• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Sea Ranch Abalone Bay

Sea Ranch Vacation Rental Abalone Bay

  • Home
  • Explore
    • Sea Ranch Events
    • Kid Friendly Activities
    • Diving and Fishing
    • Dog Friendly
    • Fly-Ins to The Sea Ranch
    • Community Partners
      • PawPawrazzi Pet Photography
      • Unbeaten Path Tours
      • Mellow Mommy Babymoon
      • Four-eyed Frogs Books
    • Art Galleries
    • Restaurants in and Near Sea Ranch
    • Spa and Shopping
    • Area History
    • Welcome Message
  • Emergency Alerts
    • Emergency Information
    • COVID-19 Update
      • Sonoma /Mendocino County COVID Info
      • Our Response to COVID-19
      • Sea Ranch Facilities Protocols for COVID-19
  • Our House
    • Reviews
    • FAQs and Information
    • Terms and Policies
    • Floor Plans
    • Living Room
    • Kitchen
    • Principal Bedroom
    • Guest Bedrooms
    • Game Room
    • Dining Room
    • Private Courtyard
    • Bathrooms
  • Blog
  • About Us
    • What is Sea Ranch Abalone Bay
    • Accessibility Statement
  • Environment
    • Climate Emergency
  • Contact Us
  • Directions
    • Sea Ranch Road Trip
  • Availability & Booking
You are here: Home / Things to do / 8 Epic Reasons You Must Visit Sea Ranch Even If You Can’t Dive for Abalone

8 Epic Reasons You Must Visit Sea Ranch Even If You Can’t Dive for Abalone

September 3, 2018 by Donna Martinez 7 Comments

Ok, I get you’re suffering the “No Abalone Blues” and feel there’s no real reason to visit Sea Ranch anymore. For the first time since 1921,  generations of your jubilant family and friends traditionally centered your travel plans for the April 1 openers of Abalone Season. You had great visions of hauling out your limits of  that most delectable mollusk, imagining that at least one would be a 10 incher! And then you’d wash off, sit back with a beer or glass of wine and relive the moments you experienced underwater while taking in that glorious sunset at Sea Ranch.

visit Sea Ranch, April, Abalone Bay, celebration vacation

But, now you’re sitting in that dungy city office, lamenting there’s nothing to do since they’ve closed the 2018 Red Abalone Season. Worse yet, on Aug. 22, 2018 the  California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) voted unanimously to authorize publication of notice of intent to amend regulations to extend the fishery closure sunset date for the recreational red abalone fishery another two years (through April 2021). 

visit sea ranch

Well, bucko it’s time to dispel that myth and get packing– cuz there’s plenty to do!

We have eight epic reasons for a weekend visit, or even extended spring vacation, in April. Just leave your ab-iron at home. Instead pack your camera, your golf clubs, your kids, your friends,  your grandparents, and even your dog!

1. Go Spear Fishing or Fish from the Bluffs

Just because Fish and Wildlife Warden told you to put your ab irons away, doesn’t mean you can’t go out diving. In fact, now there’s reason to bring your tanks and speargun along! There’s plenty of rock cod, sea trout, and capazone tucked away in among the rocks ready to become  tonight’s fish of the day plate!

visit sea ranch
Another successful day of fishing

Even the kids can enjoy a day of fishing under the watchful eyes of their parents.

sea ranch , visit Sea Ranch, fishing sea ranch

Just be prepared to offer up a few lures to the fishing gods. The craggy bottom is sure to take them if you don’t. One way to survive the inevitable loss of tackle is to learn to make your own. It can be both economical and therapeutic.

visit sea ranch
Jorge makes his Ling Cod lures to fish another day

And for the angler who prefers the metronome effect of a fly rod keeping time with the ocean’s current, there’s always fly fishing in the quiet coves, like Smuggler’s Cove just a short walk south of Sea Ranch Abalone Bay.

2. Watch Newborn Harbor Seal Pups Born on Sea Ranch Beaches

The best reason of all to visit Sea Ranch in April is to witness the miracle of harbor seals giving birth right before your eyes. April begins the birthing season for these shy pinnipeds. They can be found hauling out in the various protected coves, many designated as Marine Reserves. For more details about harbor seals at Sea Ranch, click here.

visit Sea Ranch, Abalone Bay, Green Cove Rookery, harbor seals, pups
Green Cove Rookery: a favorite spot for seals

 

3. Whale and Jazz Festival Really Swings!

Visit Sea Ranch

A visit to Sea Ranch in April is not complete without attending at least one of the many nearby Whale and Jazz Festival events. Presented by Gualala Arts and taking place during the Smithsonian Institute’s Jazz Appreciation Month of April, this highly regarded festival captures inspired, original jazz art work, whale education, jazz films, poetry and jazz, an annual Chowder Challenge and tasting and live music in atmospheric and beautiful settings.  The venues include wineries, inns, wine bars, and restaurants from Jenner to Point Arena, the classically restored Arena Theater and the Gualala Arts Center nestled in the coastal redwoods. Check out this year’s schedule of events here.

