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Real Pirates Salem Museum: Authentic Pirate Artifacts
4.7
46 Ratings
Salem
Discover the true story of the infamous pirate Sam Bellamy at the Real Pirates Salem Museum. Explore authentic pirate artifacts and the wreckage of his legendary ship, the Whydah.
Discover the true story of the infamous pirate Sam Bellamy at the Real Pirates Salem Museum. Explore authentic pirate artifacts and the wreckage of his legendary ship, the Whydah.
Duration:
1 hour, 30 minutes
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
- Real Pirates Salem - Visitors will get a behind the scenes tour featuring the only verified pirate treasure every discovered. Our docents will lead you on an adventure through the golden age of piracy, and the history of Black Sam Bellamy the richest pirate ever. You will get up close access to real artifacts for Sam Bellamy’s ship The Whydah. As…
- Real Pirates Salem - Visitors will get a behind the scenes tour featuring the only verified pirate treasure every discovered. Our docents will lead you on an adventure through the golden age of piracy, and the history of Black Sam Bellamy the richest pirate ever. You will get up close access to real artifacts for Sam Bellamy’s ship The Whydah. As an added bonus guest will get a free digital photo experience and a $5 “gold coin” for our gift shop!
What's Included
- Take home audio tour
- Free Digital Photo Experience
- Take home audio tour
- Free Digital Photo Experience
Additional Information
“Real Pirates” offers an authentic glimpse into the life of the wealthiest pirate, Sam Bellamy. Visitors can explore genuine pirate artifacts and treasures, as well as remnants of the Whydah, his legendary pirate ship. