The drive down from the ridge is half the attraction: Panorama Highway earns its name as you drop through eucalyptus and coastal scrub toward a strand that stretches farther than you expect. By noon on summer weekends, the parking lots fill and the volleyball nets go up. Kids dig moats while their parents unfold canvas chairs. The water stays bracing year-round—mid-fifties even in August—but that doesn't stop wetsuited locals from paddling out or determined swimmers from plunging in.
“Few beaches offer this combination: serious surf, family-friendly shore break, and that quintessential Marin blend of bohemian ease within an hour of a major city.”
Credit: FlickrA wonderful drive on Pacific Coast Highway
The town behind the dunes consists of a general store, a few galleries, and the Parkside Cafe, where you'll wait in line for eggs and hash browns after a morning surf session. Most visitors spread blankets near the lifeguard tower, but if you walk south toward the rock outcroppings, the crowds thin considerably. Driftwood logs provide windbreaks; pockets of warm sand trap the sun between fog banks.
By late afternoon, the marine layer pours over Bolinas Ridge like spilled milk, dropping temperatures and sending families back to their cars. The light turns pewter, then amber. Surfers take a final set. This is when Stinson belongs to the stragglers—the ones who packed sweatshirts, who know the fog is the price of admission, who understand that Northern California beaches reward those willing to layer up and linger.
