Bolinas

I’d like to cruise Bolinas Lagoon on a high tide, maybe fish for Leopard Sharks and bring my wife on her yak to do some bird watching.  Can anyone help me on where to launch a couple of kayaks? 


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While your proposed trip sounds easy and simple, it’s not.  In order to make it look easy you will need to be paying close attention to the tide.  Most of the lagoon is a miserable mud flat at anytime but high water.  It goes from navigable to not rather quickly.  My suggestion is to launch at the mouth off Wharf Road, on the incoming current and follow the channels as the water comes up.  Then plan to exit before the ebb starts.  That way you’ll have a way out of there.  Most days parking at the mouth is really packed, unless you arrive in the dark.  I have been paddling and fishing off Bolinas for a lot of years, and can’t remember seeing paddlers in the lagoon on many occasions.  Hope this is helpful.

There multiple pullouts all along the lagoon with east access to launch a kayak.  However, plan accordingly to tides because when the lagoon flushed out, it can be a real hard mud walk back to your launch.  Just plan accordingly.

There are some big sharks and rays in there. 

Check out Google Earth. From that imagery, you can make out the channels as well as the mudflats that you should avoid. There are lots of pullouts along highway 1 that offer an easy launch right into the main channel. As others have said, while its doable, it will take a little planning to help you avoid a mud walk or not being able to make it back to your launch site. You'll see kayakers and SUP crabbers out there in the south end of the lagoon early in the crabbing season every year.