It’s fairly well known that San Francisco is a great city for running, rock climbing, surfing, etc . It turns out that it’s also a pretty good city for beginner/intermediate kayaking.

South Beach

This is an easy spot to get your feet wet because City Kayak is also here, and you can rent everything you need to kayak from them. You can then explore up and down the eastern shore of San Francisco and out around the Bay Bridge supports, if the weather cooperates.

Mission Creek

A little further south, near where 6th street ends, you can find the UCSF Mission Creek Boathouse and launch ramp. There’s a community of few dozen house boats at the launch point, and you can kayak out into the eastern shore much like from South Beach.

Islais Creek

Continuing further down the eastern shore you’ll find the Islais (is-lay-us) Creek. As the gateway to Butchertown in the 1870’s, it earned the nickname Shit Creek. A 2001 sewage spill harkened the old nickname, but 16 years later it’s back to ship shape..

Lake Merced

This is the only kayakable lake that I know of in San Francisco. You can launch into the main south lake from the boathouse or from another launch ramp (or beach) near the southern end.