<\/p>\n
Members of the Salty Dogs Club gather for a morning cold plunge at the East Beach on\u00a0Crissy Field in San Francisco on Friday, April 3, 2026. A smaller group than is typical was out, and the event was less formal, after a city park ranger issued a warning to the group for holding an event without a permit.<\/p>\n
Jana A\u0161enbrennerov\u00e1\/For the S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n
The Salty Dogs Friday morning swim is normally an energetic group plunge in the frigid waters of San Francisco Bay, rewarded by hot coffee and music from a battery-powered speaker on the East Beach at Crissy Field, with a restorative portable sauna set up in a tent.<\/p>\n
But last Friday\u2019s 7 a.m. plunge was comparatively quiet. Between 50 and 100 people in bathing suits went out, dunked under and stood around in the shallow water as long as they could stand it, then came back in and dispersed.<\/p>\n
There was no coffee, no music, no sauna. It was not even an official Friday plunge.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
That was because the Salty Dogs Club San Francisco, formed in 2024, has been warned not to gather until they secure an event use permit from the Recreation and Park Department, putting in doubt a growing saltwater tradition that usually draws hundreds of people.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A member of the Salty Dogs Club San Francisco wears the group\u2019s sweatshirt on the beach before its Friday morning plunge off Crissy Field.<\/p>\n
Jana A\u0161enbrennerov\u00e1\/For the S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n
\u201cOfficially we are not plunging until the permit is approved but we can\u2019t stop people from their weekly ritual,\u201d said\u00a0Aleks Chojnacki, spokesperson for the Salty Dogs Club. \u201cIt can\u2019t be an advertised group of people.\u201d<\/p>\n
San Francisco Chronicle Logo<\/p>\n
Make us a Preferred Source to get more of our news when you search.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n The weekly dunking, which is announced on a website<\/a> and social media<\/a> under the motto \u201cCold Plunge, Warm People,\u201d happens on the shoreline at the northern end of Yacht Road, just west of the St. Francis Yacht Club. The beach there is operated as a city park by the Recreation and Park Department, and it was a city park ranger who asked to see an event permit on March 27 for a gathering of some 300 people. On that particular Friday, the gathering also had a DJ playing amplified music, and a volunteer cook flipping pancakes on a camping grill.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n There was no permit, as typically required for gatherings in parks with DJs, temporary structures or cooking equipment, and an\u00a0official warning was issued.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThey were very respectful and by the book. They weren\u2019t aggressive in any way,\u201d said John Barnes, one of the five Salty Dog founders. \u201cWe\u2019ve always done our due diligence to be respectful of noise and to leave the place better than we found it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Recreation and Park Department spokesperson Tamara Aparton confirmed Monday that the group applied for a special event permit on April 1, and that they are determining what the parameters of that permit should be. \u201cOur permitting staff is going to discuss it with them and see what makes the most sense with their plans,\u201d Aparton said.<\/p>\n Members of the Salty Dogs Club San Francisco head into the water at around 7 a.m., then typically drink coffee or warm up in a portable sauna.<\/p>\n Jana A\u0161enbrennerov\u00e1\/For the S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n The Salty Dogs posted an\u00a0Instagram video last week appealing to supporters and Mayor Daniel Lurie in hopes he would intervene on behalf of the event and expedite the permit process.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to do this the right way, for all of you,\u201d the club wrote. \u201cBut permits for recurring free community events in this city can take many months and we want to move faster.\u201d<\/p>\n A spokesperson for Mayor Lurie said he was aware of their situation and that the mayor\u2019s office has been in touch with organizers of the event. Further comment was deferred to the Recreation and Park Department.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Salty Dogs Club was formed by five strangers who had moved to San Francisco from Dublin, Sydney, Anchorage, Ohio and Wisconsin, where Barnes is from.\u00a0<\/p>\n Members of the Salty Dogs Club SF gather in the water during their Friday morning plunge at Crissy Field East Beach in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday, April 3, 2026.<\/p>\n Jana A\u0161enbrennerov\u00e1\/For the S.F. Chronicle Members of the Salty Dogs Club gather in the water during their Friday morning plunge. The group has grown into a popular social gathering since it was formed in 2024.<\/p>\n Jana A\u0161enbrennerov\u00e1\/For the S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n Through in-person connections they agreed to meet one Friday in 2024, and that was the start.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cWord spread. People showed up. Strangers became regulars. Regulars became friends,\u201d is how the evolution is described on the website.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The group is informal, with no membership fees, though many sport a $55 Salty Dogs hoodie. The standard Salty Dogs Friday starts at 6:20 a.m. when a small segment of plungers gathers to stretch before a 3.5-mile run out toward Fort Point and back. Everybody meets back at the beach at 7 a.m. and they go into the water for the cold plunge at 7:10.<\/p>\n Most wade to chest level and there is a unison dunk before they hurry back ashore. By 7:30 a.m., they are out of the water and drinking coffee. By 8:30 they are gone without a trace.<\/p>\n \u201cThe whole ethos of Salty Dogs is to bring people together and do something difficult that is out of their comfort zones,\u201d said Barnes. \u201cPeople crave rituals and the ability to connect with other humans.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Members of the Salty Dogs Club have typically gathered for a chilly plunge on Friday mornings, but now the future of the group is unclear.<\/p>\n Jana A\u0161enbrennerov\u00e1\/For the S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n Unlike the Dolphin Club and the South End Rowing Club, both of which swim in the protected Aquatic Cove further east along the shoreline, the Salty Dogs are not swimmers. They launch from a public beach and wade out into open waters. Get in, dunk under, get out. Shiver and shake and drink coffee. Nobody wears a wetsuit.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cEvery Friday rain or shine\u201d is how Chojnacki, the co-founder from Sydney, described it\u00a0\u2014 at least until the warning in March.\u00a0<\/p>\n Since then, and going forward, the group emphasized it won\u2019t have official meetups.<\/p>\n \u201cWe very carefully communicated that there was no event on Friday,\u201d Barnes said. \u201cIt was \u2018hey, it\u2019s shut down for now but this is what we want to show with our actions.\u201d<\/p>\n The Salty Dogs club has become a social outlet for many, including the group\u2019s five founders, who were relative strangers when the started their plunges.<\/p>\n Jana A\u0161enbrennerov\u00e1\/For the S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n In an email exchange last week,\u00a0Chojnacki said the issue was complicated by the fact that the plunge is on the border between areas under the jurisdiction of the city and areas that are part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.<\/p>\n \u201cGiven the nature of our plunge location, it\u2019s been a bit complex,\u201d she wrote, \u201cbut we\u2019re working closely with support officers to move things forward.\u201d<\/p>\n Chojnacki said that she hopes Lurie would see the weekly cold plunge as a positive in his relentless city promotion campaign. And if the permit is granted, she went on, he would be invited \u201cto join the official return plunge of the Salty Dogs.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n