Our Favorite 3 Dog-Friendly Beaches
There are many more than 3 dog friendly beaches in the Bay Area and surrounding areas, but here are a few highlights.
Carmel Beach
Carmel Beach is a beautiful white sand, blue water beach that allows dogs off-leash (under voice control). The beach is about a mile long so plenty of space for your pup to roam, run, swim, and play.
Parking-There is a small free parking lot which gets filled up on weekends, but also free street parking within easy walking distance-on Scenic Road or San Antonio Avenue.
Reactive Note-Linus did not come on this trip, however for the most part people were respectful about keeping their off leash dogs nearby, and not allowing their off leash dogs to run up to leashed dogs.
Other Tips-If you and your pup would prefer a little more structured walk, there is a walking path that follows along Scenic Rd. along Carmel Beach to Carmel River State Beach.
Luna at Carmel Beach.
Dillon Beach
Dillon Beach is a mile long privately owned beach (owned by Dillon Beach Resort) which is open to the public in Marin county. Well behaved dogs are allowed off leash.
Parking-There is a day use paid parking lot on Beach Avenue.
Reactive Note-Linus was able to play freely and off leash in the water as the beach was not too crowded. We were there on a Friday. The farther you walk from the parking lot, the fewer people and dogs. People are respectful for the most part about not allowing their off leash dogs to run up to leashed dogs. It was a little challenging for Linus on our way back to the car as just seeing off leash dogs can be a trigger for him.
Other Tips-If you like oysters Hog Island Oyster is about 12 miles south down Highway 1 in Marshall. You can eat outside at the Boat Oyster Bar-leashed dogs are allowed or grab some oysters to shuck at home. It’s a beautiful drive regardless.
Luna & Linus playing fetch at Dillon Beach
Point Isabel Regional Shoreline
Point Isabel is a 23 acre off leash dog park in Richmond, CA. While there isn’t really a beach here, during high tide dogs can swim in the channel between 2 sections of the park. And on a clear day, you can see the Golden Gate Bridge across the bay.
Parking-There are a couple free parking lots-one on Isabel Street and the other on Rydin Road. There is also free street parking along Isabel Street.
Reactive Note-Dogs are supposed to be under voice control, and most dogs we have encountered here have been well mannered. However, it can get a bit crowded with trainers and dog walking groups also using the park.
Linus’ biggest trigger is off leash dogs and so after over a year of building up our relationship and experiences, we took him to Point Isabel on a hot Thursday afternoon.
We wanted to see off leash dogs while still being able to keep a safe distance. Probably due to the heat, there were not too many dogs at the park. If it looked too busy, we would have skipped it. We stayed closer to the water and parking area without going too deep into the park, so we could easily create space if needed.
Linus stayed leashed, and we kept moving. No dogs came up to him, probably the closest we were to other dogs was 50 feet and he did not have any reactions. All the dogs we saw were pretty calm, probably because of the heat. There wasn’t a lot of running around and playing so it was the perfect environment for Linus. We stayed about 40 minutes, walking around and making sure we always had a way to keep our distance. We wouldn’t put him in this situation on a busy weekend but on this hot weekday afternoon, it was a great outing!
Other Tips-About 2 miles south of Point Isabel is Albany Beach, a small off leash dog beach with free parking. This beach is usually less crowded than Point Isabel. You can also hike at Albany Bulb, a little peninsula with urban art, murals, and sculptures made out of the remnants of the former landfill. Additionally, part of the San Francisco Bay Trail connects Point Isabel and Albany Beach so you could walk with your leashed pup on the paved path.
