Kayaking Tomales Bay in search of bioluminescence

blog kayaking trip-report

(See also: my planning notes.)

A year after my first attempt, which yielded a soaking paddle and no bioluminescence, I returned with a friend to try again on October 6–7, 2023. Blue Waters normally rents sit-on-top kayaks, but as a former kayak guide I was able to get a lighter enclosed double. This time we used the Miller Boat Launch. The winds were, by luck, exceptionally calm when we got on the water at 3:30 PM. By 4:39 PM we'd successfully crossed to the opposite shore and were making our way along it and by 5:47 PM we had our tent set up at Tomales Beach (which is closer to Miller than Marshall Beach).

Red kayaks and gear at the launch point

Paddling across the open bay

Paddling past a rocky headland on the west shore

Dinner cooking on camp stove at the beach as the sun sets over the bay

After dark, we got back on the water and kayaked from Tomales Beach up to White Gulch Beach - which is in a deep bay directly west of Hog Island. We found bioluminescence the whole way, and it was incredible. Every paddle stroke lit up the waters and disturbed kelp shot lightning bolts away from us.

Night paddle through bioluminescent water