The Pier to board one of the most famous tourist site in San Francisco. I would highly suggest getting a booking reservation online instead of attending to Pier 33 and hope that you may get a ticket for the day you visit. For booking online, you may cancel your reservation 72 hours before your date of visit if you change your mind or anything's changed during your visit. If you already got the ql code for this visit, you may go straight ahead to the lineup that would take around 10 to 15 minutes. The ferry itself would be around a 20 - to 25-minute ride from the Pier to the island. Be sure to dress warm since it's very windy and quite cold even in the middle of June on a boat ride. Be ready to spend up to two to three hours on the island if you plan to go through the audio tour. It is highly recommended to do so. Otherwise, you're just walking around an old prison building that has no meaning, no story behind it.

Second time being on Alcatraz but a first time for my kids.. Learned a lot more of the Native-American side of the island, something that never had before. Go to the baseball field there is a door at the end go downstairs there is a absolutely beautiful garden that they are fixing up.

San Francisco's city has piers that spread along the coast and one can enjoy the scenic and city beauty by walking around these piers. Out of these, pier 33 is there for ferry boarding for Alcatraz island.

Spacious waiting area for the Alcatraz boat. There were facts, pictures, benches to wait on, and a model of Alcatraz. We waited here for our boat February 17th 2024. It was cloudy and cold but we brought jackets and water bottles so we were fine. We got there around 2 and our boat left around 240. There was plenty to do and see to keep us busy. But keep in mind we went in the slow season. It was worth it to go in the cold to avoid the mass of people. We also got the behind the scenes tickets and it was well worth it! Buy the tickets in advance, if you can a month in advance. I highly recommend it! After our tour we headed back to the main land to eat at Fog City around 7pm. This is a great place to eat afterwards because it is within walking distance. I will post pictures of it so you can see. We caught the 620 boat back to get off Alcatraz and then walked to Fog City. I will also post pictures of where we parked, you will have to pay but we felt it was pretty secure, was in walking distance of the boat and food. I posted pictures of the streets so you can see where that parking garage is at.

Well organised place where you can take a boat trip to Alcatraz Island. Note that you should buy the tickets online beforehand (at least one day in advance) - they do not sell them offline.

We took the Alcatraz Cruises ferry from this pier! Clean and nicely maintained pier. Excellent cruise and tour of Alcatraz!

Great place to visit, there are so much to see and do. The first must is to see where the seals hangout to sun themselves. The second is try the clam chowder in sourdough bread bowls, there are many restaurants to choose from. If you have kids walk the inside of the pier to see all the snacks and gift shops. If you are adults, walk the outside pier to see all the water sites and enjoy nature. Both are fun to see and do.

It is unbelievable that you are not allowed to take a bottle of water or a loaf of bread with you. I think it's a rip-off. A bottle of water costs more than 5 dollars onboard .

We really enjoyed the trip to Alcatraz. Highly recommend listening to the audio and dress warm. The bay breeze is definitely cold.

A well organised environment readying passengers on to the ferry to Alcatraz Island. Staff were friendly and helpful. Restrooms were ok. Get there at least 30 minutes before your scheduled departure time.

Expensive and visit takes 2h but worth it, and they have really huge souvenir store, pretty cool

It was easy to find and access. We loved our trip to Alcatraz. There was a little pub with fresh fish tacos and slaw. It would have been perfect if not for the homeless man changing his clothes and cleaning his genitals by the outdoor seating for the restaurant.

Pier 33 serves as the gateway to Alcatraz Island in San Francisco, offering a delightful starting point for the boat trip. I highly recommend visiting and embarking on the tour while in San Francisco, California—it's a fantastic experience.

The cost is perfect as it includes the audio tour, and ride over to the island of Alcatraz. Your able to stay for as long in the day as you like, and really explore. NPS did a great job with the audio tour.

This is a cool location to charge your phone and use the RR. The night Alcatraz tour rocks.

Great tour of Alcatraz prison. Love the audio and go at your own pace. Very interesting facts about the prison and the inmates.

We took the ferry to Alcatraz island. A very interesting piece of history and a must see.

Awesome. I think we got lucky due to airshow going on at the same time.. The buildings and tour were awesome. Great pictures opportunities with he golden gate Bridge views of the city and just non stop sites.

Excellent service, went there for a tour at 11:35 and we took the 11:00am ship, saved 35 min.

Very good experience! Despite the signs that say 'no food,' many people brought their own food to eat on the ferry. As long as it was packaged up, the employees/crew weren't worried about it. That said, there were also tons of food vendors just outside the pier area, and everything smelled GREAT. Just have to finish eating before heading in. Once on the island, we really enjoyed the self-guided audio tour. Not overly crowded at all. Last time we had done a guided tour which was great, but the audio tour allows you to pause the recording and go check out other things that catch your eye. Alcatraz island is breathtakingly beautiful, and early July was a fantastic time to go because it's baby bird season! There were tiny fuzzy gulls everywhere, and some baby cormorants as well.

Awesome views. Must visit and walk along the docks for a scenic experience.

Great spot, lots of food choices, souvenirs shops and restaurants. Great spot to get down to the water and awesome place to see Sea Lions and Alcatraz!

The weather was great. We enjoyed seeing San Francisco like the tourists do. It was a new level of appreciation.

The closest that I have seen Alcatraz was from a private boat tour. I have always wanted to go on a tour whenever we are visiting SF. Finally had a chance at the end of April when I was visiting my daughter in college. Someone highly recommended going on the night tour and glad we were able to get tickets. The tour guide said that this is the best tour since there are less people due to limited tickets and some areas are opened that are not typically part of the day tour. There is so much history and stories of people who were imprisoned here.