I have a course in Oakland in a week or so, flying into San Fran with rental car. My class will be complete at about 3 pm on Sunday and I take the redeye back to Minnesota at 1 am.

I've never been to CA and never really seen the open ocean outside of a plane. I've seen the med, pudget sound, etc, etc.... but never the open ocean.

What should I do where should I go....

Any advice would be appreciated.

If it is ocean you are after have dinner in the bistro at the Cliff House. Decent food, and the view is gorgeous!

www.cliffhouse.com

Do you have time to do anything in the East Bay? I live in Oakland, so I may be able to give you a few suggestions.

Thanks for your response, but I really don't know what the East Bay is.

I have a afternoon/evening and don't know what to do, I think I would like to drive acroos the golden gate.

If I had time I would like to see the "devils teeth" islands.

You have to ride a cable car.

The East Bay is the area across the Bay from San Francisco, including Oakland, where your course is.

Driving across the Golden Gate is beautiful! Marin (the area on the other side of the Golden Gate) is stunning. However, since you have a very limited time to explore, I'm not sure it's worth driving it (plus there is a $5 toll in the southbound direction).

Consider visiting Fort Point, which offers beautiful views of the bridge:

http://www.nps.gov/fopo/

You could also explore Golden Gate Park, then head over to Ocean Beach.

http://www.golden-gate-park.com

Here is a link to a virtual tour of Ocean Beach and the area around the Cliff House:

http://www.virtuar.com/ysf2/ap-Ocean-Beach.htm

Cable cars are fun and classic San Francisco. A word of caution however: in my experience they are not for the easily motion-sick!

To get to Pacific Ocean in San Francisco, go to Geary street (it's on any map, sorry I don't drive can't give directions, I think it's 80 to Bay Bridge) and follow Geary toward the West.

There is Cliff House restaurant, agree with Amy, get a window table, you'll feel like you're on a ship in the ocean.

Drive down the Great Highway, it goes along the ocean. Stop and brave the sand, kick the shoes off to put your feet in water.

Can you fly in and out of Oakland? It's a small airport that's very easy to navigate. Much more convenient than SFO, if you need to go to Oakland anyway.

If you want to see the ocean, go to the Cliff House location, because there's a nice sandy beach just below the restaurant itself, called Ocean Beach. There's also an inexpensive funky diner near the Cliff House, that we enjoy for lunch. You can walk there from Cliff House.

From the East Bay, I am not sure of directions, but you could go up to Marin County and see more of the Pacific ocean. If you do this the day of your flight home, you could drive back to S.F. over the Golden Gate bridge.

A cable car ride is a must, IMHO.

So much to do in S.F., you will not get bored!
>-

Tell us about the "devil's teeth" islands you've heard about. Are the Farallones perhaps?

Thanks for the ideas, the islands I spoke of are the Farallones.

brando,

I believe you can see the Farallones from the Cliff House area, if not from the restaurant itself then from the walkable areas around it. If it's a clear day that is.

So is it the ocean you want to see and experience or SF? With so little time, I would skip trying to see SF itself.
If you want to see the ocean not surrounded by the City, you could drive to Half Moon Bay from Oakland--drive south on 880 and then take 92 across the San Mateo Bridge to Half Moon Bay. Quite a nice drive--with lovely views in places. You could even drive a bit up 1 and see some pretty impressive ocean cliffs, or even drive all the way up to Pacific and then cut over to SFO (Take a look a map to see the area). You would have to forego the GG Bridge however.

If you wanted to do the Bridge and the ocean, you could head North from Oakland, take the Richmond/San Rafael Bridge to Marin, go to the Marin headlands, then cross the Bridge before heading to SFO. Again consult a map.

SAB had a great suggestion. The Marin headlands are beautiful, are just on the other side of the GG from SF, and offer views of the Pacific. My Girl Scout troop stayed at a hostel in the headlands~there were hiking trails with views of Point Bonita lighthouse and a nice little beach. Come back when you can stay longer, SF has so much to see and do!

The "funky diner" above Cliff House is Louie's. I remember Louie's when the wall facing the ocean was a solid wall. Thank goodness they've put in a a bank of windows now!

If budget is a problem, then Louie's would be fine. Otherwise The Bistro at the Cliff House would be my suggestion.

I'd suggest that from Oakland, you take the Bay Bridge to San Francisco. Get off at the Fremont Street exit. Keep to the right at the fork and follow the signs for Folsom Street. Take a LEFT at Folsom. Then LEFT again at Embarcadero. This will put you along the shore of the Bay.

Stop off at the Ferry Building for about 1/2 hour. Then keep going on the Embarcadero. Just follow the road and it'll take you past Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf. If you feel like you have the time you could stop off at either of these very touristy places.

After that you'll have to zigzag a big to get past Fort Mason (get yourself a GOOD map of SF!) to get to the Marina. Keep driving and follow the signs for Crissy Field, which will take you to the end at Fort Point. Get out of the car and just walk around a bit. You'll have a great view of the Golden Gate Bridge as well as the mouth of San Francisco Bay.

Hop back in the car and get yourself back on Highway 1 or Highway 101 (depends on where you get on this road) and go across the Golden Gate Bridge.

The very first exit after you cross the Bridge is VISTA POINT. Take that exit and look back across the entire Bay, back to San Francisco, the Golden Gate Bridge, etc. Gorgeous view.

When you are ready to leave, exit Vista Point and take the very next exit, Alexander Road. Follow the signs which will take you UNDER the freeway and back to San Francisco.

Keep on Highway 1 until Geary Street. Turn RIGHT on Geary. Follow this road all the way westward to the ocean. At the big left hand curve is the Cliff House. Find parking. Have dinner. Or you can drive further down along Ocean Beach, walk around the beach, and then return to the Cliff House for dinner. Bring a jacket! It's very windy there and at night it can be downright cold.

The easiest way to get to the airport from the Cliff House is to get back on Geary until 25th Avenue. Turn RIGHT on 25th which will take you crosswises through Golden Gate Park. As you emerge on the other side of the Park, you will be on 19th Avenue. Follow this road through town. Then follow the signs for I-280. There will be just a couple of big turns, but if you follow the road, it'll take you to the I-280. Stay in the middle lane if at all possible.

Go south on I-280 (about 10 miles), then follow the signs for I-380. Take I-380 (it'll go only in one direction). I-380 is very short and you'll see signs for San Francisco Airport.

Have a great trip? And welcome to San Francisco and the Bay Area!

This may be off-the-mark for you, but if you want to see the open ocean, how about going one better and BEING on the open ocean?

Consider taking the Nighttime tour of Alcatraz Island. The boat there (takes off from San Francisco) takes about 20 minutes during the dusk hours. Youll get incredible pictures of the bay, the Golden Gate, etc. And the tour is good too (from what I hear).

After you get back, you can eat some seafood at Fisherman's Wharf or go into North Beach for some Italian.

While I agree a trip to Alcatraz would be great, technically the island is in the San Francisco bay, not the ocean.

Wow, thank you all very much, your responses have been great.

Thanks for all your advice, I am here in San Francisco, my first night out of Oakland, I drove done the embarcardeo(sp?? can't remember), walked around the piers, watched a sun set, and hung with brother in-law in south beach.

I switched my flight so tomarrow I have a free day. Mid morning a drive from Oakland across the golden gate a stop at south vista outloods and north vista outlooks and drive a little up hwy. 1. Then go back to San Fran and meet said BIL for seafood super, any ideas for a good lunch by myself in Marion county??? and "What about my plan I leave at 12:15 am Monday morning.