal Mail.