
Angel Island Boat Docks Closed Until Further Notice
When we wrote about the condition of the Angel Island docks last May, you could still dock your boat at one of the few slips still in serviceable condition. We’ve now received word that those remaining slips have been closed, leaving Angel Island with no boat slips until further notice.
Angel Island State Park dock aide Kati Vargas advised, “Due to significant damage from years of wear and exposure to harsh weather, our day slips are now unsafe for use. Out of concern for the safety of our visitors arriving by boat, we regret to inform you that these docks are closed until further notice.”

The moorings remain available at a fee of $30 per night, along with a 15-minute loading and unloading zone — “open for brief stops,” and a dinghy slip — “available for visitors.”
“We understand this is an inconvenience, and we sincerely apologize for the disruption it may cause,” Vargas continued.
There is a plan in place to commence repairing the docks. It’s estimated the work will take six months and is scheduled to commence this coming June–November.
“We truly share your frustration and appreciate your understanding as we work to restore the dock to a safe and functional state,” Vargas added.
In our May story, Tim Henry spoke with Angel Island manager and superintendent for California State Parks Gerald O’Reilly. O’Reilly explained some of the issues facing the park in regard to funding. We’re hopeful the plan for dock repairs is now locked in and the work can commence as early as June. In the meantime, hanging out on a mooring is more fun than being tied to dock. Yes?
For my mental health, can someone point to anything that’s getting better about being a sailor in California, or even a Californian in general? I’ve run out of ideas.
No! It is not better. Being tied up bow and stern is extremely uncomfortable for many visitors, impossible even, given the frequency of swells coming into Ayala Cove during the night. Would be very different if boats could swing around a single mooring ball.
As a life long sailor on SF Bay, and very frequent visitor to the island, I am very frustrated by the ineptitude of the State Parks. Just like the fires in L.A., this state is incapable of managing anything we care about. June! Why? Uh, regulations and funding. Did they find the Smelt in Ayala Cove?
Re fires in L.: How dare those incompetents in Gov’mint fail to provide more than a measly .16″ (that’s “point one-six”) of rain in the last 7 months (June 1) in L.A.? It’s an outrage. Especially with the 2 prior years of excessive rainfall (seeing a pattern here?) at +10″ and +13″ respectively, encouraging an abundance of tinder-like growth.
And don’t even get me started on the audacity to combine all that with the hottest year on record, capping a run of the hottest 10 years all in the same decade. And wind. Did someone say wind? Of course, we’re sailors. Those pesky Santa Ana winds, 60mph, 70mph. Why didn’t they just reef?
How much would you be willing to pay for this ‘improvement’ to a private, for-profit company?
It is fair to say that the damage to the floating piers is mostly due to their use by seals and sea lions. Several years ago, they began to take over the piers at night. To shoo them off in the morning was a pain, possibly dangerous due to their numbers, and constituted harassment of marine mammals which is unlawful. Eventually the pinnipeds just stayed on the piers all day. If they did swim off, they left huge amounts of very stinky feces behind. Boaters would have to use many buckets of sea water to wash it off. In the past year these pinnipeds have just about doubled the amount of pier frontage that they have taken over, and the damage has moved closer and closer to the ramp. The ranger with whom I spoke at the Island on 12/30/24 said that repair/replacement of the piers is scheduled not for this summer but for the summer of 2026.
The Park has established a 15 minute passenger loading dock at the inboard end of the now defunct slips. At every tide there is a current at 90 degrees on and off this dock. When this current is strong, to dock safely will present a challenge to even the most proficient boat handlers in the average auxiliary powered sailboat. To spend a night on the moorings is lovely, but it is unattractive alternative to the day tripper who wants to hike around the island with family and young kids.
Will the new piers be taken over seals? Does the Park have plans to exclude them? Before pinnipeds began to use these piers, they had many places to haul out on Angel Island, and these places are still completely available to them. The docks were the only place for boats to tie up at Angel Island. There is no alternative for the boats. Seals sometimes haul out on private floating piers in Sausalito. Owners know that if you don’t shoo them off right away, they will become a problem as they have on Angel Island. Unless the park has some way to prevent the pinnipeds from taking over again, it may as well just abandon the project.
