This past Sunday I headed out to Stinson Beach to do a little surfing with my brother Fred and a couple of friends. The weather was perfect, cloudless and warm on a January day. I typically like to drive Highway 1 from Tam Junction, down to Muir Beach and along the coast because it’s so scenic. It would have been an ideal day for the drive, except I didn’t want to get stuck behind slow moving tourist vehicles that didn’t grasp the concept of using turnouts. I figured there would be less traffic going over the mountain so I took the Mill Valley/Tiburon exit and was immediately greeted by a wall of cars before I even exited the offramp. From there on it was pretty much bumper kissing to the Cantina, 10+ minutes of my life wasted in my car, wondering if I should have gone the other way.
I knew I was in trouble when I got to the 2AM Club and got in line behind several cars heading up the mountain. As we wound our way upwards we would come to a crawl behind bicyclists going about it the hard, and dangerous way. Passing bikes on Tam can be pretty sketchy, and it never helps when they are riding side by side or riding towards the middle of the lane.
I was quite shocked as I appproached the Sun Trail and then the Mountain Home Inn. Every turnout was packed with cars! It was like that all the way to the top of the mountain and half way down the other side. A weekday warrior, I’m not used to seeing many people out and about. I think it’s great and important that people are getting out. I’m glad everyone gets an opportunity to enjoy nature. Since I prefer getting out with a couple of friends, and not EVERYONE in Marin, I think I’ll stick to my weekday excursions.
I figured there would be some people at the beach because it was so nice, but it was President's Day weekend, and I think a lot of the Marinites who typically would be skiing were looking for fun alternative outdoor activities at home on such a gorgeous day. Consequently the traffic and crowds felt a lot like an Easter Sunday. I was greeted by a line of cars stretching from the parking entrance to the Highway 1/Tam intersection. When I finally got to the Stinson lots the dirt parking area was almost completely full and vehicles were already stalking rows for spots. I grabbed a remaining spot and found my brother and his friend who took Sir Francis Drake from Fairfax and arrived earlier.
My friend Nick who was there to surf too later sent a group text message with a photo of the masses of humanity on the beach and dubbed it, “Super Spreader Sunday!” While the crowd looked pretty thick most people were wearing masks and maintaining some social distancing. Last year I walked through a thicker crowd on a Sunday at Linda Mar in Pacifica. I’ve seen Fort Cronkite get pretty crowded post pandemic too. That's how it is and how it always will be, because people love the beach.
What I like best about Stinson beach are the shark warning signs with menacing photos of a great white baring its teeth. A lot of surfers go to Bolinas because of the danger, and the lack of terror inducing shark signs. I’ve seen a shark while surfing Ocean Beach and Cronkite but I haven’t seen one yet at Stinson or Bolinas. Sometimes I get the heebee jeebees when I’m out at Stinson though, wondering if one of the predators is checking me out.
On this particular Sunday I felt safe in the water. There were maybe 15-20 other surfers spread out along the beach. The waves weren’t great but the weather was fantastic and just getting wet and paddling around was refreshing. Because there was some size in the water there was a lot of paddling too. Most of the waves closed out, offering little more opportunity than just a quick drop in. When you aren’t getting closed out of a wave at Stinson, you are often bobbing in a ‘hole’, an appropriate description my friend Nick came up with. Most beaches have sandbars and channels under the water which groom the waves going over them, creating great long rides. Stinson has close outs and dead spots where no waves seem to break and you end up just sitting there on your surfboard, stuck in a hole. Suffice it to say Stinson Beach is not a world class surfing break, unlike Ocean Beach in San Francisco.
The year is 2021. Despite the traffic and the people and the even the virus, I know we’ve still got it good. One hundred years from now what’s it going to be like getting to Stinson Beach? I can only imagine. However I’ve been surfing Stinson for the past 40 years, and if there’s one thing I know for certain 100 years from now there’s still going to be holes instead of sandbars at Stinson. And there will be sharks.