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Voykit pocket guide · United States
Bolinas
Go for one day from Marin, not as a base: the town is a 15-minute walk end to end and the road signs pointing in are often missing.
Bolinas is a small unincorporated town on the Marin County coast, reached by a turn off Highway 1 that is easy to miss. There is one short commercial street, a beach, a museum and a tidepool reef. One day covers it; a night is only worth it if you want the beach at low tide and a quiet evening.
- Country
- United States
- Best months
- Apr–Jun, Sep–Oct
- Avoid
- Jul–Aug (fog and crowds), Dec–Feb (rain)
- Stay
- 1 night
Checked 2026-09. Prices, hours and rules change; anything marked (check) is not confirmed.
Essentials
- Currency
- USD
- Money
- Currency is the US dollar (USD, $). Cards and phone payments work almost everywhere; carry a little cash for tips and small vendors.
- Daily spend
- Budget $60–100 excl. bed · Mid $100–180 excl. bed · High $180+ excl. bed (estimate; check)
- SIM and data
- AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile cover the country; prepaid SIMs at their stores and Walmart/Target (passport required), or an eSIM before you fly.
- Emergency
- Police, fire, ambulance 911
- Plugs
- Types A, B · 120 V · 60 Hz · Chargers are dual-voltage; hair dryers and straighteners from 230 V countries need a converter.
- Tipping
- Sit-down restaurant: 18–22% of the pre-tax bill.; Bar: US$1–2 per drink or 20% of the tab.; Taxi / ride-hailing: 15–20%, in the app.; Hotel housekeeping: US$3–5 a night.; Porter / valet: US$2–5 per bag or car.; Tour guide: US$10–20 per person for a day tour.; Counter service / tablet prompts: Optional; 0–15%.
- Water
- Tap water is drinkable nearly everywhere; boil or treat water from streams in parks.
- Toilets
- Free public toilets are scarce in big cities; use cafés, department stores, libraries, stations. Rest areas on highways are free.
What things cost
| Item | Price |
|---|---|
| Coffee | $4–6 |
| Breakfast plate | $12–18 |
| Sandwich or burger | $14–22 |
| Draft beer at the saloon | $7–10 |
| Museum entry | free, donation suggested |
| Parking at Agate Beach | free, fills early |
| eSIM or data SIM, about a week | $15–30 |
Desk estimates, checked 2026-09; check locally.
Get in
By air
- SFO · San Francisco International
- About 1 h 15 min by car via US-101 and CA-1; no direct transit to Bolinas
- OAK · Oakland International
- About 1 h 30 min by car; longer by transit
Typical fares
- Stagecoach 61, Bolinas → Marin City
- about $2–5, roughly hourly
- Rideshare, San Francisco → Bolinas
- $70–110, about 1 h
- Fuel, Bolinas return from San Francisco
- about $20
Show 7 more sections and the pocket cardHideGet around, See and do, Sleep, Phrase card, Etiquette, safety and scams, One and two days, Sources, Pocket card
Get around
The commercial strip is walkable in about 15 minutes. A car is needed for the residential streets and for Duxbury Reef; the Agate Beach lot is small, so arrive early on weekends. Marin Transit's West Marin Stagecoach route 61 links Bolinas with Marin City, where you can connect to San Rafael and the wider Bay Area, but service is infrequent — check the timetable before relying on it.
See and do
Known for
- Bolinas Beach and the lagoon mouth
- Duxbury Reef tidepools
- Bolinas Museum
- Counterculture history and the free box
Day trips
| Where | How | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Stinson Beach | CA-1 south by car, about 15 min | About 20 min |
| Point Reyes Station and Point Reyes National Seashore | CA-1 north by car, about 20 min to the town, longer to the trailheads | About 30 min |
| Mill Valley | CA-1 south then US-101 south by car, about 40 min | About 45 min |
| San Rafael | CA-1 south then Sir Francis Drake Blvd and US-101, about 45 min by car; Stagecoach 61 plus a transfer by bus | 45 min by car, 1.5–2 h by bus |
| Sausalito | CA-1 south then US-101 south by car, about 50 min | About 1 h |
| Tiburon | CA-1 south then US-101 and CA-131 by car, about 1 h | About 1 h 10 min |
Sleep
- Wharf Road and the town centre
- The only walkable base: a handful of rooms, the saloon, the museum and the beach within 5 minutes on foot.
- Stinson Beach
- About 15 min south by car; more beds and restaurants, still close enough for a Bolinas day.
- Point Reyes Station
- About 20 min north by car; a larger choice of lodging and food for a Marin coast trip.
Phrase card
| English | Say or show |
|---|---|
| Thank you | Thank you |
| Where is the beach? | Where is the beach? |
| Is this the road to Bolinas? | Is this the road to Bolinas? |
| Can I pay by card? | Can I pay by card? |
| Where is the toilet? | Where is the toilet? |
Etiquette, safety and scams
Etiquette
- Greeting: Handshake and 'hi, how are you?' — reply 'good, thanks'; avoid: Treating the question as a real health enquiry
- Restaurants: Tip 18–22% and wait for the check; avoid: Leaving without tipping
- Personal space: Keep an arm's length in queues; avoid: Standing close to strangers
- Politics and religion: Listen more than you speak; avoid: Opening with hot-button topics
- Smoking: Smoke only in marked areas; avoid: Smoking near doors or in parks where banned
Scams and watch-outs
- Road signs pointing into town from Highway 1 are often removed by locals: watch your odometer and turn carefully.
- There is no gas station in Bolinas; fill up in Stinson Beach, Point Reyes Station or Fairfax before you arrive.
- Cell signal is patchy in parts of town and on the reef.
- Duxbury Reef rocks are slippery and the tide comes in fast: check a tide table and turn back before the water rises.
- Do not touch or move tidepool animals; the reef is a protected marine area.
- The beach has no lifeguard and the lagoon mouth and ocean currents are strong.
Bolinas is a quiet, low-crime town; the real risks are the ocean, the reef and the drive in. Do not swim at the lagoon mouth, watch the tide on Duxbury Reef, and keep valuables out of sight in parked cars.
One and two days
No timed day plan for Bolinas yet. Suggested stay: 1 night. Build a day from the list below, mornings for the big sight.
- Bolinas Beach and the lagoon mouth
- Duxbury Reef tidepools
- Bolinas Museum
- Counterculture history and the free box
Sources
Written by Voykit; facts cross-checked against these sources, last desk check 2026-09. Prices, hours and rules change: check on the day.
- Marin Transit — West Marin Stagecoach route 61: marintransit.org/routes/61.html
- Visit Marin — Bolinas: www.visitmarin.org/
- Wikivoyage: Bolinas, revision 5222019 (CC BY-SA 4.0): en.wikivoyage.org/w/index.php?oldid=5222019
Pocket card
Cut along the border and keep it in your wallet. Show the local-script lines to a driver.
Bolinas
To this address, please
To this address, please
My hotel (write the name and address in the local script)
- Police, fire, ambulance911
No embassies in Bolinas; consulates-general are in San Francisco, embassies in Washington, DC.
No gas station in town: fill up before you turn off Highway 1.
Voykit · checked 2026-09
Printed from Voykit (/bolinas). Written by Voykit; checked 2026-09. Estimates only: confirm prices, hours and entry rules on the day.