Foster City's main attraction is its waterfront and lagoon system. Leo J. Ryan Memorial Park on the San Francisco Bay shoreline has a long promenade with views across the bay to the East Bay hills, a marina, and open grass areas that fill up on weekends. The park is named after the US congressman killed in the Jonestown massacre in 1978 — he represented this district.
The lagoons that thread through the residential streets are used year-round for kayaking, windsurfing, and paddleboarding. Equipment rentals are available. The Seal Slough channel at the northern edge of the city supports a small population of harbour seals that haul out on the mudflats at low tide.
The city is otherwise suburban and quiet. It makes a comfortable, reasonably priced base for exploring the San Francisco Peninsula — Silicon Valley is immediately to the south, and San Francisco is 30 kilometres north.