Big Lagoon in Humboldt County

windoggie · Joined: 22 Feb 2002 Posts: 1887

I'm up in Humboldt quite a bit these days and need a bit of local knowledge regarding Big Lagoon north of Arcata as well as other spots. Any help on forecasting etc. would be much obliged.

zirtaeb · Joined: 03 Jul 2009 Posts: 1767

I wish I could help, but when I get that far N, I'm passing everything on the way to the Cape.
Watch out for lower tides, mud flats can be a problem, doesn't seem to blow during clearing of fog, but does blow on super strong NW's.
My times there reminded me of BolinasLagoon, just not right for any consistent windsurfing.

sailtildark · Joined: 22 Mar 2012 Posts: 12

I sailed Big Lagoon a couple of years ago. It is about a half hour north of Eureka. It's a body of water about the size of Bodega Harbor separated from the ocean by a 200-yd wide sandspit. It's not directly connected to the ocean so tides are not an issue - I couldn't touch the bottom except at the beaches. I had a great 6.6 day there with clear water and fun knee-high chop. You'll cross a bridge heading north over a drainage that flows into the lagoon; the launch is down the second dirt road on the left - high clearance is advised. Go north up the beach to a sweet protected launch. Awesome place to sail if you can catch it.