Bodega Bay is a 1.5 hour drive away from the San Francisco Bay Area that is a great day-trip or weekend getaway for families with young children.
This coastal town is full of kid-friendly outdoor activities, like windswept beaches lined with RV’s and sand dunes, miles of coastal hiking trails, hills of lush farmland, and seafood restaurants galore. The movie The Birds was filmed here many years ago, and it felt like every store and restaurant had some reference to the film.
We’ve been back to Bodega Bay a few times and here are our most favorite activities for families with littles:
We respectfully acknowledge that Bodega Bay is located on the stolen and occupied lands of the Coast Miwok tribe.
Before you go
- The drive for a 1.5 hour drive. Stop for lunch at Lagunitas Brewery if you want to stretch your legs.
- The weather can be unpredictable. Sometimes it is foggy and chilly, other times it is warm and sunny. Be prepared for wind, and pack layers.
- Plan for traffic. Bodega Bay is a popular weekend destination for San Francisco Bay Area residents, and for good reason! The weekends can be crowded, causing traffic along the one highway that takes you to the small coastal town and along the beaches around it. Be patient while you drive and pack snacks to keep your kids entertained.
What we packed
- Standard diaper bag essentials
- Sunscreen and hats
- Snacks
- Baby carrier
BASE COST
- Doran Bay Beach Parking – $7/car
- Doran Bay Campground – $37/night
Add-Ons
- Meals from town (if not bringing your own)
Go for a hike
Hike Bodega Bay's trails featuring wind swept cliffs, wildflowers, grassy hills, and vast ocean views.
The Bodega Head Trail is our favorite hiking route in Bodega Bay. It is 1.7 mile heavily trafficked loop that featured beautiful wildflowers, high rocky cliffs, while sightings (January-May), vast ocean views, and lots of wind! It is a free, easy hike for kiddos, but parking can be a challenge on busier days.
We headed north on the trail first, up a hilly and narrow path lined with wildflowers. There were quite a few people on the narrow trail which lead to a few awkward moments with a toddler running up ahead.
Although the views were incredible, the wind was hard for our baby to enjoy even inside a carrier. It was not exactly the best hike to take a baby on during naptime.
Play on the beach
Find yourself soaking up the sun either in a puffy coat or a swimsuit depending on the weather on one of Bodega Bay's beautiful windswept beaches. Our favorites were:
Located on the way to Bodega Head, this sheltered cove is perfect for kids. There is plenty of parking and it is free to access. Just walk downhill from the parking area to find a smooth sandy beach with calm waters, no waves, that is nicely protected from the big ocean winds.
Even though we brought snacks, a beach blanket, and sand toys, my toddler was much more mesmerized by the crabbers, clammers, and fishermen and women on the beach-all of which were mostly BIPOC, really friendly, and let her peer into their buckets filled with all different types of sea creatures. A few fisher-folks let her reach into their buckets to touch the different crabs they had caught or called her over to share in their excitement when something new was pulling on their line. It was really neat!
This long and sandy beach is perfect for flying kites, digging in the sand, and making sandcastles. It is a short walk from the Doran Beach campground with big bathroom facilities and coin-operated showers. There is a $7/car day use fee in a parking lot that fills up fast. I’d recommend you arrive before 10 am or after 3 pm to get a parking spot.
There are picnic tables so you can enjoy lunch without your baby eating a mouthful of sand instead of her bambas.
Watch out – this beach can get windy! Try to find a picnic table with a built-in windbreakers to keep the sand out of your food.
Where to Eat
Bodega Bay has a rich history of fishing and farming. Be sure to check out these local grinds.
Breakfast
The Tides Wharf Restaurant is located off HWY 1 just across the road from the Inn at the Tides.
The food was delicious, and the staff provided us with coloring pages and crayons for our little artist.
Every seat had an epic view of the bay. If you get a window seat, you can spy seals and seabirds with your littles while they learn to drink from a cup.
Wildflour Bread is a highly recommended, local bakery that was so delicious that we went twice! We picked up delicious pastries and coffee on our way in and out of Bodega Bay. There can be a long line, so get there early.
Try their brick oven-baked bread, the huge and messy cinnamon bun, the turmeric latte, and a lemon blueberry scone. If there are a few adults in your group, have one adult take the kids into the garden while the other waits in the long line to order.
Lunch or Dinner
Located on the road to Bodega Head, Spud Point Crab Co. is a great place to grab lunch on your way to the beach.
Beware – this place can get busy. The line stretched through the parking lot when we arrived, so I dropped my partner off to grab food while I took the kiddos to the beach.
