The East Bay offers bountiful opportunities for indoor and outdoor recreation, including readers’ favorites such as top-tier hiking and biking trails, accessible parks, design-savvy swimming pools, and accommodations and gear for stylish staycations or travel afar.
One place sometimes overlooked requires island hopping. For a superlative daycation, one may check out Alameda, the city and tiny archipelago of islands floating off Oakland’s shoreline. Exploring the history and terrain of this East Bay gem once inhabited by Ohlone tribes for thousands of years is a magnificent way to expand on mainland recreation.
On Alameda, golf and nature-lovers might visit Corica Park to re-discover the newly renovated public golf course recently named one of the top 15 municipal courses in the country by Golf Magazine. Reimagined and reopened in March 2025, the challenging 18-hole course is a scenic oasis, with rolling hills and gorgeous views. It’s the perfect setting for the course’s wide fairways, stunning greens and Scottish-style pot bunkers.
For golfers of all ages and abilities, there are exceptional practice facilities, a 9-hole, par-3 course (currently under renovation), year-round youth programs, free walk-up play for juniors after 4pm, discounted or free opportunities for school and nonprofit groups, and women’s clinics.
Restored to highlight the area’s vibrant ecosystem with natural habitats for birds, butterflies, plankton and fish, the design emphasizes operational sustainability via comprehensive water capture and recycle systems, and biochar applications, resulting in a largely drought-tolerant, pesticide-free course.
After or instead of a round of golf, one may kick back in the sand at Robert Crown Memorial State Beach, check out the nostalgic vibe at the Pacific Pinball Museum, explore the historic downtown and pop into the Alameda Museum or Alameda Free Library for information about not-to-miss sites.
All of this trekking requires fuel, right? Here again, Alameda serves up plenty, with eating emporiums offering a terrific range of cuisine: Asian, American, Mediterranean, Mexican, African and more. Bakeries, ice cream shops, burger and pizza joints, and coffee shops provide great eat-in or picnic fare.
To lube up with adult libations before heading home, one may tour distilleries like St. George Spirits, sample craft beers at Faction Brewing Company and others, and support the island’s burgeoning wine movement with a bottle of vino to enjoy in the days to come.
View the Best of Recreation readers’ picks here.
