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photo credit: mihir1310

San Francisco isn’t the kind of city that you visit specifically to go to the beach. While the views of the water here are absolutely amazing, the weather in San Francisco is typically too cold and windy for most people to consider it a beach destination. Nevertheless, there are great beaches here and those bold people who don’t mind a bit of a chill will don their wetsuits, get out their kitesurfing gear and hit the waves. Perhaps even bolder are those people who strip down to their bare bodies and lounge on the chilly clothing-optional beaches in and around the city. Yes, there are plenty of beaches to enjoy in San Francisco as long as you’re not seeking the kind of warm tropical waters that you would get in the Caribbean.

Here is an overview of the popular beaches that you may be most likely to visit in San Francisco:

Family-Friendly San Francisco Beaches

• Ocean Beach. This is the longest stretch of San Francisco beach on the Pacific Coast and the area where most visitors are going to head if they’re interested in checking out a San Francisco beach. You’ll find that there are a variety of different activities taking place on the water and the sand here. Ocean Beach is where surfers will go and it’s also a highly popular beach for the sport of kitesurfing. People also go here to jog, swim, sunbathe and play volleyball in the sand. There are also several popular tourist attractions here including the Cliff House restaurant, the ruins of the Sutro Baths and Seal Rock. This beach is located just to the west of the western edge of Golden Gate Park so visitors can make a full day out of the beach and park experience.


photo credit: stevendamron

• Fort Funston. If you’re in San Francisco, you have a dog and you like the beach then it’s practically impossible for you to not know about Fort Funston. This is considered the “dog beach” and is a popular place for people of all ages to go spend time on the sand with their four-footed friends. What’s interesting is that there is actually a clothing-optional (primarily topless) part of the Fort Funston beach which seems incongruous with the family-friendly, dog-loving atmosphere here. It’s a minor - and decreasing - aspect of the beach, though. Fort Funston remains primarily the place to go for a good dog beach in San Francisco. It is also a popular launching spot for hang-gliders and is a tourist attraction because of the remains of a two-gun military battery that can be seen here.
• Aquatic Park. This beach is not an ocean-based beach but rather a beach on the bay. It is one of the easiest beaches to reach in San Francisco, located just west of Fisherman’s Wharf and close to Ghirardelli Square. There is a short stretch of sand here and some shallow waves that attract children and families. This is also the place where people come to launch rowboats and kayaks into the bay. Nearby is the Hyde St. Pier where historic boats are docked and can be explored for a small fee.
• China Beach. This San Francisco beach is considered to be one of the most private, secluded and elite local beaches in the area although it is open to the public. There are barbecue pits and other beach activities available here so it’s not secluded for lack of things to do. It’s just one of the lesser-known beaches in San Francisco. People go here for sunbathing and picnicking.


photo credit: mikesalibaphoto

• North Bay Beaches. Those people who have already explored all of the beaches in San Francisco should know that there are a variety of different terrific beaches located just north of San Francisco in Marin Country. Two highly popular spots north of San Francisco are Stinson Beach and Point Reyes National Seashore. However, you don’t have to go this far to see a great beach. You can cross just over the Golden Gate Bridge and take the first exit to the Marin Headlands where there are short hiking trails to the ocean. A three-mile hike in will take you to an amazing secluded black sand beach that has terrific views of San Francisco.

San Francisco Nude Beaches

San Francisco is a city that loves to get naked. Just visit in May when the annual Bay-to-Breakers foot race takes place or drop by the Folsom Street Fair one year and you’ll see more naked bodies out on the streets that you probably ever cared to see. In a city that prefers to be in the nude, it’s no surprise that it’s easy to find a clothing-optional beach. Here are your San Francisco beach choices if you want to strip down:

• North Baker Beach. This is the part of Baker Beach that is clothing-optional. If you hear someone talking about heading to “the nude beach” in San Francisco, this is almost certainly the one that they are talking about. In comparison with other clothing-optional beaches throughout California, this is the one that is most tourist-friendly. It is the kind of beach where all different types of people are going to gather including the young and the old, gay and straight, men and women and everything in between. Although the reason that most people go here is because they want to check out the experience of a nude beach, there is also a big tourist draw here because it is often possible to see dolphins in the Pacific waters from this location.


photo credit: stevendamron

• Golden Gate Bridge Beaches. To the north of the North Baker Beach is another clothing-optional beach. This one tends to be best for exhibitionists since it’s populated by a lot of people that aren’t there to be in the nude. There are three separate beaches here, two of which are fairly private, but they can be difficult to reach due to the need to climb through some rocky trails to get down to them. People who like outdoor adventures and want to be in the nude will venture to these two further-away beaches while those who just want to lounge on the sand should stick with the first of these three beaches.
• Land’s End Beach. This is a San Francisco clothing-optional beach that is more likely to be visited by locals than tourists. It is located at the end of Geary Street in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area on the Pacific Coast at the end of a hiking trail that makes it a little bit more difficult to reach than some of the other beaches. It is primarily populated by gay men although it’s a public beach where anyone is welcome. The main benefit to this beach as compared to other San Francisco beaches is that it’s one of the most private, secluded beaches in San Francisco.

San Francisco may not be a city renowned for its beaches but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t great beaches here. In fact, on that rare sunny day in San Francisco you will find that every single stretch of beach in the area is packed with people who have been longing to take advantage of the beautiful beaches that line the coast and the bay here.

Tags: beaches | California | North America | San Francisco | United States