crown memorial state beach

I love coming to this beach since it's charming and easy to get to from the Bay Area. I've been coming here for over 20 years.They have nice walking path and bike lanes. Pack and picnic and enjoy the view. Nice place for all ages.

An advantage of living in Alameda, CA is the expanse of beach with clean sand, with a well-populated bird sanctuary at the southwestern end of the beach, and a nature center at the northwestern end of the beach. In between, there are plenty of birds of various shapes and sizes. From the point where Grand Avenue intersects with the beach, if you amble along the beach to the northwest, one encounters a roped-off area with signs reading, "SNOWY PLOVER RESOURCE PROTECTION AREA" (see my photo of sign). I was wondering how the birds knew that the area inside of the roped perimeter was meant for them. It is my guess, that wildlife biologists initially noticed that the birds liked to congregate in this area, and once this area was known as a bird-congregating spot, the biologists decided to construct the roped perimeter. I made a visit with my camera, 300 millimeter lens, and tripod, and took a dozen photos. Some of the birds in the pictures are within the roped perimeter, while other pictures were taken much closer to the water's edge. The bird photos taken closer to the water's edge include bits of seaweed.

This beach is known as the longest beach in the Bay Area and although its not very wide it is long, about 2.5 miles long which gives plenty of room to find the perfect spot.

CROWN MEMORIAL STATE BEACH, more easily referred to as "the goose park," is a charming municipal park located towards the west end of Alameda Island. The goose park is located near the foot of Webster Street. The goose park is actually contiguous with a long sandy beach, a few miles long, that extends eastwards to the the foot of Park Street. The long sandy beach is an under-appreciated gem of the East Bay. Most of the coastline that borders cities in the East Bay is rocky and lined with huge boulders used to prevent erosion.KITES. The most amazing and unique thing about the goose park, is that it is a congregating place for kite surfers. The kites are beautiful objects, and it is fascinating to watch the athletes, controlling their kites, and they slice through the waves of San Francisco Bay, sometimes allowing themselves to be lifted a few feet off of the water. The closet thing to this in the San Francisco Bay area, is the congregating place for hang-gliders. In fact, I consider Fort Funston to be a fine tourist-attraction for out-of-town visitors, because of the opportunity to watch the hang-gliders. The goose park is a tourist attraction for much the same reason, that is, to watch the wind surfers.MUSIC. The goose park is often used as a congregating place for the local community, to see musical events. These are free, and the music is provided by bands such as THE SUN KINGS, which is a Beatles cover band. NATURE CENTER. The goose park has a splendid nature center and gift shop. The employees wear ranger uniforms, and they are polite to the visitors. The gift shop has trinkets and toys relating to wild animals. I bought two small crabs, both plush toys, one green and one red. I keep them as decorations in my automobile. Also, at this gift shop, I bought an excellent nature guide book of tidal pool animals, as a gift for my mother. The nature center also has some fine exhibits. The nature center cannot really be considered to be a "tourist destination," but it does make a good place to visit repeatedly for kids. Tilden Park, in the Berkeley Hills, has a similar nature center and gift shop. The nature center in Tilden Park is a bit more extensive than the one at the goose park, because it has a walk-through cavern, with several elegant dioramas relating to the natural habitat.MARSHLAND. The goose park also has a small marshland, suitable for viewing wading birds. Although not extensive, and not really on anybody's "must-see list," please note that the appearance of a beautiful egret or heron, is going to be the same, where it resides in a humble municipal park such as the goose park, or where it resides in a highly publicized nature sanctuary, such as Bulls Island in South Carolina or Everglades National Park in Florida.RECREATION. The goose park is a well-appreciated park, and is usually filled with people engaged in light sports, picnics, or even private ceremonies. The only drawback, at least in my opinion, are the souvenirs that are left everywhere by the geese. The goose park also has a small dog park, enclosed by a fence, and a separate regular-sized dog park, enclosed by another fence. I have been to the goose park on about 50 occasions, during the past ten years. Sometimes, the goose park is merely used by me as a turnaround point, when I walk from the east end of the island to the goose park, and then make a U-turn. At other times, I buy Chinese or Thai food at nearby Webster Street, and then spend a pleasant hour sitting on a bench at the goose park with my take-out meal. And at other times, I take my family to the nature center, when I am not really in the mood for driving them to far-away weekend spots such as those in Jenner to the north, or Pescadero to the south. The goose park is conveniently near a marina on Ballena Boulevard. I do like the two restaurants located at the marina, and I do enjoy taking my sketch pad and pencil down to the dock, to spend an hour sketching the pleasure boats.

