KOAK recommendations

Flying VFR to Oakland for a family visit this weekend; appreciate gouge on:

FBO: Kaiser? Landmark?
Fuel at less than $7(!)
Tiedown (or space available in a hangar?)
RHV, LVK, or another for an alternate?

From the NOTAMS, it looks like taxiing will be interesting. Once on the ground, we plan to BART.

thx

Where are you barting to? kCCR is very close to bart and won't require changing trains if you're headed into the city. I recommend PSA aviation for parking. They usually have room for transients in their hangar where I keep my 3.

My opinions, obviously:
OAK: expensive gas, parking. Jets use south field, GA north field. Wx can have low overcast until about 10-11 am. If FBO won't run you to BART, walk across the street to the airport rental car lot, catch a free shuttle back to the main ( south field) terminal, take shuttle tram ($6 per person) to BART. Get a TCA chart, OAK is under the SFO class B airspace.
Hayward: cheap tie downs, same wx as OAK, also under the class B airspace. Not close to BART station, might need to take a taxi.
LVK: great wx, vfr when no one else is, also has ILS/gps approaches. Cheap tie downs, gas $4.60/gal. Hotel nearby. Bart 6 miles away, bad traffic at rush hour. There is an infrequent bus (ask in terminal for bus stop location) or taxi to BART.
CCR: May be your best bet. About a 2 mile walk to BART station, okay if not a lot of baggage. There is also a city bus. Hotel on the field. Parking and gas not outrageous.

OAK input

Gents:

We're staying in Oakland, quite close to Berkeley, so OAK is closest, w/ BART quite close.
Had not considered CCR - will check on them.

ive always flown into OAK, but now CCR. its like the other guys say. cheap gas, close to bart. Plus, youll save like $10 per person JUST on BART. check the price from the OAK therminal to SF, then check Concord to SF and its even cheaper. plus basically same time to get to the city ( i think roughly 45 min).

KCCR it is

All:

Appreciate the recommendations. OAK is closer to our destination (Oakland) than CCR, but Concord sounds more appealing.

Chatting w/ both FBOs at CCR was informative; the tips from a Sterling CFI on approaches, departures, weather, and alternate fields made up my mind.

Will report here when we return, so others searching for options have another data point...

Thanks again, VAF-sters; the annual donation to Dougie's family is the best money I've ever spent on aviation.

KCCR, FBO pirep

As a data point, KCCR is easy in and out for a VFR pilot.

WX is significantly less a factor, as noted, than other bay area airports;
Concord opened earlier and stayed open later than others.
Strong crosswinds in the afternoon, but well within RV limits.
On this trip, transient parking was closed, but FBO provided space.
Sterling was great - good gouge on the approaches, pickup and dropoff
in the local area, and a very pleasant staff.

I planned a "Bay Tour" from here, under or through Bravo, depending on traffic.
The Golden Gate Bridge, Golden Gate Park, and Half Moon Bay were all socked in, so we will try another time.

Glad it all worked out (except for the Bay tour).
However, as a local, I'd say that LVK - protected from the usual on-shore wind and overcast by a series of hills - is usually the last north bay airport to go ifr, and the first to clear in the morning. And even when overcast, it is often accessible from the east via special vfr. For instrument rated, it has ILS and GPS (precision) approaches.