We enjoyed the clam chowder, bread, and shrimp cocktail. I would pass on the small crab or shrimp sandos as they were not as flavorful as I would have liked.
Located off HWY 1, locals recommended Fishertarian Fish Market for lunch or dinner. The market had very little indoor seating, and was better suited for take out orders.
We enjoyed the crab corn chowder in a bread bowl, fish and chips, and fish tacos.
Ginochio’s came highly recommend by our friends and I was glad I listened. Signs along the walls of the restaurant boast awards for the house smoked meat and barbeque. We decided to try the pulled pork and ribs, which were melt-in-your-mouth delicious.
Ginochio’s had plenty of outdoor seating, parking, and clean bathrooms.
Looking for something sweet?
My sweet tooth has passed down to my daughters. We can't travel without a stop for a sweet treat.
You can’t miss this pink and white striped store located right on HWY 1. We stopped to grab a few bags of locally made taffy on our way back from the beach for a sweet treat.
The orange cream taffy and the caramels were a family favorite.
Places to Stay
Hotels, camping, or goat farms - the options are endless
Hotels
The Inn at the Tides is a beautiful hotel located right off HWY 1 and full of The Birds film history. We decided to stay here a few cold and rainy nights in December and enjoyed our double queen room. The hotel stay included free breakfast at the Tides Wharf Restaurant across the highway.
We had an amazing view of the bay from our room and had yummy takeout for dinner at the hotel restaurant. There was also a pool with a small covered section that was pleasant to swim even in the rain.
Camping
A Doran Regional Park Campground is located right off of the long Doran Beach in the middle of Bodega Bay and Bodega Harbor. The campground offers four groups of campsites with nice views of either Bodega Bay or Bodega Harbor, with flush toilets and warm showers.
The first three campsite groups (Shell, Cove, and Gull) are RV campsites, the Miwok tent group is for tent campers, and the Jelly group is a mix of RV and tent campers. See the campground map here.
We booked a campsite in the Miwok tent group because we have a roof top tent but didn’t realize that the site we booked within that group was a “walk-up” site, meaning we’d have to park our car in a lot and walk across a field to put up our tent. Since we were sleeping on top of our car, we had to turn around and ask at the check-in kiosk for another site.
Lucky for us, they had one “emergency use” site next to the camp host available. Sadly, that site had the worst views – we were surrounded by RV’s and bathrooms. We were, however, very close to the beach access point and, well, the bathrooms.
The first day was so windy the sand from the ground was constantly thrown in our faces. After a windy evening, we were grateful to wake up to calmer weather the next morning and enjoyed the short walk to the beach from our campsite.
Pro tip – if you plan to take a shower, bring quarters. The showers only take change, and a quarter will give you a few minutes of warm water.
Airbnb
Are you looking for something a little more rustic? We loved staying at Patti’s Farm Stay – an adorable working goat farm.
The Airbnb is a small, one bedroom apartment that feels more like a studio. Our family of four slept cozy and warm to the sound of farm animals and frogs croaking at night.
For an extra fee, the Airbnb host will make you a delicious farm breakfast to eat outside on the picnic table, and give you a tour of the goat farm which includes a goat cheese tasting. Our family loves goat cheese so this part of the tour was an instant hit.
After you put the kids down, make sure to open a bottle of wine to enjoy on the porch under the stars to the sound of frogs.
Bodega Bay was a great place to take our family with two little kids under five to explore. It had so many outdoor activities to keep our little family busy. We could spend our mornings on the beach, and our afternoons on the trails, or find our way through the lush farmland to play with goats. My preschooler would have spent her entire day feeding the sweet and gentle goats at Patti’s Farm Stay if she could have. She handed the goats pieces of grass the goats could have picked on their own, and said “Mama they are calling me! They are still hungry!” when I told her it was time to go.
Although most of the people we met in Bodega Bay were retired white folks from the Bay Area, we did see younger families of color on the beaches. Most of the fishermen/women we met were also BIPOC. While they encouraged our little one to be brave and touch the crab shells, they said “that’s why I always say to give a kid a tackle box, not an XBOX.” I couldn’t agree more.
How do you encourage your kids to be more adventurous? Leave a comment below!
Puerto Rican & Indigenous mama of two. Bay Area native. Salsa dancer. Backpacker. Doula. Angel (she/her/hers) is a co-founding member of the Beautiful Brown Adventures team. She has traveled to over 30 countries and loves to explore the world with her two daughters & partner - one ice cream shop at a time.
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