Bay Area Summer Camps for Kids Ages 6–14
Top Outdoor Adventure and Environmental Education Camp
Families searching for Bay Area summer camps want something that feels safe, meaningful, and genuinely fun. At Gaia Guides, we offer kids summer camps just outside San Francisco in Alameda, where children build confidence through kayaking, paddleboarding, teamwork, and hands-on outdoor learning. Our camp welcomes families from across the Bay Area, including Oakland, Berkeley, San Francisco, and beyond, who are looking for more than a typical indoor or overcrowded summer program.
Our Alameda summer kids camps offer both full-day and half-day options, with each 1-week camp session running Monday–Friday.
Options: Full & Half Day
Our full-day camps run 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, and half-day camps run from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm. Both options are offered during the same weeks.
Time: 9am-1pm / 9am-4pm
Campers are grouped by age and experience to create a supportive, safe, and challenging environment for skills lessons and paddle adventures.
Ages: 6 - 14 years old
Drive to Ballena Bay Marina, 1138 Ballena Blvd, Alameda. Drive past the flagpole and look for the tennis courts and parking lot on the left.
Location: Alameda, CA
Full-day camps are $699 per week, and half-day camps are $449 per week. Both options are offered during the same weeks.
Price: $449 - $699 Per Week
All campers wear life jackets, with CPR/First Aid certified instructors, small group ratios, and Bay adventures planned around weather conditions.
Safety: Our Top Priority
Summer Camp
June 2027
Full-day and half-day camps.
June 7 - 11
June 14 - 18
June 21 - 25
June 28 - July 2
July 2027
Summer Camp
Full-day and half-day camps.
July 5 - 9
July 12 - 16
July 19 - 23
July 26 - 30
August 2027
Summer Camp
Full-day and half-day camps.
August 2 - 6
August 9 - 13
August 2027
Leadership Training
CPR/First Aid certification
August 20 - 22
A Bay Area water camp that’s actually on the water
Plenty of Bay Area camps are near the water. Gaia Guides is on it: a dock at Ballena Bay Marina on Alameda’s South Shore, where kids ages 6–14 kayak and paddleboard every single day of camp in a protected lagoon, then paddle out along Crown Beach with the San Francisco skyline in front of them. Small groups (about 1:6), wetsuits and life jackets included, CPR and First Aid-certified instructors, and a week that mixes real paddling skills with environmental education, games and the kind of tired, salty, proud kid who falls asleep in the car.
Why Alameda’s South Shore is the Bay’s best learning water
San Francisco Bay is windy, cold and tidal, which is why most kids’ camps stay on dry land. Alameda’s South Shore is the exception. The Ballena Bay lagoon is enclosed and flat; Crown Beach outside it is shallow and sandy for hundreds of yards; and the island blocks the worst of the afternoon westerly that hammers the San Francisco and Berkeley shorelines. The result is water a six-year-old can learn on in the morning and a thirteen-year-old can grow on in the afternoon, all within sight of the dock.
Getting here from around the Bay
Families drive in from all nine counties. Morning drop-off is 9am, before the Bay Bridge and 880 get ugly; pickup is 1pm (half day) or 4pm (full day). Typical morning drives:
Oakland (downtown, Jack London, Rockridge, Montclair, Piedmont): 15–25 min via the Posey or Webster Tube, or the Park Street and Fruitvale bridges.
Berkeley, Albany, El Cerrito: 25–35 min via I-880 south to the Broadway/Alameda exit, or I-80 to the tube.
San Leandro, Castro Valley, Hayward: 15–25 min via I-880 north to High Street or the Bay Farm Island Bridge.
San Francisco: 25–40 min over the Bay Bridge to I-880 south, Broadway exit through the tube. The Alameda ferries from the Ferry Building don’t land near camp, so most SF families drive or carpool with another family.
Orinda, Lafayette, Moraga, Walnut Creek: 30–45 min via Highway 24 to I-880 south.
