Berkeley Marina

The Berkeley Marina is not really a residential neighborhood. Not unless you include those few free spirits who are living on their boats or who perhaps stay permanently at the hotel there.

In the day, this is a favorite spot for people to go with their families to throw the Frisbee around or fly a kite. On weekends, it packs with picnicking families or occasional groups of visitors. During the week, you get an occasional school or college outing. They come for the breezy bay weather and view of the SF skyline and Golden Gate. They come to relax at the end of long workdays, or to get ideas for their more creative pursuits. Or they come to boat, of course.

People also come here for the great, though pricy, shoreline restaurants—especially Skates on the Bay, one the most famous seafood places in the Alameda County. It has both an excellent view, classy atmosphere, and great food to boot. Other restaurants include the Berkeley Marina mainstay, H S Lordships—a bit outdated and corny but with a loyal long time clientele; and the Berkeley Yacht Club for the well-heeled.

The parks along the Marina are destinations for locals. Kids love Shorebird Park with its junkyard play area where kids can have fun hammering and building things. For more cautious parents who fear having their little tykes get nails in their feet, there is a “clean” playground more typical of those you can find around the bay, except for the cool shoreline weather. The extensive picnic area is also a draw here.

Cesar Chavez Park, away from the boats, is the home of the quarter century long tradition of the Berkeley Kite Festival. The long, relatively flat park hosts the event every Saturday and Sunday afternoon when the weather allows and when it is often packed, and occasionally on Thursdays and Friday nights when you tend to get a bit of an after work crowd.

Late at night, when most all the families have left the area, it becomes a nice secret lover’s lane type of an area. Hippies in VW love buses like to park out there and if you venture there at night, you are likely to catch the whiff of Marijuana (medicinal I am sure). Teenagers also like to find spots from which to watch the submarine races around there. Homeless people will occasional wander out there and safety concerns are an issue at times, which also means the occasional patrol car will come by to break up impromptu parties.

Overall, however, the Berkeley Marina is one of the places that make people fall in love with this area. It is well worth a visit.