In keeping with the remote feeling of Sonoma County's coast, access to the area can be quite the adventure at times. Tightly hugging the coast north of Bodega, Highway 1 is the main thorough fare and provides an excellent check for susceptibility to motion sickness. As it continues north of Jenner, Highway 1 adds some serious altitude as it winds along the ocean facing side of coastal mountains rising directly out of the sea. For the first time visitor, it can be a rather daunting drive. Whether you're coming from the South Bay, Peninsula, East Bay, or Sacramento area, there's little need to concern yourself with Highway 1 for at least an hour or so. That's the time it's going to take you to get to Petaluma about 30 minutes north of the Golden Gate on Highway 101. It's at Petaluma where you'll have to decide whether to go the coastal or the river route. The coast route takes you from Petaluma through Bodega Bay to Jenner. The river route has you continue north on 101 to the River Road turnoff north of Santa Rosa. River Road meanders through the Russian River Valley vineyards, through Guerneville (pronounced Gern-vil not Gerny-vil), and on to Jenner. At Jenner, of course, it's north on Highway 1.

Looking at a roadmap, the River Road route looks the shortest. It's not. Taking the East Washington exit off Highway 101 in Petaluma and heading west to Bodega Bay will save you 15 to 20 minutes driving time to Jenner. It'll also give you a chance to see what the ocean conditions are like. Starting at Salmon Creek Beach north of Bodega Bay, you'll be within viewing distance of the ocean almost all the way to Jenner. Keep in mind, however, that what you see in terms of visibility and surf along this section of coast may be entirely different than what's north of Jenner. It'll simply give you an idea of what conditions might be like.

The advantage of taking the River Road route is that it takes you through some of the best vineyards in the world as well as meandering through towering redwoods. The main disadvantage of this route is the heavy summer traffic you'll encounter at Guerneville. Still, all westward roads in Sonoma County eventually lead to the coast and, for many, that's plenty good enough without being in a hurry.

NOTE - Highway 1 north of Jenner is regularly closed for road work. When this happens, the detour is Meyers Grade Road. This road has an 18% grade at each end. Many drivers haven’t a clue how steep 18% is. It’s this steep: I once spent a half hour waiting for someone at the bottom of the 18% grade at the north end of the detour. Fully 50% of the dozens of vehicles that came off that grade had smoking brakes; probably 20% of them had overheated their brakes to such a degree that they couldn’t come to a complete stop (hell, some of them couldn’t even slow down!). Some suggestions for these descents might include:

• FIRST gear for automatic transmission vehicles.
• Second gear for standard transmission vehicles.
• Braking hard and quick when there’s a need to slow down
• Coast without any braking at all for as long as possible between braking
• Keep an eye the vehicle(s) behind you to gauge how they’re doing. If you’re not comfortable with what they’re doing, move over to let them pass.
• Pray

In Petaluma, there's a dive shop on the right side of the road leading out of town to Valley Ford and Bodega Bay. It's actually a combination bait store, fishing supply store, dive shop, and deli and it opens very early on weekend mornings. They stock a good selection of dive hardware.

The other shop located on the quickest route to the dive sites is Bodega Bay Pro Dive. This is a small but exceptionally well stocked shop for serious freedivers. It shares the building with Dekmann's general store in the middle of Bodega Bay on the water side of Highway 1 with a parking lot perched directly above the water. If you're not looking for the Dekmann store as the major landmark, it's easy to miss.

That's it for the dive shops located along the coastal route. From Bodega Bay north to Gualala, there's no dive shops at all. In the middle of the summer, there's sometimes an air fill station at the entrance to Ocean Cove's campground but it's pretty hit and miss. If all you need are the small things you lost or forgot (abalone gauge or fishing license, for example), many of the small retail outlets from Jenner north can sell them to you or direct you on where to find them. You'll find those outlets at the general store/deli just south of Timber Cove, at theOcean Cove campground and at Stewarts Point. Stewart's Point General Store is out of the way (north of Salt Point State Park) but is worth the drive: they have a display board of trophy abalone worth the look-see.

If your drive to the dive site takes you north through Santa Rosa, you'll have access to two fully stocked dive shops just off Highway 101. The first is in Rohnert Park: take the Rohnert Park Expressway exit, bear east and turn north at the first legal turn, and go for about 1 mile. The shop will be on your right facing 101. This Bamboo Reef shop is my favorite in Sonoma County; Tom, the owner, is a hell of a nice guy who's been exceptionally supportive of the local clubs and community.

You'll find another shop a few miles farther north in Santa Rosa. Take the Steele Lane exit in north Santa Rosa and turn right three times. That should put you on the frontage road heading south. You can't miss the shop.

Larger boats (greater than 14') are limited in where they can be reasonably put in. Lugging a boat across a sandy beach is never much fun and, about the 12' limit, becomes down right miserable. In terms of easy locations to launch the larger boats, they are few:

• Bodega Bay has launch facilities for any boat likely to be used by recreational or commercial operators in north coast waters.
• Timber Cove offers launch support using a sling system for boats up to about 17'.
• Ocean Cove has a boat launching ramp. It's marginal in terms of traction and launching depth. It's fine for boats without hard hulls if the tow vehicle is up to the task.