Bethel Island, CA

Bethel Island is a Delta island of close to five square miles, reached over a bridge from Oakley in eastern Contra Costa County. Sloughs ring it on every side, and levees hold the water back from the low farmland inside. Early farmers grew potatoes, beans and sugar beets on the reclaimed ground. After the war, weekend hunters and anglers put up cottages, and marinas followed. Today the island has a good many of them, a golf course and a commercial strip along Bethel Island Road. What people come from elsewhere for is boating and fishing. Black bass, striped bass and catfish are the Delta's reputation, and hundreds of miles of channels start at these docks. Guest docking at the waterfront restaurants makes a lunch stop part of the trip, and the Rusty Porthole hosts the Frozen Bun Run every January 1. Beyond the marinas there is little public parkland, so recreation here means getting out on the water. The commercial strip along Bethel Island Road is as close as the island comes to a downtown. A coffee shop, a deli, Mexican restaurants and a sports bar sit along it, and the bars with docks are on the water at either end. The Sugar Barge and the Rusty Porthole are the two names boaters mention most. Daily life depends on the bridge. Cypress Road in Oakley connects to Highway 4, and Brentwood and Antioch fill in for big grocery runs and most other shopping. Transit is not the island's strength, and a car is part of living here. The honest costs are access and the levees. With one road onto the island, a closure or backup affects everyone, and keeping the levees in shape is an ongoing local job. Bethel Island is a place where a front door can face a slough, and a visit to a neighbor sometimes means a ride in a skiff.