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A kitesurfer in the fog on San Francisco Bay off Crissy FieldKitesurfing past Alcatraz in the fog near Crissy FieldCrissy Field East Beach with the Golden Gate BridgeCrissy Field beach on San Francisco Bay below the Golden Gate Bridge

Chapters / US West Coast Open, 1 of 1 remaining

Ride Crissy Field, keep it open

Kiting under the Golden Gate Bridge sounds like a postcard, but it is one of the hardest launches in the country: strong tides, gusty inside air and a shipping lane just outside. It works because the riders who use it know exactly what they are doing.

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171 riders call this homeKite, WingOcean Beach, San Francisco

Everything you need to know about Crissy Field

Live conditions

Why riders love it

What brings people here, from the people who manage it and the people who ride it.

  • Riders set up and launch west of the bathroom and stay off the rocks at the east end. Kiters launch upwind of the windsurfers and head out past Anita Rock.
  • The wind is often side-offshore at the launch, light and gusty on the inside and much stronger in the channel. Strong northwest days give the best inside conditions.
  • Slack tide going into an ebb is the safest time to ride. A full wetsuit is needed year-round.

Sources: Bay Area Kiteboarding Association

See the wind right now
Kitesurfing past Alcatraz in the fog near Crissy Field

Access and rules

Each site sets its own rules. The chapter publishes confirmed rules as each site answers in writing, and points riders to the official page before they go.

  • This is an expert-only site. Local guidelines say not to teach, fly trainer kites or jump on the beach, and not to walk with a kite in the air through the parking lot or promenade.
  • The more crowded the beach, the farther west riders are asked to set up.
  • The National Park Service does not publish rules specific to kiteboarding at Crissy Field. The guidelines here come from the riders' association.

Sources: Bay Area Kiteboarding Association; National Park Service

Help hold the launch
Crissy Field East Beach with the Golden Gate Bridge

Ecology and habitat

Stewardship rotates across the city's spots, so riders are known as the people who look after them.

  • The restored Crissy Marsh is home to 17 fish species, and 135 bird species have been recorded there.
  • From July through May the west end of the beach is a Wildlife Protection Area for western snowy plovers. Kites are asked to stay close to the water, away from where the birds rest.

Sources: Wikipedia; National Park Service

Fund stewardship here
Crissy Field beach on San Francisco Bay below the Golden Gate Bridge

Good to know

Location, facilities and history.

  • Crissy Field is a former Army airfield on the northern shore of San Francisco, just east of the Golden Gate Bridge.
  • It is part of Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The National Park Service took it over in 1994 and reopened it in 2001 after a major restoration.
  • The current changes first near the beach and then spreads across the bay, so it can be different when you come in than when you went out.
  • Near the piers at Last Chance Beach the current runs about twice as fast.

Sources: Bay Area Kiteboarding Association; Wikipedia

Meet the riders
A kitesurfer in the fog on San Francisco Bay off Crissy Field

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Crissy Field

An expert-only site: strong currents, gusty inside air and shipping-channel wind.

Source: Bay Area Kiteboarding Association

Know the spot

Crissy Field

The most reliable window is 3–5 p.m. with smoother wind from about mid-August.

Source: Bay Area Kiteboarding Association

Know the spot

Crissy Field

The Bay stays cold: full wetsuit year-round.

Source: Bay Area Kiteboarding Association

Know the spot

Why Crissy Field needs a chapter

A kitesurfer in the fog on San Francisco Bay off Crissy Field
US West Coast

Summer wind pours through the Golden Gate almost every afternoon, and Crissy Field is the beach right under it. Riders here share a national park shoreline with walkers, families, dogs and nesting shorebirds.

171riders call this home
Kite, Wingdisciplines riding here

Crissy Field chapter, World Wind Sports

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Kitesurfing past Alcatraz in the fog near Crissy Field
US West Coast

The riding is serious. Currents run hard on the flood and ebb, the wind on the inside is light and fluky, and the shipping channel is close. Local riders have written their own guidelines, from where to set up to when to wait out a tide.

171riders call this home
Kite, Wingdisciplines riding here

Crissy Field chapter, World Wind Sports

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Crissy Field East Beach with the Golden Gate Bridge
US West Coast

A chapter gives those riders one voice with the National Park Service, keeps the site guidelines current, and runs stewardship days that show the park riders are part of looking after Crissy Field.

171riders call this home
Kite, Wingdisciplines riding here

Crissy Field chapter, World Wind Sports

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Photographer credits Back this chapter

The riders, schools and crew of Crissy Field

Riders from San Francisco, Sausalito, Mill Valley, Tiburon, Corte Madera, Larkspur, Novato, Oakland, Berkeley, Alameda, Daly City, Pacifica, San Mateo, Burlingame, Foster City and the schools that teach them.

