Albany, CA Outdoor Activities

Legend has it that, one night, while Daryn Coleman was hard at work on the construction of his indoor mini-golf course, he watched a fan move across the floor all by itself. The irony of the event was not lost on an awe-stricken Daryn—the plan for his new course was to be centered on graveyard-inspired animatronics of his own design. 

The hauntings didn't stop when Ghost Golf opened for business. Staff members continued to report supernatural incidents unrelated to the course's spooky decor. Finally, after catching some mysterious orbs on the security cameras, Daryn called in medium Maria Langana. Maria immediately discovered the presence of Everett, a self-described friendly spirit who expressed a fondness for amusement parks and admitted a special appreciation for the course's morbid special effects. 

Everett purportedly continues to hang out around Ghost Golf—his favorite haunt seems to be the fifth hole. His supernatural presence only adds to the ambiance of a nine-hole, wheelchair-accessible course that meanders through a chilling array of urns, skeletons, and ghouls who take mischievous pleasure in blowing balls off track.

As a surfer and cyclist, Marcel Mijares was drawn to the Pacific Coast many years ago; since then, he’s found little reason to leave. A native of Venezuela, Mijares spoke only Spanish when he made the move, but his love of the Bay Area fueled his drive to acquire the English language and graduate with honors from the Lincoln School of Business. Now, as the owner of High Trails Cyclery, Mijares combines his passion with his determination, sharing both with riders in the heart of Russian Hill. He leads a team of cycling experts equipped to repair cycles and perform tune-ups, overhauls, and bike fittings. Team members also share their expertise during maintenance classes, in which they teach students to care for their own cycles and understand the dangers of trying to change a bicycle's transmission fluid.

While speedboats are as fast as their name suggests, no vessel on San Francisco Bay is faster than the RocketBoat. It flies across the Bay's waves to the high-energy guitar riffs of a rock-‘n'-roll soundtrack. The RocketBoat is just one of Blue & Gold Fleet's 17 vessels, all manned by expert captains and crews that ferry about 2.5 million passengers annually. On their sightseeing cruises, passengers drink in panoramic views of the San Francisco skyline, the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz Island, and Pier 39, where sunning sea lions occasionally can be seen rubbing sunscreen on each other's backs. Meanwhile, Blue & Gold's ferries carry patrons to Sausalito, Tiburon, and other waterfront locales—including AT&T Park during baseball season—whereas their motorcoach tours chauffeur landlubbers to Northern California landmarks. All their services adhere to award-winning sustainability practices, which safeguard local ecosystems more effectively than arming every tree with pepper spray.

Bay Area Expeditions' experienced outdoorsmen, with backgrounds ranging from U.S. military service to botany education, lead students on instructional excursions to bolster wilderness-survival skills. Classes help students identify edible or medicinal plants, earn ASHI certification for first aid, or learn primitive skills. Overnight expeditions lead guests beneath the starry skies of Big Sur or snowshoeing tours through the Sierra Nevadas’ snow-dusted basins.