San Francisco info

Ocean Beach, San Francisco, California

Ocean Beach is a beach that runs along the west coast of San Francisco, California, United States, at the Pacific Ocean. It is adjacent to Golden Gate Park, the Richmond District and the Sunset District. The Great Highway runs alongside of the beach, and the Cliff House and the site of the former Sutro Baths sit at the northern end. The beach is a part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and operated by the National Park Service.

The beach throughout the late spring and summer is almost always enveloped in San Francisco's characteristic foggy weather leaving average temperatures there at 50-55F (9-12C), thus scaring away many tourists and beach goers. Conversely, the beach is popular with surfers, campers and bonfire parties. More beach-friendly weather occurs in late fall and early spring, when the fog dissipates.

The water at Ocean Beach is noteworthy for its strong currents and fierce waves, which makes it popular among many serious surfers. The water is also quite cold, due to a process known as upwelling, in which frigid water from below the ocean surface rises up to replace the surface water that moves away from the beach as a result of the Coriolis effect. The rapid rip currents and cold water make the ocean dangerous for casual swimmers or even for those who simply want to set foot in it, and many swimmers have been swept away and drowned as a result. Nevertheless, this still attracts many surfers, making it one of the bay area's top surfing spots.

Surfers and other swimmers have died at Ocean Beach; as of May 2006, the most recent death is documented here [1] with the next-previous death taking place in January of 2006 [2]. Prior to that, it had been about four years since anyone died at Ocean Beach. In 1998, a record seven people lost their lives here[3].

The Ocean Beach surfing community is equipped with four of their own surf shops, several popular beach-themed cafes, as well as scores of local surfers devoted to its cold water and dangerous break.

Seal Rock is a prominent local feature of the area.

San Francisco Oct. 30 - Nov. 2, 2008

It is 151 miles between San Francisco, CA and Yosemite National Park, CA

It is 58 miles between San Francisco, CA and Santa Cruz, CA

It is 50 miles between San Francisco, CA and Santa Rosa, CA

It is 35 miles between San Francisco, CA and Petaluma, CA

San Francisco October 2007

San Francisco August 2007

Napa Valley Info

California - North of San Francisco

California Beaches

California Parks

San Francisco info

Bill,

Here are a few links to a few of the places we were telling you about. If you get a few days, Fort Bragg is a good place to stay. Most of the motels have 2 nights for the price of 1 specials. These generally run from November to April. (Penny has been having problems with the links that I send, so you may have to just key in the URLs.)

Well, I think that I have given you enough links to wade though for a while. Like we said, Fort Bragg is one of our favorite places to go, especially in the winter.

Dennis

http://love.zinzanni.org/ This is the cabaret style show

http://www.caverntours.com/CalifRt.htm This is the cave crawling (spelunking). The Middle Earth tour is the one that we took. Of course, it was much cheaper when we did it (about 6-7 years ago).

http://www.mendobistro.com The restaurant in Fort Bragg that we always go to.

http://www.thebeachcombermotel.com/ The motel that we stayed at when we first started going to Fort Bragg. You can see by the pictures how close the beach is.

http://www.skunktrain.com/ The train ride though the redwoods

http://www.oceanviewlodging.com/ The motel where we now stay. We like it a better. They completely redid this place.

http://www.fortbragg.com/ A general link to Fort Bragg

http://www.fortbragg.com/fort-bragg-attractions.php

http://www.pacificstarwinery.com/ The winery that I was telling you about that is right on the ocean.

http://www.littleriverinn.com/ The Little River Inn where I play golf.

http://www.sonomacountyairport.com Flights to and from Las Vegas (at least according to the new release which was back in April when the flights started). Fort Bragg is only about 2 hours from Santa Rosa (where the airport is).