Camping - Anchor Bay- Gualala, CA

WOW - what a wonderful camping experience. Anchor Bay with our friend Michael and his daughter Allaire and the "Stream" - the Airstream camper that was beach-side for a fun weekend. We had such a great time, it was amazing to be right on the beach, and sleep to the sound of the waves. Aiden was a super camper - as usual. Sophia had a great time hanging out and digging in the sand. Anchor Bay is a cool camp ground, you need to make reservations a year in advance for one of the 3 ocean front spots, but worth it - here's more info:

Anchor Bay Beach ( Fish Rock Beach ) Home Rates Gallery Things To Do Beach History Beachcomber Getting Here Contact Us Links Index Anchor Bay Beach is a 3/4-mile-wide seasonal beach. "Seasonal" in that the sand comes in and goes out according to seasonal weather patterns. Its true placename is Fish Rock Beach, named for the bygone town of Fish Rock that disappeared in the 1920's, but strangely, still appears on many maps.  The popular local name of Anchor Bay comes from the tiny resort village perched on the terrace just above it. During Fair Weather. . . New visitors to Anchor Bay often notice that, from here, the sun does not set over the ocean. When I point out to sea and tell them, "That's south!" some don't believe me until they get out their compasses. As a matter of fact, the whole coast from Point Arena to Bodega Bay faces toward the southwest. Anchor Bay is like a big bite out of the coast and faces even farther around to the south. It is our south-facing beach that accounts for everything interesting and wonderful about the place. Anchor Bay is protected from the nearly-relentless winds that blow out of the northwest. It's not unusual to look out and see solid whitecaps and giant swells moving on down the coast, passing us by. This area is known as Haven's Anchorage, named in the 1853 coastal survey possibly after the captain of the vessel. Anchor Bay, then known as Fish Rock Landing, was one of the coast's dogholeswhere schooners were loaded with tan bark and railroad ties from a chute on the west point. Our protected waters have continued to be a haven for today's commercial fishermen far away from their home ports. They still find nightly refuge from rough seas while working salmon, rockfish, and urchins off our coast. I've seen as many as 175 boats anchored at one time. The combination of the coastal shape and the direction of the wind causes a climatic blessing called the Banana Belt, a nearly fogless micro-climate involving about five miles of coastline with Anchor Bay set in the middle like a diamond in a golden ring. While the wind blows onshore for the rest of the coast it is practically offshore here, keeping the fog from drifting in.