Dillon Beach
New Year’s Beach Day
I am lucky enough to live in California where going to the beach on New Years Day is not only easy to do, but the weather is nice enough to do it. For the last couple of years, my husband and I have visited a beach to ring in the new year. It has become something of a tradition for us. I like it. What a great way to celebrate the beginning of another trip around the sun. As I said to the Honey “According to evolution we crawled out of the ocean and now we spend time trying to go back. Happy New Year!”
Dillon Beach is located in Bodega Bay near Tomales on the California coast. Dillon Beach was not named after the folk singer of the ’60s. That thought occurred to me as I was dozing in the car don’t the way home. It was George Dillon, an Irishman from the east coast who founded the resort. In 1888, George built an 11 bedroom hotel, restaurant, and general store. Dillon’s beach was born and is in operation today.
The little town was quite quaint. We did not stop at any of the stores. The road to the beach was narrow and slightly hazardous with large RV’s driving through. There wasn’t much wiggle room. I suppose in 1888 with horses and carriages it was an easier passage. It was a very busy beach and town. Tons of people. This beach is dog-friendly. We arrived during low tide, so the doggies had plenty of room to run and play. At high tide, I think the beach area would diminish greatly.
As in many beaches in northern California, there were rocks exposed by the receding tide. Too many children for there to be anything of greatness to discover in any water left behind. The littles had already found the creatures. Didn’t stop me from looking. It is almost a rule. If you go to the beach and there are pools of water one must explore them. Nothing moving, not even the sleeping seagrasses.
It was breathtakingly beautiful. The weather was wonderful and I enjoyed my time at Dillon Beach. We found it by looking at a google map of highway 1. I am glad we did. We plan on going back there to enjoy the whole day and not just a couple of hours. Parking was 10 dollars and the parking lot was tiny. We got lucky and found a spot to park. As we left there was a line of cars waiting to get in. It would probably be easier to get there in the morning. As I mentioned, the beach is dog friendly and dogs are allowed off-leash (make sure dog is sociable). Many families and lots of children playing. It is always cool to watch the surfers out in the waves. Highly recommend this beach. I took a lot of photos. These are the best ones.
Family fun at Dillon Beach 
