Sausalito Cruising Club

The Sausalito Cruising Club is one of the most singular music venues in the Bay Area, a members-only private sailing club housed on a refurbished World War II ammunition barge docked at Dunphy Park in the heart of Sausalito, with Richardson Bay, Belvedere, Angel Island, and the San Francisco skyline spread out in every direction. Founded in 1949, the SCC is the oldest community gathering space in Sausalito, and its unlikely combination of nautical history, waterfront beauty, and genuinely lively live music has made it a beloved open secret among Bay Area music lovers who are lucky enough to know a member. The main room seats up to 60 around a dance floor and stage, with a full-service bar pouring affordable cocktails and a galley kitchen producing Southern-inspired food on music nights. Live music runs on Fridays and Saturdays, with Monday evenings traditionally featuring a blues jam and dancing that fills the floor and spills out onto the deck. Past performers include Eric Lindell, the David Outlaw Band, and a rotating cast of Bay Area blues, R&B, soul, and rock acts who consistently find the intimate, water-surrounded setting brings out something special in a show. Being on a barge means the room moves gently with the tide, and the best nights here have the quality of a party happening somewhere between land and sea. The club has nearly 500 members, both sailors and landlubbers, and while non-members need a member escort to attend, the music calendar is public and the door is warm.