Best anchorages and harbours in California

Safe Harbor South Bay

Large marina on the eastern shore of San Diego Bay at Chula Vista, California, formerly California Yacht Marina, now part of the Safe Harbor network.

Sail Channel Islands

ASA-affiliated sailing school and charter base inside Channel Islands Harbor, Oxnard.

San Francisco Marina Yacht Harbour

Public marina on the north shore of San Francisco, in the Marina District, between Laguna Street and Baker Street in California.

San Joaquin Yacht Club

Private members' yacht club on Dutch Slough, south side of Bethel Island in the California Delta.

San Leandro Marina

Former public marina south of Oakland airport, permanently closed to boating in January 2023 and being decommissioned.

San Leandro Yacht Club

Private members club in a corner of San Leandro Marina basin, on the east shore of San Francisco Bay south of Oakland airport.

Pillar Point Harbour

Public harbour run by the San Mateo County Harbor District at Princeton-by-the-Sea, 25 miles south of San Francisco, with 369 berths behind a double breakwater.

Point San Pablo Harbor

Public harbour on the western tip of Point San Pablo, Richmond, at the entrance to San Pablo Bay.

San Rafael Yacht Harbor

Marina at 557 Francisco Boulevard East in San Rafael, on the south bank of the San Rafael Canal, north San Francisco Bay.

Santa Barbara

Open roadstead off the Santa Barbara waterfront in California, anchoring on a sand bottom east of the harbour.

• Sheltered NW, N, NE

Santa Barbara Yacht Club

Private members club on the east side of Santa Barbara Harbor breakwater, founded 1872, with one 76 ft reciprocal end tie.

Santa Cruz Harbor

Same facility as the Santa Cruz Small Craft Harbor, the Port District site at 135 Fifth Avenue accommodating over 800 boats from small craft to commercial fishing vessels.

Santa Cruz Small Craft Marina

Municipal harbour at the north end of Monterey Bay, built 1962 on the former Woods Lagoon site, with around 1,200 wet berths and 275 dry berths.

Santa Cruz Yacht Club

Private yacht club on the south basin of Santa Cruz Harbour, on the north shore of Monterey Bay. The only yacht club in Santa Cruz.

Santa Monica Windjammers Yacht Club

Private members yacht club founded in 1941, on Mindanao Way in Marina del Rey, Los Angeles.

Sausalito Yacht Harbor

Downtown Sausalito marina on Richardson Bay, at 501 Humboldt Avenue along Bridgeway, with views across to the San Francisco skyline and the Golden Gate Bridge.

Schoonmaker Point Marina

Marina of 161 berths on Richardson Bay in the Marinship district, with a 2.3 acre sandy beach and swim area, walking distance from downtown Sausalito.

Seabridge Marina

Marina of 241 berths on the east side of Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard, California, at 1601 South Victoria Avenue. Takes vessels up to 60 ft.

Seaforth Marina

Marina on the north-east side of Quivira Basin, in Mission Bay, San Diego, about 10 minutes from the Pacific via the Mission Bay channel.

SeaGate Yacht Club

Small members club serving the SeaGate community on the inner channels of Huntington Harbour, California.

SeaWorld Marina

Marina of 208 berths at 1660 South Shores Road, on the south-east side of Mission Bay, next to SeaWorld San Diego.

Sequoia Yacht Club

Member yacht club on Redwood Creek at the Port of Redwood City, founded in 1939.

SF Boatworks

Working boatyard and chandlery on the western shore of Mission Bay, at 835 Terry A. Francois Boulevard in San Francisco, next to Oracle Park.

Shaws Cove

Small rocky cove on the Laguna Beach shore in California, within the Laguna Beach State Marine Reserve.

• Sheltered N, NE, NW

Shelter Cove Marina

Marina with 178 berths in America's Cup Harbour, on the north-west end of Shelter Island in San Diego.

Shelter Island Marina

Marina at the Island Palms Hotel on Shelter Island, San Diego Bay, geared towards larger yachts up to 58 metres.

Sherman Lake Marina

Small marina on the south shore of Sherman Lake, a flooded former farm island at the confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers.

Shoreline Yacht Club

Private yacht club on Shoreline Drive in Long Beach, California, on the east side of Shoreline Marina basin.

Solano Yacht Club

Member yacht club on the east side of Suisun City Marina, on Suisun Slough in the upper San Francisco Bay delta, California.

Spinnaker Yacht Club

Private club founded in 1967, sharing the San Leandro Marina basin with the public marina and the San Leandro Yacht Club.