Part One – Doran Park and Surroundings
Sonoma County isn’t one of the most famous surf spots in the world, but it does have its fair share of quality waves. Most of the beaches are easily accessible from Santa Rosa or Sebastopol, just head west on Highway 12 and turn right onto Highway 1 after passing through the town of Bodega.
The closest beach to Santa Rosa is Doran Beach in Doran Park. This beach has the worst surf of the year except for some days with high tide and waves coming from the right direction. Doran Beach is almost totally protected from the usual northwest swell by Bodega Head and the reef by Seal Rock (also known as Bodega Rock).
Doran generally needs at least a ten foot swell to get chest high waves. The best time to visit Doran is at high tide, after a rain, with a good swell everywhere. Some people prefer Doran at low tide, which almost always has bigger swell barrels, but I’ve only seen one day that actually had quality long barrel wrinkling, when the swell rose up to 17 feet out. Doran will generally hold up better at high tide and offers plenty of fun waves throughout the year once the rains start to fall. I surfed a lot when I was younger and spent a lot of time learning to surf at this beach. I never worry about sharks on this beach because it’s so protected and paddling is never far away.
Sometimes a long, soft wave breaks on the northernmost component of Doran Beach, near the rock jetty. This requires a huge swell and super low tide, but it could be a really fun wave for longboarders when everything else is too big to surf.
The biggest, best and craziest wave I’ve ever seen with my own eyes is about a mile from Doran Park, south of Bodega Head. This wave should be surfed more frequently but it is feared by the inhabitants of the area due to the potential of giant white sharks that cross the perimeter of the island. The island is called Seal Rock and it has thousands of seals that camp every night. There is a beautiful reef that stretches west out to sea from the island and forms a giant slab tube when the big waves hit. The paddle is about a quarter of a mile from Bodega Head, through a deep channel. I’ve seen a few videos of people surfing this wave using a jet ski, and if I could afford one I’d be there all the time. Keep in mind that the bottom of the reef is rocky, so wear a helmet if you’re planning on taking on some giant waves.
If you are planning a vacation in or around Bodega Bay and want to research places to stay, there are many vacation rentals like http://luxurybodega.com that can be found on vacation rental websites, and there are also hotels like the perched on the tides.
