Marshall, California

Tomales Bay is a long, narrow inlet of the Pacific Ocean in Marin County in northern California in the United States. It is approximately 15 mi (24 km) long and averages nearly 1.0 mi (1.6 km) wide, effectively separating the Point Reyes Peninsula from the mainland of Marin County. It is located approximately 30 mi (48 km) northwest of San Francisco. The bay forms the eastern boundary of Point Reyes National Seashore. Tomales Bay is recognized for protection by the California Bays and Estuaries Policy. On its northern end, it opens out onto Bodega Bay, which shelters it from the direct current of the Pacific (especially the California Current). The bay is formed along a submerged portion of the San Andreas Fault. Oyster farming is a major industry on the bay. The two largest producers are Hog Island Oyster Company and Tomales Bay Oyster Company, both of which retail oysters to the public and have picnic grounds on the east shore. Hillsides east of Tomales Bay are grazed by cows belonging to local dairies. There is also grazing land west of the bay, on farms and ranches leased from Point Reyes National Seashore. The bay sees significant amounts of water sports including sailing, kayaking, fishing and motor boating. Watercraft may be launched on Tomales Bay from the public boat ramp at Nick's Cove, north of Marshall. The sand bar at the mouth of Tomales Bay is notoriously dangerous, with a long history of small-boat accidents. The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has developed a safe eating advisory for fish caught here, based on levels of mercury or PCBs found in local species.Towns bordering Tomales Bay include Inverness, Inverness Park, Point Reyes Station, and Marshall. Additional hamlets include Nick's Cove, Spengers, Duck Cove, Shallow Beach, and Vilicichs. Dillon Beach lies just to the north of the mouth of the bay, and Tomales just to the east.

Marconi (formerly called Fisherman's) is an unincorporated community in Marin County, California. It is located on the northeast shore of Tomales Bay, about seven miles (11 km) south-southeast of the village of Tomales, at an elevation of about 70 feet (21 meters) above sea level. Marconi is located in the area of the town of Marshall, California. The inhabitants of an old Native American settlement called "Fisherman's" later shipped seafood from here via railroad. Then, in 1913, the Marconi Wireless Company bought this site to establish a transpacific wireless telegraph station.

Tomales Bay State Park is a California state park in Marin County, California. It consists of approximately 2,000 acres (8 km²) divided between two areas, one on the west side of Tomales Bay and the other on the east side. The main area, on the west, is part of the Point Reyes peninsula, and adjacent to Point Reyes National Seashore, which is operated by the U.S. National Park Service. The park is approximately 40 miles (64 km) north of San Francisco.

Nick's Cove is the site of a long-standing restaurant and vacation camp in Marin County, California. It is on the northeast shore of Tomales Bay 3.25 miles (5.2 km) south-southwest of Tomales, at an elevation of 7 feet (2 m). Hog Island is in the middle of Tomales Bay, to the west of Nick's Cove, and Point Reyes National Seashore constitutes the western landmass on the opposite side of the bay. The name honors Nick Kojich, who in 1931 opened a seafood restaurant at this location, which is still in operation.

Hog Island is an island roughly 2 acres (0.8 ha) in size located approximately 5 mi (8 km) south of the entrance to Tomales Bay in the West Marin area of Marin County, California. While waters to its west are deep enough for small ships to enter Tomales Bay, at low tide the shallows to the east may be wadeable to the eastern shore of the bay. Unsuspecting vessels have run aground in that region a number of times. However, as it is some distance from the mouth of Tomales Bay, Hog Island does not experience the large sudden waves that characterize the Tomales Bay Bar entrance region.The name Hog Island reportedly came from a wild 1870s incident, in which a barge carrying a load of pigs caught fire and was grounded on the island to avoid sinking—at which point the pigs escaped onto the island until they were rounded up again. The island lends its name to the Hog Island Oyster Company, which produces shellfish on Tomales Bay, several miles south of Hog Island. The San Andreas fault runs through the center of Tomales Bay, past Hog Island. Local legend claims that Hog Island and nearby Duck Island (also known as "Piglet") were once connected, but separated as a result of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. While land deeds from the 1880s indicate that the two islands were separate before the earthquake, the two islands are (and have been) intermittently linked by a sand spit exposed at low tide. The Inverness Yacht Club hosts an annual sailboat race around the island. Competing boats sail from the club, around the island, and back to the club again.

Hamlet (also Telmat) is an unincorporated community in Marin County, California. It is located on the northeast shore of Tomales Bay and the Northwestern Pacific Railroad 3 miles (4.8 km) south-southwest of Tomales, at an elevation of 23 feet (7 m).A post office operated at Hamlet from 1876 to 1886. The Telmat post office operated from 1917 to 1931.

Inverness Ridge is a ridge located on the Point Reyes Peninsula in western Marin County, California. It reaches an elevation of 1,407 feet (429 m).

Walker Creek is a northwest-flowing stream in western Marin County, California, United States. It originates at the confluence of Salmon Creek and Arroyo Sausal and empties into Tomales Bay south of Dillon Beach, California.

Chileno Creek is a stream in western Marin County, California, United States. It originates west of Petaluma, California at 220-acre Laguna Lake which straddles Marin and Sonoma Counties, from which it flows west 6.25 kilometres (3.88 mi) before joining Walker Creek, a tributary of Tomales Bay.

The Inverness Yacht Club or IYC is a small pleasure boating club located in Inverness, California, on the western shore of Tomales Bay, in Marin County, California. The IYC was first formed in 1912, and the current boathouse was completed in 1914. The club was not financially stable and the club was foreclosed on in 1940. In World War II, it was used as a schoolhouse. The club was reformed in 1949 and has been in continuous operation since then. IYC activities include: Summer yacht racing season and local and west coast championships Summer youth sailing training classes Year-round social events for members and guestsClub facilities include: A two-story boathouse, with boat storage and maintenance on the ground floor and a large open meeting room upstairs with bar and small kitchen. A pier extending out into Tomales Bay. A parking lot and boatyard area to the south of the boathouse.Tomales Bay is notable for its many shoals and its sometimes wildly variable winds, coming down out of the various valleys to the west of the bay on the Point Reyes Peninsula. Many sailors not used to such variable conditions have been surprised by them. It forms an excellent training ground for sailors, who have to learn to read the wind and waves to judge conditions around them.

Inverness is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in western Marin County, California, United States. It is located on the southwest shore of Tomales Bay 3.5 miles (5.6 kilometers) northwest of Point Reyes Station and about 40 miles (65 km) by road northwest of San Francisco, at an elevation of 43 feet (13 meters). In the 2020 census, the population was 1,379. The community was named by a Scottish landowner after Inverness in Scotland.

Abbotts Lagoon is a two-stage lagoon on the northwestern coast of the Point Reyes National Seashore, southwest of Tomales Point, in California, United States. The upper lagoon is a freshwater impoundment that overflows into a lower brackish level with occasional winter tidal exchange. The eastern shore of the lagoon is covered with old growth northern coastal scrub including coyote bush, yellow bush lupine, sword fern and California blackberry.