A corporate team in Dogpatch Paddle life vests cheering on the beach at Crane Cove Park before a private kayak event

The ultimate board meeting

Private events & team building

Five to fifty people on San Francisco Bay. You send the date and the headcount. We do the rest.

Request a quote

Group size5 to 50

On the waterAbout 2 hours

ExperienceAll levels

LocationsCrane Cove or Mission Creek

Most team building events and off-sites are a room with a different view. Our private events offer another level of excitement. We will guide your team in kayaks or paddle boards on adventures they will bond over around the water cooler. Talk about a “board” meeting!

We also provide a new spin on personal events like birthday parties, bachelorette and bachelor parties and friend group Sunday fun-day! Almost any gathering can be enhanced with a paddling experience on the Bay.

Both of our sites are on the Muni T-Third and a short walk from Caltrain, so a real outdoor adventure fits inside a working afternoon. You send the date, the headcount and roughly what you want out of the day. We bring the boats, the boards, the life vests, the guides and the route, and we pick the plan on the day around the wind and the tide.

Ways to shape the day

Same length, same beach, same crew. What changes is what your group is actually doing out there, and that is the part worth choosing on purpose.

Easiest for first-timers

Waterfront kayak paddle

The standard, and what most groups pick. A guided paddle along the shoreline in singles and tandems, with team-building games worked into the route. Our kayaks are stable and hard to flip, which is the first thing anyone nervous wants to know.

A steeper learning curve

Paddle board skills session

We get everyone standing and steady in the protected water first, then head out once the group is ready. More challenging than kayaking, and the reason people are pleased with themselves on the way back.

For a competitive group

Races and relays

Split into crews and run it as a contest: relays around a course, boat-handling challenges, a scored paddle home. Best on a team that already has a rivalry and wants somewhere to put it.

Wildlife and the water

Bay ecology paddle

Built around what actually lives here. Seals, cormorants, great blue herons, pelicans, bat rays and the occasional harbour porpoise, plus how the tide and the shoreline work. For a group that likes coming back knowing something.

Pier 70 from the water

Shipbuilding history paddle

This stretch built and repaired ships for more than a century, and the yards are still standing. Reading the city from the water is a different city from the one you get on the sidewalk.

Tell us what you had in mind

Something else entirely

Birthdays, intern send-offs, resident events, press trips, a term-long programme for a school. If you have a shape in your head that is not on this list, describe it and we will tell you honestly whether we can do it well.

How it works

Organising a group day out normally means five vendors and a spreadsheet. Here it is one email thread and one invoice.

You send four things

The date, a rough headcount, a start time, and anything you already know about the group. That is enough for a real quote.

2 minutesthe form on this page

We build the day

Boats, boards, life vests, guides, the route, the waivers, and a short list of places that will actually feed a crowd.

One threadone contact, one invoice

Your group shows up

Fifteen minutes early, in gym clothes. We make the call on the wind, run the briefing and take it from there.

Nothing to carrywe set up and pack down

Every event includes

Single and tandem kayaks, paddle boards, or both together
Coast Guard approved life vests, paddles and dry bags
Enough guides to cover the group, and the beach training before you launch
Waivers sent ahead and signed online
Changing rooms, lockers and a rinse station at Crane Cove
One invoice, or an estimate and a deposit if your finance team needs it

Catering, swag, photo and video support are all available, and the sauna and plunge for smaller groups. Say what you want when you ask for the quote and we will price it in.

Good to know

How big it can getFive people minimum. Up to 30 on a single craft, kayak or paddle board, and up to 50 when we combine both. Larger than that, ask: it is a staffing question rather than a flat no.

Is it ok for first-timers?Normal, and mixed groups are the usual case. Crane Cove is protected water with a beach launch rather than a dock, so you are never far from shore, and a nervous colleague can ride the front of a tandem with a confident one behind.

The best time of dayMornings. Wind on the Bay builds through the day and 2pm to 6pm is the least predictable stretch in summer, so a 9 to 11am start is the safest bet for a large group. Evenings later in the season are often lovely.

What to tell your groupAthletic clothes or board shorts, layers they do not mind getting damp, and water shoes, crocs or sandals rather than bare feet. The Bay sits in the 50s Fahrenheit and you are on top of it rather than in it, but a change of clothes is a good idea, especially on a board.

Add the saunaYes. Mention it when you ask for the quote and we build both into the plan. The sauna takes four at a time, so for a larger group we stagger sessions around the paddle. 190° in the sauna, 49° in the plunge, and guests need to be 16 or over for it.

If the weather turnsWe watch conditions all day and normally make the call about two hours before your start time, using NOAA, Windy and real-time bay sensors. If we cancel for safety you get 100% credit, good for any Dogpatch Paddle service for twelve months. We would rather do that than send a team into a bad afternoon.

Changing and bathroomsChanging rooms, lockers and a rinse station inside the Crane Cove shop, which matters when a group is coming from or going back to an office. Public restrooms sit on the north side of the building, 9am to 5pm on weekdays and until 4pm at weekends.

Crane Cove Park701 Illinois Street, in Dogpatch. A protected cove with a gravel beach, the shop, and the sauna and cold plunge on site. Muni KT to Mariposa & 3rd, or Caltrain at 22nd Street.

Mission Creek Boathouse401 Berry Street, beside Oracle Park. The flattest water we have and the closest to downtown: Caltrain at 4th & King, then a walk over the bridge. Giants home games change what is possible there, so flag your date early.

If people driveNeither site has a lot of its own. At Crane Cove there is street parking plus paid lots at 19th & Illinois and 20th Street and the UCSF garage at Mariposa & Illinois, and there is a loading area on the 18th Street access road by the shop that takes a van or a bus. Transit is genuinely easier for a group.

Younger guestsFamily and community groups are welcome. In a tandem kayak the minimum is 7 with an adult, and on a paddle board 7 with an adult alongside. A parent or guardian signs the waiver either way.

Booking and cancellingQuoted rather than booked online, and the date is held once the invoice is paid. Full refund or credit up to 72 hours out, credit inside 72 hours, non-refundable inside 48. A weather cancellation is always full credit.

Lead timeSooner is better, particularly for a weekday afternoon in summer or anything over 30 people, which needs guides rostered. Short notice is still worth asking about.

Talk to a personCall or text (415) 484-9322, or email info@dogpatchpaddle.com. Most quote requests come back the same day.

Who has been out with us

In the last eighteen months we have run private events for large technology companies, biotech and AI research teams, a design agency, a school, a residential community, visiting travel press and the Port of San Francisco, plus birthdays, intern send-offs and one team who came back three times.

Giants home games Watch a game from the water. Paddle out of Mission Creek and into McCovey Cove for a home game. A group booking most planners do not know is possible. Book a game day → The other launch site Or start from the boathouse. Mission Creek, 401 Berry Street: the flattest water we have, beside Oracle Park and a walk from Caltrain. Often the easier ask for a downtown team. Plan your visit →

Rentals Come and look before you commit a team to it from $40/hr Sauna + cold plunge 190° in the sauna, 49° in the plunge, same beach from $25 Preparing to paddle What to wear, where to park, what to expect Plan