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Tomales Bay in December 2026: darkest nights

Night kayak tours from Marshall and Inverness. Fog helps; moonlight hurts. Late summer to early autumn.

18 pitch-dark nights, 19 dark nights

New moon Tue 8 Dec · Full moon Wed 23 Dec

Night by night, December 2026

NightMoon20:0021:30Best
Tue 1 Dec 40%●●●●●●●●●●20:00
Wed 2 Dec 29%●●●●●●●●●●20:00
Thu 3 Dec 20%●●●●●●●●●●20:00
Fri 4 Dec 13%●●●●●●●●●●20:00
Sat 5 Dec 7%●●●●●●●●●●20:00
Sun 6 Dec 3%●●●●●●●●●●20:00
Mon 7 Dec 1%●●●●●●●●●●20:00
Tue 8 Dec 0%●●●●●●●●●●20:00
Wed 9 Dec 2%●●●●●●●●●●20:00
Thu 10 Dec 5%●●●●●●●●●●20:00
Fri 11 Dec 10%●●●●●●●●●●20:00
Sat 12 Dec 16%●●●●●●●●●●21:30
Sun 13 Dec 23%●●●●●●●●●●21:30
Mon 14 Dec 32%●●●●●●●●●●21:30
Tue 15 Dec 42%●●●●●●●●●●21:30
Wed 16 Dec 52%●●●●●●●●●●21:30
Thu 17 Dec 63%●●●●●●●●●●21:30
Fri 18 Dec 73%●●●●●●●●●●20:00
Sat 19 Dec 82%●●●●●●●●●●20:00
Sun 20 Dec 90%●●●●●●●●●●20:00
Mon 21 Dec 96%●●●●●●●●●●20:00
Tue 22 Dec 99%●●●●●●●●●●20:00
Wed 23 Dec 100%●●●●●●●●●●21:30
Thu 24 Dec 98%●●●●●●●●●●20:00
Fri 25 Dec 93%●●●●●●●●●●20:00
Sat 26 Dec 86%●●●●●●●●●●20:00
Sun 27 Dec 77%●●●●●●●●●●20:00
Mon 28 Dec 67%●●●●●●●●●●20:00
Tue 29 Dec 56%●●●●●●●●●●20:00
Wed 30 Dec 46%●●●●●●●●●●20:00
Thu 31 Dec 35%●●●●●●●●●●20:00

Check one night in detail Tomales Bay tours

Questions

What are the best nights to see the bioluminescence at Tomales Bay in December 2026?

The darkest nights are Tue 1 Dec, Wed 2 Dec, Thu 3 Dec, Fri 4 Dec, Sat 5 Dec, Sun 6 Dec, Mon 7 Dec, Tue 8 Dec, Wed 9 Dec, Thu 10 Dec and more. 19 of 31 nights score at least 4 out of 5.

Which nights should I avoid in December 2026?

Avoid the nights around the full moon on Wed 23 Dec, when moonlight washes out the glow.

20:00 or 21:30: which Tomales Bay tour is darker in December?

20:00 is the darker choice on 17 nights; 21:30 is the darker choice on 4 nights.

Tomales Bay darkness by month

Darkness score 1-5 per tour slot from twilight and moonlight. Weather and plankton health are not included. Times are local (America/Los_Angeles).