Danville, San Ramon, Dublin, Pleasanton: 45–55 min via I-680 to 580 west to I-880 north.
Peninsula (San Mateo, Foster City, Burlingame): 35–50 min over the San Mateo Bridge to I-880 north.
Marin (Sausalito, Mill Valley, San Rafael): 45–60 min via the Richmond Bridge to I-80 and I-880 south.
Parking is free in the lot by the tennis courts: drive past the flagpole and look left.
What a week looks like
Morning: skills on the water while the air is still. Kayaking one day, paddleboarding the next, longer paddles as the week goes on.
Midday: lunch on the grass, environmental education built on what the kids just saw (seals, pelicans, least terns, bat rays, tides), beach games, nature art.
Afternoon (full day): back on the water in the lagoon, SUP yoga, team challenges, free paddle time for kids who’ve earned it.
Friday: a destination paddle and SUP Olympics.
Every camper is grouped by age and experience; returning campers don’t repeat the beginner week. Full detail on the Kids Camp page.
How to choose a Bay Area water camp
Questions worth asking any camp before you book, and our answers:
How much time is actually on the water each day? Two to four hours, every day.
What’s the instructor-to-camper ratio on the water? About 1:6.
Are instructors CPR/First Aid certified? Yes, every instructor. Everyone wears a life jacket, and every jacket is checked before anyone walks near the water.
Are wetsuits included, or do I buy one? Included, every camper, every day.
Where do kids paddle, and what happens when it’s windy? A protected lagoon plus a shallow beach; windy afternoons stay in the lagoon.
How are kids grouped? By age and experience, in small groups.
What’s the cancellation policy? Full refund more than 14 days before the session; no refunds inside 14 days.
How long has the camp been running? Kids camps in Alameda since 2017; owned and run by Victoria Anweiler since 2022.
Bay Area summer camp FAQs
Where exactly is camp? Ballena Bay Marina, 1138 Ballena Blvd, Alameda, CA 94501, on the island’s South Shore. Minutes from Oakland; a straight shot up I-880 from the South Bay and the Peninsula via the San Mateo Bridge.
Is it worth the drive from the Peninsula, Marin or Contra Costa? Families who come from Walnut Creek, San Ramon, San Mateo and Marin tell us the same thing: there isn’t a kids’ camp near them where their child is paddling every day on protected Bay water. Most choose full day so the drive pays off.
Can my child take the ferry from San Francisco? The Alameda Seaplane Lagoon and Main Street ferries run from the SF Ferry Building, but they don’t drop near camp and kids can’t ride alone, so most SF families drive or carpool.
Do you offer before- or after-care? Not yet. Drop-off is 9am; pickup is 1pm for half day and 4pm for full day. If extended care would make camp work for your family, tell us at registration; we track requests when planning each season.
Can kids come for more than one week? Yes, and many do. Groups are set by age and experience, so a second week is a new week, not a repeat.
What’s included in the price? Everything on the water: kayak or board, paddle, wetsuit, life jacket, instruction and environmental education. You bring lunch, snacks, a swimsuit, towel and warm clothes.
Closer looks, by where you live
Each of these pages has drive times, parking and local answers for your part of the Bay:
Alameda summer camps: island families, walk and bike routes, the South Shore.
Oakland summer camps: through the tube from Rockridge, Temescal, Montclair and Piedmont.
Bay Farm Island summer camps: a few minutes from Harbor Bay.
East Bay summer camps: Berkeley, Orinda, Walnut Creek, Danville and San Ramon drive times.
Curious about the paddling itself? See our kayaking and paddleboarding pages, or the screen-free outdoor camp overview.
Ready to find your family’s summer camp?
Full-day (9am–4pm, $699) and half-day (9am–1pm, $449) weeks run June 7–August 13, 2027. Registration opens January 1. Start with the Kids Camp program and the Kids Camp FAQs, or paddle together first at a Family Paddle Night.