See the rider directory Talk on the board
WWSThe chapterHolds the line on access: one standing voice with whoever manages the launch.WWSThe chapterRuns stewardship days, so the people who manage the beach see riders as an asset.WWSThe chapterRuns sponsored certification weekends, so riders are trained and self-policing.WWSThe chapterHolds the line on access: one standing voice with whoever manages the launch.WWSThe chapterRuns stewardship days, so the people who manage the beach see riders as an asset.WWSThe chapterRuns sponsored certification weekends, so riders are trained and self-policing.
Federico SpisaniInstructor Level 1, san franciscoCarlos Ivan Lozano HernandezInstructor Level 1, San FranciscoCarla DomenechLevel 4Y, San franciscoKelli ChewLevel 3N, San FranciscoJorge CandeleroAssistant, san franciscoYeisy ValdesLevel 3J, San FranciscoMichela TorchioLevel 4Y, San FranciscoNicolas FunkeLevel 4W, San FranciscoKelly ZhangLevel 3K, San FranciscoAlvar LopezLevel 3L, San FranciscoNoah OrthLevel 3K, OaklandAnya SpauldingLevel 4O, San FranciscoTim Johnson JohnsonLevel 2I, AlamedaReza KiaieLevel 2H, Daly CityEduardo TorreLevel 3K, San FranciscoLev BroukLevel 4P, San FranciscoSuzette AyotteLevel 2I, San FranciscoJohn DawidowLevel 2H, San FranciscoDarragh HowardLevel 3K, San FranciscoKimberly SchreiberLevel 3J, OaklandCeyhun AkcayLevel 3L, BurlingameClémence de la BretonnerieWing Foil Level 5, San FranciscoLee PfeilLevel 3J, OaklandAndrew YaroshevskyLevel 4Y, San MateoAndy TsangLevel 3L, BerkeleyCecilia StrombeckLevel 4Y, San FranciscoTeymour fathyLevel 3J, San FranciscoBenjamin WidtfeldtLevel 3J, SAN FRANCISCOSteven SchepurekLevel 4W, Oaklandalberto montagneseLevel 3L, San FranciscoAndrea CiccardiLevel 3K, San FranciscoAntonio ForenzaLevel 4U, San FranciscoCarley AddemanLevel 3L, San FranciscoDaniel LinLevel 3N, BurlingameEmele UkaLevel 3N, San FranciscoEmily BainLevel 3J, BerkeleyGeorge PreudhommeLevel 3J, San FranciscoKalli MartinLevel 3K, San FranciscoLudwig ThouveninLevel 3N, San FranciscoMarjolein ShiamateyLevel 2I, SAN FRANCISCOFederico SpisaniInstructor Level 1, san franciscoCarlos Ivan Lozano HernandezInstructor Level 1, San FranciscoCarla DomenechLevel 4Y, San franciscoKelli ChewLevel 3N, San FranciscoJorge CandeleroAssistant, san franciscoYeisy ValdesLevel 3J, San FranciscoMichela TorchioLevel 4Y, San FranciscoNicolas FunkeLevel 4W, San FranciscoKelly ZhangLevel 3K, San FranciscoAlvar LopezLevel 3L, San FranciscoNoah OrthLevel 3K, OaklandAnya SpauldingLevel 4O, San FranciscoTim Johnson JohnsonLevel 2I, AlamedaReza KiaieLevel 2H, Daly CityEduardo TorreLevel 3K, San FranciscoLev BroukLevel 4P, San FranciscoSuzette AyotteLevel 2I, San FranciscoJohn DawidowLevel 2H, San FranciscoDarragh HowardLevel 3K, San FranciscoKimberly SchreiberLevel 3J, OaklandCeyhun AkcayLevel 3L, BurlingameClémence de la BretonnerieWing Foil Level 5, San FranciscoLee PfeilLevel 3J, OaklandAndrew YaroshevskyLevel 4Y, San MateoAndy TsangLevel 3L, BerkeleyCecilia StrombeckLevel 4Y, San FranciscoTeymour fathyLevel 3J, San FranciscoBenjamin WidtfeldtLevel 3J, SAN FRANCISCOSteven SchepurekLevel 4W, Oaklandalberto montagneseLevel 3L, San FranciscoAndrea CiccardiLevel 3K, San FranciscoAntonio ForenzaLevel 4U, San FranciscoCarley AddemanLevel 3L, San FranciscoDaniel LinLevel 3N, BurlingameEmele UkaLevel 3N, San FranciscoEmily BainLevel 3J, BerkeleyGeorge PreudhommeLevel 3J, San FranciscoKalli MartinLevel 3K, San FranciscoLudwig ThouveninLevel 3N, San FranciscoMarjolein ShiamateyLevel 2I, SAN FRANCISCO
iSportsKite, WingiWind spotOcean Beach, San FranciscoiKnow thisCrissy Field, on San Francisco's northern shore just east of the Golden Gate Bridge.iKnow thisAn expert-only site: gusty inside, much windier in the channel, strong tidal currents.iKnow thisPart of Golden Gate National Recreation Area; no teaching on the beach.iSportsKite, WingiWind spotOcean Beach, San FranciscoiKnow thisCrissy Field, on San Francisco's northern shore just east of the Golden Gate Bridge.iKnow thisAn expert-only site: gusty inside, much windier in the channel, strong tidal currents.iKnow thisPart of Golden Gate National Recreation Area; no teaching on the beach.

Live conditions

Wind right now at Crissy Field

Full forecast

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Your gift keeps the chapter running and the beach cared for: cleanup supplies, signage, certification weekends and the costs of being the group the park can call.

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