Another local festival of note:

visit sea ranch

The Almost Fringe Festival is another month-long celebration of spring along the Mendocino Coast. Loosely based on the International Fringe Art Movement, this month-long festival is a celebration of all the creative happenings countywide, from traditional to cutting edge and artsy to agrarian. It’s a fun way to enjoy art in the springtime with wine, waves and wilderness! The events on the South Coast: Gualala, Point Arena, Manchester are nearest to Sea Ranch and occur April 27, 28, 29, 2018.

4. Wave to the Whales as They Swim By

And speaking of whales, April is prime whale-watching time. This is the time period when the end of the first phase of northbound migration of solitary northbound grays nears and the second phase that includes mothers with their calves begins.

Our local whale expert, Scott Mercer has viewed whales from one to 4 miles out. Some can even be seen hugging the coast just 40-400 yards offshore.

With luck you too may view as many as 28 gray whales in one day as he did. And if you’re really lucky you may even view one breaching.

And don’t forget that the whales will return in the fall and early winter to make their trek south for warmer waters.

5. Pack Your Golf Equipment

When you visit Sea Ranch don’t forget your golf clubs! The Sea Ranch Golf Links are located at the north end of Sea Ranch. The 18-hole golf course 6,600 yards of golf from the longest tees for a par of 72 . The front nine winds its way out to, and along, the coastline of the Pacific with numerous ocean views as well as beautiful redwoods and natural sea grass rough.

The Sea Ranch Golf Links can be as challenging or as docile as you prefer to make it. The course rating is 73.2 and it has a slope rating of 136 on Bermuda grass. Two short game areas, which include a practice putting green and a pitching/bunker green, as well as a full grass driving range, allow for complete warm-up before your round or the ability to work on your game when needed. Golf carts, a well-appointed golf shop and a snack bar round out The Sea Ranch Golf Links experience. The course is open for play all year, weather permitting. Don’t forget to check with the staff for their tips and tricks for playing your best round.

Visit Sea Ranch

 Point Arena High School Boosters Annual Golf Tournament

The Sea Ranch Golf Links are also the location for the Point Arena High School Boosters Annual Golf Tourney. We are thrilled to announce Sea Ranch Abalone Bay is a proud sponsor of this year’s Point Arena High School Boosters Annual Golf Tourney.

6. Visit Sea Ranch for a Spring Walk Along the Trails

Sea Ranch is in bloom.
Flickr Photo by Sean Flannagan

With all the rains this year our governor has officially declared California drought-free. But if you had any doubt, all you have to do is take a spring walk along the trails when you visit Sea Ranch. When you do be sure to do as Paul Kozal of Studio 391 always does- bring your camera!

By the way ~ When you post your photos on your Facebook page, just as Paul did, don’t forget to share them on the Sea Ranch Abalone Bay’s Facebook Page too! If you also have an Instagram account tag us too (#SeaRanchAbaloneBay🏠)

A great tip for your wildflower hikes:

The Sea Ranch Lodge offers a self-guided wildflower tour, which begins at Black Point Beach and meanders over our Sonoma coastal bluffs back to the Lodge. Take a map and follow the wildflower signs and numbered posts, where flowers bloom from April through summer.  The list gives the common name, scientific name and peak blooming period for each species.

7. Celebrate  School Holidays with the Kids

School holiday vacations at Sea Ranch will certainly take your mind off of the fact you aren’t harvesting abalone this year. There’s plenty to do when you visit Sea Ranch. Book a vacation rental and enjoy the week with the family. Many even allow you to bring your dog! With good planning, even your tween and teens will have a great time when they visit Sea Ranch.

Dog Day, Sea Ranch, visit sea ranch
Photo by Jenna Francisco

When you do visit Sea Ranch with the kids (two-legged and four-legged) don’t forget there are parks for them all!

Kid Activities

Children and you will enjoy playing at One-eyed Jacks and then explore the cypress hedgerow that leads you out to the coast and seal pups.

visit sea ranch
Everyone loves One-eyed Jacks

 

visit sea ranch
Walking through the hedgerows

 

visit Sea Ranch
Walk on Beach viewing babies of all kind

 

Dog Activities

There’s plenty to do for your fur-babies too. Besides long strolls together along the trails that weave through the coast, meadows and redwoods, there’s also the Sea Ranch Dog Park. Here, unlike the trails and beaches,  you can let your dog run free unleashed.

