Swim, Kayak & Paddle Board In Beautiful Lake Tahoe
Crazy Summer Beach Madness
We originally started our day headed to the very popular Sandy Harbor Beach. We had been there the day before on a Friday and had an amazing time, but going on a Saturday was a completely different experience. See our review for details.
So after not being able to get into Sandy Harbor, we headed south down the Nevada side of the lake. We were really disappointed that Sandy Harbor filled up, and we didn’t know if we would be able to get into any beaches at this point in the day. As we drove along, the roadside was lined with cars around other popular beach areas.
We passed three beaches that had no more parking available. As we searched the map we decided to try Zephyr Cove. To our surprise they were not full yet. It was 9:30 am at this point. We paid the $12 parking fee and quickly found a spot. Moral to this story is, you have to get up pretty early in order to get a spot at most Tahoe beaches in the summer.
Some Tips for finding your beach spot
After you pull in and pay at the kiosk, the main parking area is to the right. If you park near the kiosk area you will see a few sand volleyball courts just to the left of you along with a boat dock. To the left of the courts is the main beach area. We found that area to be pretty crowded, but if you keep going down the beach, the crowd thins out.
This area is fully roped off and is nice for beach front play, swimming and paddle boarding.
To the right is an area with big rocks in the water and shallower water to play in. There are smaller sections of beach on this side. If you think this might better suit your needs, go to the very end of the parking lot when you turn right after paying.
Heading To The Water
After we parked, I took two towels down to the beach to hold our spot. The beach was packed. I managed to get a small piece of real-estate to put down our towels. I came back to the van, we had some food and then we grabbed our paddle boards and headed down to the water.
There are a lot of boats parked outside the roped off swimming area which we enjoyed looking at as we paddled around. That area has some very beautiful homes along the water. For the first part of the day we hugged the coastline and paddled over a mile as we enjoyed looking at the homes and the private and public beaches.
Paddling Left Vs. Paddling Right
We started out going left where it seemed most of the crowd had decided to go. We didn’t mind though since we were rarely on the beach. We were out on the water for most of the time we were there.
We paddled out past the roped off area where there were a lot of boats anchored. We assume most of them are owned by the people who own the beautiful lake houses. We had fun paddling around looking at all the boats before we decided to hug the shore and look at all the houses. But before we got too far, the harbor patrol stopped us.
Apparently you must have a life jacket on your paddle board. You don’t have to wear it, but you have to have one with you. Since we were not aware of the rule, he told us to attach the paddle board leash to our ankles and stay close to shore. It was a great couple of hours looking at homes and visiting a couple of beaches.
After our hunger started to kick in, we headed back to the van for some lunch. After lunch we decided to explore the other side of the beach. There is a dock between the two sides where people rent and fuel up boats. There is also a riverboat that takes people out on lake tours. We paddled around the dock to find a great paddle and swimming area with a few smaller beach areas.
This side was fun for paddling around the rocks and swimming in a shallow area that stretched from the beach out to the rocks. If you have kids or just want more fun things to do on the lake, I would choose the right side. There were a lot more people in the water on this side.
Amenities And More
- www.zephyrcove.com
- 1-800-238-2463.
- $12 parking fee which is waived in the winter.
- Picnic tables.
- Food concessions.
- Kayak, paddle board and motorized water craft rentals.
- Public bathrooms.
- Volleyball courts.
- No dogs, fires or glass.
- Open year round.
Our Impression
First I have to say, Lake Tahoe’s water is amazing. Half the fun was looking at the turquoise water as we paddled over the rocks and sand below us. This beach area has a lot to offer and appears to not fill up as quickly as the more popular beaches like Sand Harbor Beach. With that said though, I would still try to get there early on the weekends if you want a beach spot right on the water. While we want to expore more areas of lake tahoe on our paddle boards, i’m sure we will be back here at some point.