Words by Johanna Harlow
Nearly everywhere you go in Sausalito, the view steals the show. Whether navigating the Bay via paddleboard, visiting the wooden houseboats or dining on Dungeness crab at a seafood spot, your activity will likely come with a magnificent vista. With views of Angel Island and Belvedere to the east, San Francisco to the south and the shining blue expanse of Richardson Bay dead ahead, there’s really no bad vantage. As you pass homes nestled in the verdant hillsides, you’ll daydream yourself onto every balcony, imagine yourself enjoying chardonnay on a chaise lounge as the sun sets. Here’s how to make the most of your next trip to this Marin County masterpiece.
Photo Courtesy of: Suzette / Cover Photo Courtesy of: Cavan Clark -Inn Above Tide
Launch Your Voyage
For a scenic start to your day, head straight to Suzette. With European-style tables lining the sidewalk, this French café offers a front-row seat to the waterfront as well as a slew of cyclists and passersby. The menu ranges from eggs Benedict with smoked salmon to quiche Lorraine, but for a little decadence, opt for the melt-in-your-mouth creamy pain perdu. It’s served with berry compote and crème fraiche atop fluffy brioche French toast.
For a casual eatery dishing out gourmet burgers and garlic fries, try Joinery. This contemporary pub has a trendy interior, its walls awash in abstract ocean murals, its wooden posts reminiscent of pier pilings. But if the day is nice, make your way outside to the picnic benches overlooking the Pelican Harbor docks. Here, you can watch seagulls navigating an obstacle course of yacht masts and kayakers deftly dipping their oars into the Bay.
Photo Courtesy of: Felipe-Passalacqua - Inn Above Tides
Eager to join them out there on the water? Set forth with Sea Trek, which offers kayak and paddleboard rentals as well as guided tours and classes for all skill levels. If you like a challenge, join one of Onboard SUP’s yoga or fitness core classes where the mat is your paddleboard and the ocean is your studio. If you’d rather be aboard than on a board, Modern Sailing School and Club offers lessons—or skippered sails, for those who prefer someone else takes the helm.
Get in Those Steps
After picking up a cardamom rose latte or white chocolate cappuccino at Firehouse Coffee & Tea, it’s time for a stroll. Walk the Bridgeway Promenade and visit the elephant statues at nearby Viña del Mar Park—or cut across Bridgeway Street and climb one of the terraced stairways for stunning neighborhoods and a bird’s eye view.
You might also choose to stop by Sausalito’s famous floating homes at Waldo Point Harbor. The place drew beatniks, artists and hippies back in the 1940s and ‘50s, some of whom made homes out of converted ferries—or in one case, nailed horse-drawn streetcars to a raft. Today, you’ll find 400 or so dwellings along plank-lined paths crowded with potted plants. To hear more about the area’s historic vessels as well as listen to some “salty waterfront tales,” join the Sausalito Wooden Boat Tour for an excursion that concludes with tea and cookies.
If you feel up to a brisk hike, stop by the 170-year-old Point Bonita Lighthouse. You’ll need to follow a steep half-mile trail and traverse a tunnel to reach her—but she’s well worth a visit. The tunnel only opens on select days and closes at 3:20PM sharp, so check first and plan accordingly.
Prefer to pick up the pace? Score a set of wheels at Unlimited Biking or Blazing Saddles and cruise down the coastline with the ocean breeze at your back.
Eclectic Adventures
Sausalito also presents some one-of-a-kind excursions. Bay Model Visitor Center introduces visitors to a colossal (and operational) 1.5-acre model of the San Francisco Bay Estuary watershed. Meticulously replicating the region’s intricate network of ship channels, canals, rivers and sloughs, this hydraulic model can simulate tides and currents. Peruse at your own pace or join a docent-led tour on Saturdays at 11AM.
At the Marine Mammal Center, do not be alarmed by any alien screams you hear. Though it might sound like the clinic is studying extraterrestrials, it’s just the seals speaking up. Years ago, the sound designer for the Lord of the Rings films came to the center to record its patients. The howl of the film’s malevolent orcs are voiced by elephant seal pups, while the bark of the uruks are acutally sea lions. / Photo courtsey of: Conor Jay - The Marine Mammal Center
Another educational adventure awaits at the Marine Mammal Center, which cares for sick and injured pinnipeds. What began as a modest operation of only a few bathtubs and a fence back in 1975 has morphed into a state-of-the-art research hospital and educational center with an army of 1,400 volunteers. Take the docent-led tour to see everything from the laboratory to the kitchen where they blend the fish smoothies. Then drop in on the flippered patients at the observation deck. If you’re lucky, you’ll get to watch a hunting lesson for pups separated too early from their mothers. (They call it “fish school.”)
Enchanting Evening
You’ll have worked up an appetite by now, so set your sights on Sausalito’s dining scene. Barrel House Tavern, located in the old ferry building, features a patio that will place you right at the water’s edge. Taking its location into account, seafood is the way to go. Feast on supple ahi tuna tacos in crispy wonton shells, New Orleans-style shrimp seasoned with Creole chili and lemon, and wood oven-roasted dorade in a bright gremolata sauce. The low-key music won’t upstage the ambient sounds of gull cries and lapping waves. You’ll also get to watch swooping sea birds dive for their supper.
Point Bonita Lighthouse
For more waterside views, check out seafood spots like Scoma’s, Fish. and The Spinnaker or Bar Bocce, a pizzeria with plenty of topping options layered on sourdough crust.
It’s time to call it a night. You’ll be well served at The Inn Above Tide, where every room is a good one. All 33 accommodations boast bay-view windows and luxuriously large tubs, and many offer fireplaces. Thoughtful amenities include binoculars and a Sausalito-themed coloring book. Choose a room with a private deck and settle down on the teak furniture to catch a glimpse of San Francisco’s night life across the Bay, its gold and silver lights winking like stars.
After a good night’s rest, have continental breakfast sent to your room and return to your patio to see another side of Sausalito. As you sip your coffee, note Camp Reynolds on Angel Island, a historic garrison that served as a military camp during the Civil War, then turn to the City to find the Palace of Fine Arts, the Transamerica Pyramid, Alcatraz and the Bay Bridge. A convenient map of the SF skyline will help you identify each one.
Before you head for home, savor this moment, and wave at the ferry and its passengers as they depart from the dock next door. So long, Sausalito!