City of Martinez and Water Trail Partners Open Accessible Kayak and Paddleboard Launch at Martinez Waterfront Marina

Waterfront engineers with the City of Martinez Public Works Department and planners from the San Francisco Bay Area Water Trail cut the ribbon on Saturday morning for a new ADA-accessible low-freeboard kayak, paddleboard, and outrigger canoe launch dock at the Martinez Waterfront Marina at 7 North Court Street. Located at the confluence of Alhambra Creek and the Carquinez Strait adjacent to the John Muir National Historic Site watershed, the public launch provides Diablo Valley paddlers with sheltered access to more than 1,200 acres of restored tidal marshland along the Point Edith State Wildlife Area.

Marine contractors installed a 60-foot articulated aluminum gangway that maintains a gentle slope across six-foot Carquinez Strait tidal swings, leading to an 8-inch low-freeboard floating dock. An integrated stainless-steel adaptive transfer bench with slide-out seating tiers and overhead grab bars enables seated paddlers and para-athletes to transition smoothly from a wheelchair into a kayak cockpit. A polyethylene V-roller chute with dual side handrails holds vessels steady above the waterline during boarding before allowing paddlers to pull themselves gently into the harbor basin.

On the adjacent shoreline promenade along North Court Street, crews constructed four reserved pull-through unloading stalls for car-top kayak trailers, a freshwater brackish-gear rinse station with spring-loaded shutoff valves, and a weatherproof marine wind-and-tide telemetry display showing real-time Carquinez Bridge current speeds.

The $345,000 waterfront access project was funded through a California State Coastal Conservancy San Francisco Bay Area Water Trail grant and City of Martinez Marina Enterprise funds. Paddlers can check live tidal current charts and guided autumn marsh tour dates on the San Francisco Bay Area Water Trail Portal.