The heat advisory is over but the beach impulse isn't. Crown Beach in Alameda — bay-side, fog-free, $5 parking — is the right call this weekend, with specific transit directions and the one logistics detail that will save your day.

The heat advisory expired Thursday night. If this week's triple-digit inland temperatures have you planning a beach day for Saturday, here's the right call: Crown Beach — officially Robert W. Crown Memorial State Beach, 8th Street and Otis Drive in Alameda — is 2.5 miles of sand on the bay side, which means no marine-layer ambush and water that actually warms up, unlike the Pacific.

The park opens at 5am; the gate closes at 7pm (bathrooms at 6:30pm), so build your day around that earlier cutoff, not the 10pm park-close time. Parking is $5/vehicle, cashless only — credit card, debit, or tap-to-pay at the kiosk. No dogs on the beach, full stop.

Before you swim: check the current water quality conditions at ebparks.org — EBRPD publishes a live conditions PDF for Crown Beach. The rule of thumb lifeguards here will tell you: don't swim within 72 hours of heavy rain.

From Oakland: BART to 12th Street/City Center, then AC Transit across the Webster Tube to Alameda. From SF by car: Bay Bridge → I-980 → 11th/12th Street exit → left on 5th Street → through the Alameda Tube → Webster Street to Central Avenue, right on 8th Street to the entrance.

If you only have a few hours Saturday: arrive by 10am before the post-heat-wave crowd fills the lot, bring your own shade, and leave before the gate closes at 7.