Castles & Kites Festival in Bodega Bay

The Castle & Kites Festival in Bodega Bay was very windy. Good for the kites but not so good for the castles, judging by the number of entries. But we still had a blast. We hooked up with a group of family and friends, assembled a delicious picnic, and enjoyed a wonderful day at the beach. (Click on the photos to enlarge them.)

We picked up smoked turkey sandwiches from Pelican Plaza Grocery & Deli (I think they make the best deli sandwiches in town), packed them with our homemade fruit salad, peanut butter chocolate chip cookies and other picnic goodies, and drove down to Doran Regional Park, locally known as Doran Beach in Bodega Bay.

It was extremely windy but, thanks to my daughter’s fast action, we were fortunate enough to secure our favorite sheltered picnic table on the beach. Doran has about half a dozen tables protected by curved concrete-type walls that provide excellent windbreaks. Each table has its own barbecue pit too, although we didn’t use ours this time. (I actually had a birthday party at this same favorite table a few years ago.)


We brought a gorgeous kite I’d received as a gift from my dear friend Peggy. It’s shaped like a big dragon in bright pink, orange, and yellow, with purple streamers hanging off the wings.





The sky was filled with beautiful kites of all colors, shapes and sizes including a cute fish kite that looked sort of like Little Nemo, and a brown teddy bear kite. There were also stunt flyers zooming their powerful kites over the breaking waves.





There weren’t very many sand castle entries, probably due to the high winds. But we were impressed by those who braved the elements and built massive, detailed castles with towers, windows, winding staircases, and motes.







There was even a woman who sculpted a dog and accompanying dog house. He looked a little like Snoopy but his dog house said “Duke.”



The parks department provided tubs, buckets and tools for castle building.



There were a number of booths set up representing local businesses including Candy & Kites, Second Wind, and the regional parks dept.

If you missed this event but love to fly kites, Candy & Kites says they offer “Friday Night Fun Flies,” every Friday night through the end of September at Doran Beach. Of course you can go fly on your own anytime too, but the Candy & Kites folks are real friendly and offer lots of helpful tips.

Here’s more information about the places I mentioned. And to answer a reader’s question, no I don’t get paid for mentioning any of these businesses. I just love sharing the terrific resources we’ve discovered living here in Bodega Bay.

Pelican Plaza Grocery & Deli (no website)
Pelican Plaza Center at 1400 Hwy 1, Bodega Bay, (707) 875-2522

Doran Regional Park (Doran Beach)
South of Bodega Bay at 201 Doran Beach Road. Directions: Hwy. 1, one mile south of Bodega Bay on Doran Park Road, just past Bodega Harbour Golf Course.

Second Wind
They sell kites, toys, candy, locally made chocolates and more.
1805 N Highway 1, Bodega Bay, (707) 875-9463

Candy & Kites
They sell kites, flags, banners and spinners, salt water taffy, and more.
1415 Coast Highway 1 in Bodega Bay, across from the Pelican Plaza.
Open daily 10:00am - 5:00pm. 707-875-3777