Tomales Bay

From Burden's Landing

North of the Bay Area, California.

Oysters

I've been taking day trips to Marshall on the eastern inlet for oysters at Hog Island Oyster Company since it was a tiny, podunk outfit that would sell you a bag of oysters and loan you a tray, a glove, and an oyster knife. Now, it's a hip establishment with a cool bar and grill made from an old boat that requires reservations a month in advance. However, you can still buy a bag of oysters from the counter, take them somewhere, and shuck them yourselves. Millerton Point (part of Tomales Bay State Park about a 10-minute drive south) is a good spot. Bring warm clothing! It often gets foggy, windy, and cold there.

Kayaking

Blue Waters Kayaking is one of the more prominent outfitters in the region. I used them on September 22, 2019 with Sujean and Eun-Joung, and they were great! They have a launch point in Inverness on the western inlet which is easily accessible. From there, it's about an hour to paddle north to Heart's Desire Beach (part of Tomales Bay State Park), a beautiful, mainly locals beach — perfect for swimming and hanging out.

Other launch points:


Bioluminescence Kayaking

Background articles:

There are a bunch of outfits that do bioluminescence kayak tours on Tomales Bay, and they’re all highly rated on Yelp. Blue Waters Kayaking seems to be one of the more prominent outfitters (the other one is Point Reyes Outdoor), and they’re also the only one that offers camping tours. For the camping tour, pick an evening when there’s little or no moon.

Swimming

Good natural swimming spots in the Bay Area are hard to come by, but Heart's Desire Beach is a great one. The water is clean, calm, and warmer than it is on the ocean-side.

Other Things To Do