On a hot day, having a beach within Alameda is so nice!On a clear day, you can see across the waters into SF with all it's glory!! But on a cold cloudy day, it looks so old, dirty and gray.

Was really surprised by this wonderful beach, I read reviews in the internet giving it such a bad name and was worried at first that our trip there won't be worth it, boy was I so wrong, the waves are calm, water is not too cold, surfers and kayakers that makes you want to spend the whole day watching them and seaside barbecue, what else can I want. I will definitely come back, a wonderful gem in Alameda, and not too far to go to.

I stopped here for a look-see before a flight from Oakland International Airport. How I wish I would have found this little gem years ago! It was so much fun to spend that extra time watching the kite surfers, wind surfers, and kayakers along the shore instead of waiting inside an airport terminal. Families had set up tents and canopies on the beach for a day in the shade. Picnics were set up all across the grassy parkland. Kids were having a blast building with sand. Many, many folks were swimming in the surf. I'll be back on my next trip to Oakland! ~And I'll plan to spend a day at this lovely beach. It's only a 10+/- minute drive to the airport via Doolittle Drive.

This Beach is perfect for little ones because of its shallow water that goes for a good part and for the nice sandy area that goes for some miles so perfect place for everyone to do: playing volley ball, building sand castles, walking, jogging, or simply taking a sunbath and relaxing!Love the fact the they have some rooms for wash the sand and exchange your clothes! At this our first visit we didn't stop by the Information center, but I like the idea to learn more from this area and their habitat!The parking fee is only $5.00 per day and it is free on Fridays! By the way we have the opportunity to see some Geese at the circle entrance/exit to the parking lot. We love animals and enjoy every chance we get to see them! Of course they are many Seagulls, a couple BlueJays, and Pigeons!Since we were kind of late it was kind of cold for us and our four years old daughter because of the fresh breeze, so we decided that we have to visit again to enjoy more of what this beach has to offer!And went to the shopping center, which is pretty close to have some dinner!

Years ago I lived in Alameda and loved it. We used the beach constantly with our 2 year old. It is a bay beach and with warm water and gentle waves it was ideal for a toddler. We often went to the beach in the evening to watch the lights come on all over San Francisco across the bay. I was very disappointed to return to Alameda and see how the beach is neglected, as is the entire city. Many places are looking neglected by landlords and the city government. I imagine all of this has happened since the closing of the Alameda Naval Air Station. There are still some beautiful spots in Alameda, but the little city used to be so much better.

Water is pretty shallow & calm pretty far out from the shoreline so it warms up nicely. Good access to parking, there are adequate restrooms with changing stations and showers to wash off the sand. Lots of grassy space for picnics, frisbee or other sports. There are picnic tables and benches too that can be reserved ahead of time.This park is adjacent to 'Crab Cove', an East Bay Regional Park with tidepool areas, a nice visitor center, and lots of kid-centered educational or participatory activities.

the best feature of Crown Beach for me is that it is directly across the street from where I live. Very handy. A lovely walk up and down the water, over to Crab Cove, watching the wind surfers. And all within a 5 minute walk. A true Alameda gem.

Great for kids. Water is shallow at that part of the Bay. Ample car parking. Look out for "Ducky" a real live white duck with his "People Family" He goes in the boat with them and goes for walks. Adults and children love him. Pleant of places to sit and picnic

Great beach for the whole family, amazing views on a clear day of the San Francisco skyline , dog park close by but no off leash aloud :-(

Wonderful place for a picnic, to walk your dogs, enjoy spectacular view of S.F. bay. But watch out for the Goose crap on the lawns. Too bad that the 'idiot' City Council wants to build additional housing instead of expanding the park.

Alameda's Crown Beach is an amazing mix of glorious SF views and uncrowded beach. It runs from Crab Cove and goes all the way to a Bird Preserve. The cove portion of the beach is warm water kids wading area, with a Visitors Center with educational information on the beach ecosystem. When the tide is out you can wander out for ages. This is a safe and friendly beach most any time. You can laze on the beach, watch kite surfers, this is a very popular beach for kiters. During the next couple months the Regional Parks system will be renewing the sand by bringing tons of sand. This beach is only going to get better. Come for a sunset walk , come for the ocean air, the water birds the peaceful energy the views and all that one can enjoy on this little gem right here in the Bay Area.