Ronnie
Jetboaters Fleet Admiral
- Messages
- 8,520
- Reaction score
- 11,342
- Points
- 647
- Location
- SF Bay Area
- Boat Make
- Yamaha
- Year
- 2010
- Boat Model
- Limited S
- Boat Length
- 24
To make a short story long, I took yesterday off with the intent of boating to lunch, since I have taken my boat out in a few weeks but I ended up checking out the boat ramps in Alameda and Oakland instead. The sf bay ramp I usually use is in San Leandro and while access is good and the facilities nice its at 5 to 8 miles further on the water from SF than the alameda and Oakland ramps which equates to an extra hour or so of boating sometimes in rough conditions. Hoping to find something closer here is what I've discovered.
By the way, all of these ramps are free to use.
Alameda has two public ramps, encinal Beach and the grand street ramp.
The grand Street ramp is the furthest south of the sf bay bridge, is deep, in the middle of the alameda marina and has 13 parking spots for trucks with trailers. Street parking is also available but tough to find. Access from the High street freeway exit may be non existent as the signs indicate no trucks over 3 tons are allowed on the high street bridge and my friend who lives there told me that he has never seen boats or big trucks come down that road so another route from the freeway to the ramp should be considered.
The encinal Beach ramp is more secluded between a marina and the naval shipyard (the uss hornet/ floating museum (aircraft carrier) is literally a stones throw away (even for a person with a weenie arm). There I'd plenty of parking in the adjacent unpacked lot but security seemed to be non existent. Moreover, it's very shallow there during low tide. I was there around 2pm and saw several training sail boats 50 yards from the ramp, a few turned over on their sides and the operators were standing in knee deep water to right them.
Finally, there is the Oakland boat ramp located at the jack London aquatic center about a half mile south of jack London square. Plenty of parking but the signs say it is limited to two hours so I need to get clarification on that. Also no security that I'm aware of but very close to the base of the bay bridge so depending on whether the 4 mile trip across the bay to say mccovey cove at giants stadium/AT&T park could be a very short ride. I saw a 20 foot rein ell now rider launch from there so depth should be ok as well and freeway access is excellent.
In conclusion I will use the San Leandro ramp most of the time that I want to boat in sf bay because it is closest to me by car. If I don't want to have as much time on the water because of scheduling conflicts or poor weather conditions I would use the Oakland ramp especially if I'm just going to mccovey cove. I would use the grand street ramp just to try it and especially if my friends from alameda will be onboard. I would not recommend the encinal street ramp ever and wouldn't recommend anyone with a bow rider do so since it is so shallow.
I will add pics of the subject ramps shortly.
By the way, all of these ramps are free to use.
Alameda has two public ramps, encinal Beach and the grand street ramp.
The grand Street ramp is the furthest south of the sf bay bridge, is deep, in the middle of the alameda marina and has 13 parking spots for trucks with trailers. Street parking is also available but tough to find. Access from the High street freeway exit may be non existent as the signs indicate no trucks over 3 tons are allowed on the high street bridge and my friend who lives there told me that he has never seen boats or big trucks come down that road so another route from the freeway to the ramp should be considered.
The encinal Beach ramp is more secluded between a marina and the naval shipyard (the uss hornet/ floating museum (aircraft carrier) is literally a stones throw away (even for a person with a weenie arm). There I'd plenty of parking in the adjacent unpacked lot but security seemed to be non existent. Moreover, it's very shallow there during low tide. I was there around 2pm and saw several training sail boats 50 yards from the ramp, a few turned over on their sides and the operators were standing in knee deep water to right them.
Finally, there is the Oakland boat ramp located at the jack London aquatic center about a half mile south of jack London square. Plenty of parking but the signs say it is limited to two hours so I need to get clarification on that. Also no security that I'm aware of but very close to the base of the bay bridge so depending on whether the 4 mile trip across the bay to say mccovey cove at giants stadium/AT&T park could be a very short ride. I saw a 20 foot rein ell now rider launch from there so depth should be ok as well and freeway access is excellent.
In conclusion I will use the San Leandro ramp most of the time that I want to boat in sf bay because it is closest to me by car. If I don't want to have as much time on the water because of scheduling conflicts or poor weather conditions I would use the Oakland ramp especially if I'm just going to mccovey cove. I would use the grand street ramp just to try it and especially if my friends from alameda will be onboard. I would not recommend the encinal street ramp ever and wouldn't recommend anyone with a bow rider do so since it is so shallow.
I will add pics of the subject ramps shortly.
