Oakland's 19 Miles of Waterfront
Want to catch a fish...watch the sun set into Bay waves...scuff your feet on a sandy beach...launch a pleasure boat...gather driftwood...barbecue some ribs in the salt air...stretch out on green grass and listen to jazz - a few hundred feet from the bow of a giant containership...or spot a rare shorebird in its natural habitat?
You can enjoy each of these waterfront pastimes -- and many more -- along the 19-mile shoreline of the Port of Oakland.
You can see the many facets of the Port of Oakland. It's the Bay's largest port -- the fifth busiest in the nation and the colorful hub of a trade and transportation network reaching around the world.
It's a quiet spot to picnic and contemplate the gray-green waves of the San Francisco Bay.
It's the patina of sea-worn wood and the intricate detail of restored turn-of-the century buildings and the clean lines of office towers rising against the horizon. It's a trip back into history, to the days when author Jack London robbed the oysters beds and drank with his buddies at Heinold's First and Last Chance Saloon.
Or you can go aboard the USS Potomac, the "Floating White House" of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, now restored and open to the public.
There's the hustle and bustle of Jack London Square, with its myriad of events, shops and restaurants. There's the windswept beach of the Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Shoreline and the paths behind the Oakland International Airport, where you may catch a rare glimpse of the California least tern, an endangered species. The Port of Oakland also is one of the few ports that gives the public a chance for close-up views of working marine terminals. There's Port View and Middle Harbor Park, as well as an elevated platform near Clay Street and Jack London Square.
The entire Public Access Oakland Waterfront also is available as a single document (PDF) for your convenience in printing.
Contact
For a complimentary brochure on Shoreline Access, please contact:
Port of Oakland
530 Water Street
P. O. Box 2064
Oakland, CA 94604-2064
(510) 272-1100
Available for download & printing: Public Access Oakland Waterfront (PDF)