For different reasons Alameda has a seal float that attracts the seals that enjoy resting near their fisheries. It was a mitigation project that had enormous success. Check the facebook site: Alameda Point Parks and Nature for more information and photos. A big attraction is perhaps a wide ramp that allows easy access, especially for pups. The float is a huge attraction for nature watchers and close enough to shore for people using trail (on foot or bike) frequently stop to view them. The float is sometimes so full they are difficult to count, but with a drone. So far sea lions haven’t bee seen on the raft. Seeing the float filled with seals is a real treat. And nearby docks are not used as haul outs and only rarely is the Island Breakwater used…When I see seals on the rocks, I check the float and it is full.
The docks have been trashed for quite a while. If sensible people ran the park they would know that every ten or so years that everything needs to be rebuilt. And plan for it in the budget. Nothing lasts forever including us.
Have you ever tried to dock when the eddie is strong there, it took us three tries to get the right angle of attack and get in while being pushed sideways, and my wife is a damn good boat driver. Most other people that day gave up. So I guess that’s the 15 minute passenger loading dock, they did that to kick back and watch the show.
This is very frustrating news for sailors. Many of us start our season in the early Spring and Ayala Cove is a favorite place to tie up for lunch. AND one of the few places to tie up on the Bay during a day sail. I know this project has already been delayed for almost 2 years.
Probably the only place to really go and spend time at a nice location instead of the common three hour tour of the bay. It’s been downhill for a long time. Now it’s reached the bottom.
In Monterey they also have a huge problem with sea lions. Last time I docked there they had put wooden barriers something little fences on docks popular with the lions. Seemed to work – there were sea lions only on docks with no barriers.
These barriers are inconvenient for humans as well, but they work.
One of the reasons, for the overwhelming amount of seals in one or two locations is because they have been treated as a inconvenience to the large marinas in Sausalito and Tiburon which happens to be there native sun bathing tidal lands while all the attention being given is to an “eel grass restoration project” the driving agency “Richardson Bay Regional Agency/Authority” aka RBRA who seemingly cares about nature enough to carry out The BCDC demands to destroy the peoples homes anchored on the waters of Richardson Bay to prevent bay fill ironically being caused by the massive materials left from the liberty ships built in the wartimes.and 85 percent of the entire shoreline being consumed by tideland development projects such as the marinas who remove the seals access to shore in one of the best safe havens there numbers have known..so what happens to them since eel grass will be overflowing with Herring which means seal population will double maybe triple in the next few years what then will we do for them or will they be cast out of there homes as well?
I have a great solution for the wide open space left void by the removal of the anchorouts why not a seal habitat on Richardson Bay and allow a couple of the remaining mariners to maintain and clean the floats and for the security of our vital and necessary eco system ?? We all have to do whats best for our future environment and still have a place for all the pieces in the puzzle.
the best thing that could happen would be leasing the island services to a private company. The State Park Service is incapable of managing much more than their pensions when it comes to Ayala Cove.. sorry if that sounds unfriendly but it is what it is.. Ayala Cove has been slowly deteriorating from neglect for decades. They dont care about boats and boaters.
@Jon – I’d be willing to pay a private company $1/foot for a 24hr stay. My boat is a 50’ sloop, so they’d need to offer a reservation system for dock space. They’d also need to dredge Ayala Cove. I draw over 9’ so I’m very limited.
The park service has allowed the dock to deteriorate out of what is seemingly an internal desire to be rid of boaters. They truly only cater to the day trippers that will ride over on one of the existing ferries, pay their fees and are away by 4pm.
Many local businesses have tried to step up and assist the park service with fixing the dock area. Only to be given the runaround or a continuation of lies from start to finish. As boaters we all know what a treasure the island and its location is… sadly the park service, in spite of the islands history does Not! For they are treating it as the regrettable unwanted child.
I cannot say knowing the ineptness of the park services that the dicks will be up n running by summers end. Sadly, I too see ‘26 as the year it will be resolved.
We need an organized political campaign to save Ayala Cove. HRDWRNUT said it correctly: the Park Service views boaters as an annoyance and an invasion of their private space anytime after 4 pm. They want tourists to go home at 4 and not come back till after 9 the next day. I remember once rowing my dinghy from my moored boat at 0730 to the docks for a toilet run when I heard a loudspeaker boom out from the shore telling me that landing before 0800 was forbidden. Hey Gavin, can you help?
Last October we stayed at Pier 39 for a few days. They have abandoned some of the boat slips and made a large deliberate sea lion platform. As most anyone reading this knows it is quite the tourist attraction now. However, when we were there last October the sea lions mostly preferred to gather on the boat docks. I have pictures of 15-20 sea lions practically sinking a finger of one slip while the designated platforms were accommodating one or two. Our ‘all carrot, no stick’ approach is not working for boaters.