Santa Cruz

This was the first time I've ever paddleboarded at Santa Cruz. The Santa Cruz Marina is a big inlet that stretches for a mile inland from the ocean with tons of boats moored on both sides. (It looks a lot like a river in Florida.)

We rented SUPs at  Kayak Connection, which was a great shop located right by the bridge that runs over the Marina on Murray Street. There was paid parking between the shop and the docks, as well as free street parking. We found a spot right in front of the shop.

After renting boards, and putting on wetsuits (provided by the shop) we walked down to the shop's dock which is about a quarter mile away. The dock is locked, so you'd need to find another place to launch if you want to use your own board.

Since it was Thursday morning, there wasn't much boat traffic in the marina but there were lots of seals and sea lions. We paddled away from the ocean to the end of the marina, then turned around and paddled back.

The Santa Cruz lighthouse is on your right where the marina joins the open ocean. The waves are breaking so you need to stay left as you paddle out. It can be a little hairy but once you pass the lighthouse the waves calm a little bit, but you will still feel the swell of the open ocean and you can see the whole bay and the Boardwalk. We had to go down on our knees and were thankful for our farmer john wetsuits.

Ann and I were a little intimidated by the open water (sharks!) especially when we saw fins. But they turned out to be a pod of eight dolphins that swam across the bay about 100 feet away.

My takeaway about Santa Cruz - the marina itself is kind of boring. The open ocean is wonderful if the weather is calm and you are not afriad.

Unfortunately I pressed the wrong button on my camera and all of my dolphin photos came out in black and white.

Richardson's Bay

The new SeaTrek location is at the Bay Model. There's plenty of parking and easy bathrooms. The only downside is that it's a Sea Trek dock, so if you want to launch your own board, you should probably go back to the beach where they used to be located.

If you make a left out of Sea Trek, it's not quite a mile to get to the houseboats, where you can paddle and explore, out of the wind and currents. There are some really beautiful boats along the way. It's also easy at this point to cross over to the other side of the bay, or you can paddle up to the bridge.

You shouldn't head across the bay to Belvedere right out of  Sea Trek without first checking the wind and currents. It's farther than it looks to get across (a mile) and can be hard to get back in certain conditions.

The best part about today's paddle was the baby seals. Especially the one who popped up out of the water next to his mother - about five feet from my board - and watched me together. Then he got on his mom's back to ride away.

San Rafael

Today I paddled out of 101 Boardsports in San Rafael. I was surprised that you could paddle from practically the center of San Rafael. You get off of 101 at 4th Street and then head east. Within a half a mile you'll pass Whole Foods and then 101 Boardsports will be on the right.
It's a great shop, with a wide variety of boards, located right on San Rafael Creek. The creek looks like a canal in Florida, with houses and apartments all along, and boats parked out back. It's a mile down the creek to get to the Bay. When I went the tide was out and the water was extremely shallow. Unless I was right in the middle of the boat channel, my fin was just a few inches from hitting the ground. I saw a couple of motorboats that were

You hit the bay north of the Richmond San Rafael Bridge and can see San Quentin as well as the Carquinos Bridge in the distance. There are a couple of islands near the boat channel — it's a six mile paddle to go from the shop, around them and back.

It's not as pretty as Richardson's Bay, but makes an interesting and fun alternative for Bay Area paddling. It's also a great place to demo new boards.

Tallac Beach

Beautiful fall day at Tallac beach.

Glenbrook to Secret Harbor

This was the last paddle to complete the lake, one of the longest, and one of the most beautiful!  Unfortunately there's no easy way to get into the lake between Sand Harbor and Cave Rock, but it's too far for me to paddle on my own. So I called Gail and Ed Condren, who used to live in our neighborhood and they graciously agreed to let us in. I picked up Jenn at 6:40 in Alpine and we were on the water by 8. It was cold and breezy when we started, but happily the wind died and didn't pick up until later.


Ed and Gail's house is the one in the middle. They are standing on the balcony waving to us as we paddle out of Glenbrook.

 

Headed north. Beautiful coastline, no roads, no houses, nothing!  Not even any boats. Only a couple of kayaks pulled up in a cove, a couple of stray tents and a couple of fisherman (who pulled an 18 inch fish out of the lake - the first fish I've ever seen in Tahoe).

 

After you round Deadman Point past Glenbrook, there's a long flat point with beautiful rocks and an osprey nest. After a mile or so, you reach Skunk Harbor - and a few boats camped out. 

 

Finally, we reached Secret Harbor and saw the houses at Whale Beach! This is me as I complete the lake. Now time to paddle back.

 

We had a few waterskiers on the way back. The wind started to pick up as we hit mile 8. Here's the view looking south as we're almost done. Glenbrook is just around the corner to the left.

 

Glenbrook Beach.Very tired!!

 

The details....

Cave Rock to Glenbrook

Cave Rock first place after Sand Harbor on the east shore to put in a paddleboard - about 13 miles away. It's really a boat ramp with a small little beach on the south end where you can launch a paddleboard or kayak. There's a parking lot and a bathroom, and not much else.

It opens at 6am and I got there very early to do my paddle. I was alone for this leg but I had to paddle south for about half a mile to link up with where Jenn and I turned around going north from Zephyr Cove. There were a couple kayaks out, but otherwise it was deserted. The water is so shallow that I was worried about hitting rocks on the way south.

I turned back up north and paddled back by the rock - which was a little creepy, very shadowy - and then headed north. It was a gorgeous turquoise paddle with shallow water and a few houses and lots of empty land. The only downside is that there you can hear the road for most of the paddle.

