Tomales is located 55 miles north of San Francisco, and about 5 miles inland from the Pacific Ocean. Tomales can be reached by traveling north on Highway 101 from San Francisco, and then west through Petaluma. Highway 1 also leads directly through Tomales, and provides a very scenic route, but the road has lots of turns and so the journey takes at least 30 minutes longer. Our driving directions (which will offer you the most direct route), and maps, are located below.
Click here for information on dining and accommodations in Tomales.
We encourage you to carpool to our retreats whenever possible.
If you would be willing to offer a ride, or if you need a ride, please take a minute to sign up for our ride share forum and post your message.
Go to: www.easwaran.org/rideshare
Below are directions from the Bay Area:
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Directions from points north on Highway 101
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Directions from points south on Highway 101
- Directions from San Francisco and Oakland airports are under Travel by air
Map courtesy of Bing Maps
- To create your own personalized driving directions, click here and then select 1-click directions, which is listed on the left side under our address.
Please Note: If traveling on Fridays or holidays, please allow three hours travel from either airport to Tomales, due to commuter traffic.
San Francisco International and Oakland International are the closest airports.
Car rental service is available from both airports for the 55-mile trip to Tomales.
Bus transportation is available from both airports to Petaluma on the Airport Express. Click here for information on Travel by bus.
- Directions from San Francisco Airport to our retreat house in Tomales.
- Directions from Oakland Airport to our retreat house in Tomales.
Traveling from Overseas
When you travel by air from overseas, you will be asked to fill in a form with the name and address of the place you will visiting. Please provide these details:
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Blue Mountain Center of Meditation
3600 Petaluma-Tomales Road
Tomales, CA 94971
Bus transportation is available from San Francisco and Oakland airports to Petaluma on the Airport Express for a one-way cost of $32 ($30 Seniors 62+ and students up to 21 with ID). Call 707.837.8700, or visit their Web site for schedules.
A note about luggage and public transport: If you will be traveling with luggage larger than a small hand carry, we recommend that you take the Airport Express from San Francisco or Oakland Airport. All other transit buses in the Bay Area only allow luggage that fits in the overhead rack or underneath a seat.
The Amtrak bus service also travels to Petaluma from many locations. Call 800.USA.RAIL or click here for schedules and routes.
More information on the Bay Area transit system.
Unfortunately, there is no bus service that travels from Petaluma to Tomales.
Taxi service for the 16-mile trip from Petaluma to Tomales is available from Petaluma Green Taxi (707.769.8294 www.petalumagreentaxi.com), Petaluma Taxi (707.776.4888), or A-1 Taxi (707.763.3393). The one-way cost is approximately $60. While on board the Airport Express, give the driver the number for the taxi company. They will call for a taxi to be waiting for you at your stop in Petaluma. Please tell the taxi driver that you are traveling to the Blue Mountain Retreat House, not the Blue Mountain Center. Please ask the driver to follow these directions .
Tomales has a cafe, bakery, grocery store, and restaurant, which are all within easy walking distance of the retreat house. Click here
for a map and list of the Tomales dining options.
Should you need or want accommodation other than our retreat house, you can find a selected list of accommodation in Tomales and surrounding areas here.