The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Marine Unit is responsible for patrolling all of the extensive waterways in Sonoma County. Their mission is boating safety, education, search and rescue, and enforcement of Maritime Law, Federal Law, State Law, and County Ordinances.

The Marine Unit is staffed with one Sergeant and two Deputies, working out of a substation located at Lake Sonoma.

Sonoma County has numerous waterways. Including:

63 miles of Pacific Ocean coastline (where our jurisdiction extends out three miles);
Bodega Bay;
62 miles of the Russian River;
Lake Sonoma (with 75 miles of shoreline);
the Petaluma River;
Sonoma Creek and its connected sloughs;
and a portion of the San Pablo Bay (part of the San Francisco Bay system).

The Marine Unit accomplishes this mission through the use of four patrol boats, two of which are stationed on Lake Sonoma, one at Bodega Bay, and one on the Petaluma River. In addition, four Yamaha Wave Runners (personal watercraft) are used for a variety of assignments where the patrol boats are not practical.