Best Place to E-Foil for a beginner in the San Francisco Bay Area?

The question we often get is where is the best place to e-foil in the San Francisco Bay Area? First of all, if you live in the Bay Area, the San Francisco Bay is one of the best places in the world to E-Foil. 

Advantages:

• San Francisco Bay, Richardson Bay, San Pablo Bay, South San Francisco Bay are huge bodies of water with so many access points along the way, it's almost impossible to list them all! Check out the Bay Water Trails website for more information.
• Parking is usually free at public boat ramps, unlike many inland locations with expensive locations managed by the parks or BLM.
• Spring, Summer and Fall mornings are usually very calm like a lake and very little boat traffic.
• Salt Water provides extra flotation on foils so your sessions can last longer than a fresh body of water.

Disadvantages:

• The Bay is so big! So many locations to choose from and a lot of driving to get to other locations with traffice.
• Yes it's Salt Water! So make sure you rinse out your gear thoroughly to prevent corrosion. Use SaltOff to spray off the extra salt crystals if they form around the cracks of your fuselage. 
• Because of the large body of water and relatively small number of boats, safety is a concern. Make sure you know marine rules of the road, have a VHF radio in case of emergencies to contact the coast guards for help.
• During the summer heat months (May to August), some shallower locations tend to have eel grass (invasive species) growing and the propellers and jet drives will get eel grass stuck in them. Use caution when you try to remove them in the water.

TOP 5 best beginner locations around the Bay:

1. Alameda Bay Waterfront: we chose our shop locations for very good reasons. Alameda Bay Waterfront has almost zero boat traffic, a huge body of water, shelter from the wind in the morning and fun waves in the afternoon. The view is incredible, if you have seen any of our videos you'll see what a spetacular view we have of San Francisco, Bay Bridge, Treasure Island, Berkeley and Oakland Hills. And we have 3 mile long beach, so if you have any emergencies, the wind and current will usually bring you back to a safe place. Try putting in at BayFoils, Encinal Boat Ramp, or the 3 miles long Crown Memorial Beach.
2. Oakland Estuary & Jack London Square: the Oakland estuary is an army of engineer made canal between Oakland and Alameda. With dredged deep water and relatively slow traffic, it's a great place to e-foil. The water is almost always flat sheltered between the two cities. The downside is during the winter, there tends to be a lot of trash after big storms, so give it a couple of days to clear out. Try putting in at Jack London Aquatic Center (Oakland) or Grant Street Boat Ramp (Alameda).
3. Berkeley Marina: The area next to Berkeley Marina is called the Olympic Triangle, famous for a lot of beginner to advance sailers learning how to sail in a challenging condition. But in most mornings the water is very calm. The marina has a public boat ramp and you can get going pretty quickly into the Bay. Be aware that the wind does come up earlier than other locations and waves can form quickly there. The other downside of Berkeley is that with the early wind, fog tends to form there early in the day too.
4. Treasure Island: Right in between San Francisco and Oakland, Treasure Island is a gem of a location to efoil. There's a small sheltered bay, called "Shelter Cove"! Great views of the East Bay and you can even go foil underneath the Bay Bridge. Be careful of boat traffic here as there can be tankers that will go under the bay bridge on the Oakland Side. The downside of TI is that there's not a great public boat ramp for easy launching and landing. Make sure you wear very good shoes!
5. Richmond Marina: Further into the East Bay, Richmond Marina is a great location with shelter from Brooks Island and lots of flat water to practice. Theres a lot of birds that roost in the islands too in the winter and summer. Richmond is usually sunny and more sheltered from the fog than Berkeley.

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Check out all of our location guides here on our youtube channel: www.youtube.com/bayfoils