Sausalito Houseboats & Tiburon Waterfront

The 400 floating homes moored in Richardson Bay above Gate 5 Road constitute a genuine floating village — a community that grew from 1960s counterculture artists and musicians who bought old ferries and barges and converted them to homes. No two are alike: the range runs from simple floating cottages to three-story structures with rooftop gardens and sculptural facades. The community has fought off development and eviction repeatedly since the 1970s; it remains the most architecturally diverse 20-acre neighborhood in California. Gate 5 Road and Issaquah Dock are the public access points.

The US Army Corps of Engineers built a 1.5-acre hydraulic scale model of San Francisco Bay in 1957 to study tidal and current patterns — a functioning replica of the entire bay, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, and the Pacific approach, operated by a system of pumps that simulate tidal action. The model was used to evaluate the effects of proposed freshwater diversions and the 1959 Reber Plan to dam the bay. The visitor center explains the model's history and the scientific work it supported in preventing the damming of San Francisco Bay.

Tiburon's Main Street parallels the bay waterfront with outdoor restaurant decks facing south across the water to Angel Island, San Francisco, and the bridges. The town was a 19th-century railroad terminus and ferry hub; the original 'Ark Row' of converted houseboat-to-storefront buildings along the waterfront dates to the 1880s. The views of the San Francisco skyline from Tiburon's waterfront benches are the best available from solid ground north of the Golden Gate.

A Tiburon waterfront restaurant serving Mexican coastal cuisine on a deck directly above the bay, with the San Francisco skyline and the Richmond Bridge framing the view. The ceviche, fish tacos, and margaritas are the staples; the sunset from the outdoor deck across the bay to the city lights coming on is one of the Bay Area's most cinematic evening experiences.