 

8. Celebrate Easter at Sea Ranch and Nearby

There’s many ways to celebrating the Easter holiday in your visit to Sea Ranch.

First, get a jump on your Easter fun by hunting for eggs at the South Coast Volunteer Fire Departments’  Annual Easter Egg Hunt. Located just minutes north of Sea Ranch, the event starts at 12 noon and offers burgers, hot dogs and other goodies. Oh yes, the Easter Bunny will be on hand to say hello.

visit Sea Ranch

Then, The Sea Ranch Lodge’s Black Point Grill offers a holiday brunch (10am- 3pm) with their annual egg hunt at the Sea Ranch Lodge at 10am-Sharp:

visit sea ranch

Naturally,  you can always celebrate with just your family when you book a Sea Ranch vacation rental. Some vacation rentals, like Abalone Bay, even have private courtyards to hide your eggs. Just remember to keep a good count on them and where you hid them. Otherwise, you may hear back from housekeeping after your departure.

visit sea ranch

Need more ideas?

We have even more ideas for you and your family when you visit Sea Ranch. Check here:

Events in Sea Ranch

Annual and Seasonal Activities in Sea Ranch

Here’s to Taking a Vacation

Kid Friendly Activities

Explore and Experience Sea Ranch

Pokemon Hunting Tips

5 Sea Ranch Activities Unplugged

Discovery Tips for Tide Pools 

Essential Packing List for Sea Ranch

Order Abalone from Abalone Farms: We have recipes

Point Arena Light House

Need a Place to Stay? Why Not Abalone Bay!

visit sea ranch, Bleisure trip , Sea Ranch ,

Book now

 

Share Your Reasons to Visit Sea Ranch in the Comments Below:

We know there’s must be more than six epic reasons. What are your suggestions? Tell us about them below in the comment section.

Filed Under: Dog Friendly, Holidays, Things to do, Vacation Tips Tagged With: abalone, Abalone Bay, abalone harvest season closed, April at Sea Ranch, California Fish and Game Commission, children, dog friendly, Easter at Sea Ranch, family, kids, One Eyed Jacks, Paul Kozal, Sea Ranch, sea ranch vacation rentals, Spring, things to do at sea ranch, vacation, vacation tips, Visit Sea Ranch, whale watching, why visit sea ranch

About Donna Martinez

Reader Interactions

Trackbacks

  1. Save Money on Vacation Rentals:Avoid HA/AirBnB- Book Direct says:
    January 19, 2018 at 3:13 pm

    […] not too early to plan for your summer vacation. And naturally you want to do all  you can to save money when booking that dreamy vacation holiday […]

    Reply
  2. Lets Make California Red Abalone the State Marine Snail says:
    April 28, 2018 at 1:13 am

    […] 8 EPIC REASONS YOU MUST VISIT SEA RANCH EVEN IF YOU CAN’T DIVE FOR ABALONE […]

    Reply
  3. Surfing Sea Ranch and Beyond | Sea Ranch Abalone Bay says:
    August 4, 2018 at 1:40 am

    […] are also great resources for weather and water conditions for just watch the surf from Abalone Bay’s […]

    Reply
  4. Vacation day planning time is coming! Is Yours on the Calendar Yet?  says:
    January 24, 2020 at 10:55 pm

    […] 6 Epic Reasons You Must Visit Sea Ranch in April – Even If You Can't Dive for Abalone says: January 16, 2018 at 8:18 pm […]

    Reply
  5. Abalone Dreams of the 2015 Harvest Season at Sea Ranch says:
    February 2, 2021 at 7:21 pm

    […] diving is a particular incentive for visiting Sea Ranch. To help you realize your abalone dreams, here are is a little picture walk down abalone memory lane […]

    Reply
  6. Abalone Season- Will It Return as a Viable Fishery in Northern California? says:
    February 2, 2021 at 7:26 pm

    […] not everyone is into diving. There’s plenty to do for our guests who are unable to get into the water due to poor conditions or prefer to stay up on dry land. […]

    Reply
  7. 7 Tips to picking the perfect vacation rental at Sea Ranch says:
    March 22, 2021 at 7:05 pm

    […] you be needing to keep up with the latest sports event on a large screen TV and go diving for that elusive 10-inch […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Footer

OwnerRez - vacation rental software! Copyright © 2022 Sea Ranch Abalone Bay :: website by RedSpiralHand :: Log in
  • Our House
  • Availability & Booking
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • info@searanchabalonebay.com
  • (707) 490-8291