Bolinas Bay is a small bay, approximately 5 miles (8 km) wide, on the Pacific

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

 coast of California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It is in Marin County

Marin County, California

Marin County is a county located in the North San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. As of 2010, the population was 252,409. The county seat is San Rafael and the largest employer is the county government. Marin County is well...

, north of the Golden Gate

Golden Gate

The Golden Gate is the North American strait connecting San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean. Since 1937 it has been spanned by the Golden Gate Bridge...

, approximately 15 miles (25 km) northwest of San Francisco. The town of Bolinas is at its shore.

The bay is fed by Bolinas Lagoon

Bolinas Lagoon

Bolinas Lagoon is a tidal estuary, approximately in area, located at in the West Marin region of Marin County, California, United States. It is a part of the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary. The lagoon is a back bay of Bolinas Bay on the Pacific coast approximately 15 mi ...

, a large inner harbor protected from the main bay by a spit of land, known as Stinson Beach

Stinson Beach, California

Stinson Beach is a census-designated place in Marin County, California, on the west coast of the United States. Stinson Beach is located east-southeast of Bolinas, at an elevation of 26 feet . The population of the Stinson Beach CDP was 632 at the 2010 census.Stinson Beach is about a 35-minute...

.

Along with nearby Drakes Bay

Drakes Bay

Drakes Bay is a small bay on the coast of northern California in the United States, approximately 30 miles northwest of San Francisco at approximately 38 degrees north latitude. The bay is approximately 8 miles wide...

, the bay is considered one of the possible landing spots of Francis Drake

Francis Drake

Sir Francis Drake, Vice Admiral was an English sea captain, privateer, navigator, slaver, and politician of the Elizabethan era. Elizabeth I of England awarded Drake a knighthood in 1581. He was second-in-command of the English fleet against the Spanish Armada in 1588. He also carried out the...

 in 1579 during his circumnavigation

Circumnavigation

Circumnavigation – literally, "navigation of a circumference" – refers to travelling all the way around an island, a continent, or the entire planet Earth.- Global circumnavigation :...

of the world by sea.