Simplify the following text for a Grade 10 native English-speaking person.
Original: San Francisco Bay lies in the US state of California and is surrounded by a region known as the San Francisco Bay Area , that is near the big cities of San Francisco , Oakland , and San Jose .
Simplified: San Francisco Bay is located in the U.S. state of California , surrounded by a contiguous region known as the San Francisco Bay Area ( often simply `` the Bay Area '' ) , dominated by the large cities San Francisco , Oakland , and San Jose .