I passed Logan Shoals with a lot of beautiful rocks and turned into Glenbrook Bay before turning around. Altogether it was 7.9 miles in 2:32.

from southward turnaround point back to Cave Rock

 

Logan Shoals area

 Looking back south from Glenbrook, Cave Rock in the distance

 

The details:

Nevada Beach to Connolly Beach

Who knew South Shore was so gorgeous? Nevada Beach is really beautiful. It's a big, deserty beach with lots of trees. We would never drive past Sand Harbor - or Bliss or Baldwin - to go there, but still I was pretty blown away by how pretty it is. I went mid-week and it was fairly deserted (expect, apparently, for the person that stole my flip flops while I was out) but I hear that it is crazy busy on the weekend.

The paddle was gorgeous. South Lake is so shallow this year that everything is turquoise. I went south from Nevada Beach to link up at Connelly with what I'd paddled from the Keys. I expected it to be like Atlantic City but there is the huge Nevada Beach, then a lovely golf course, then some low key private homes (not over the top at all). There are a few places - like where the Tahoe Queen goes out - that are a bit touristy, but otherwise very few boats and actually a very nice paddle. Nevada Beach is very easy to go out of, with a shortish walk from the car, bathrooms, wood platform for drying board, etc.

Looking north toward the point at Round Hill Pines

 

Looking south at Heavenly

Beach area

 

The details

Tahoe Keys to Connolly Beach

Paddled out of Tahoe Keys with Killian (it seems to be open to the public although we didn't have any kind of parking pass). A little bit of a walk to the beach but not bad. Lots of grass for drying and packing the board, but I couldn't figure out where the public restroom is.

We to took a right toward the casinos. It's very lovely down here, with a lot of marshy land, but this year the water is crazy shallow. We passed the marsh and then some condos and public beaches. Definitely not the Atlantic City kind of place that I'd expected. We rarely paddled in anything that was over knee level. You could probably walk out half a mile from the shore and not be in deeper that your waist.

It was very breezy when we started, so we didn't go too far but the wind never really kicked up. Conclusion - south lake is kinda pretty.

 

Turnaround point near the bottom of heavenly.

 

Killian paddling back toward Tahoe keys.

And, the details.....

Baldwin Beach to DL Bliss

This was my first time back to Baldwin Beach since paddling from Baldwin to Tahoe Keys in September 2012.  What a beautiful spot, golden marshy, not at all like the west shore. The water is turquoise and you can see that the beaches toward South Lake are beautiful too. But not recommended for a weekend.

When we drove past Emerald Bay at 8:00 am there was one car in the parking lot. Baldwin was fairly empty, so we put our boards in and paddled back toward Emerald Bay. A few houses on the left, then wild land. There was not a lot of boat traffic so we crossed the opening to Emerald Bay easily. Everything is a lot more shallow this year!  We paddled up DL Bliss for a couple of miles. There were a few water skiers, but all in all not bad. Saw a couple of paddlers, a couple of kayakers, and a couple of osprey. There was very little wind and waves. I don't really like to paddle here, though. The water is so very deep and dark and CREEPY.

The way back was a little scary. The channel to Emerald Bay is narrow and of course four different boats were going through as we were trying to cross, including one asshole who darted quickly in front of us and gave us huge waves.

When we drove back toward Emerald Bay there were thousands of cars and an officer was ticketing everyone parked on the street. Avoid this on the weekends!

Julia paddling back to Baldwin after the opening to Emerald Bay.

Baldwin looking toward South Lake.

Sand Harbor to Secret Harbor

This was one of the most beautiful paddles ever. Mike and I started from the south end of Sand Harbor (the farthest from the boat beach). Not too bad of a walk from the car to the water, easy bathroom access, but no grass for drying my board.

We headed out and paddled south. After a mile or so you pass the Thunderbird Lodge, and then paddle along a rocky point that felt very exposed and lots of waves, until you hit Chimney Beach. The water was really calm and turquoise within the bay from Chimney Beach to Secret Beach, Secret Harbor, and Whale Beach. The water is really shallow this year, though, and we saw several rocks with fresh propeller marks on them - really far out.

It is four miles down to the point beyond Whale Beach. Some really interesting homes along there, I'd love to own one! Or figure out how to rent one at least. It looks like they might be accessible only by boat.

 

Secret Beach from the land.

 

Secret Harbor from the land, looking south toward whale beach. Skunk Harbor is around the point.

 

Mike had to take a call at Chimney Beach.

Zephyr Cove to Round Hill Pines

Today I returned to Zephyr Cove by myself, but this time I went toward South Lake. The next bay down in Round Hill Pines, which has another lovely public beach. You can see Heavenly the whole time. I rounded the point right below Round Hill, just enough to see the casinos, and turned around just before Nevada Beach. Once again it was pretty windy.

 

Those teensy black spots to the left of the ski run are the casinos. Not so impressive from the water....

Zephyr Cove, Cave Rock

Jenn and I took an early morning drive down to Zephyr Cove. When I looked on the map it didn't matter which way we drove around the lake - it was the same difference either way from Tahoe City (about an hour).

Zephyr Cove is a privately run beach resort - like Meeks Bay - with a beach, cabins. etc. At 8am it was very easy to park and only a short walk to the beach with the paddleboards. Bathrooms easily accessible. It was cold and a little breezy, but definitely warmer than our paddle last Memorial Day!

It was a lovely paddle north, pretty homes, some neat rocks, but probably not pretty enough to warrant the long drive from Alpine.

We made it almost all the way to Cave Rock but the wind was picking up and we decided to turn around.

 

Looking south - still snow!

 

Rocks along the way.

 

Cave Rock - we turned around at that pavilion.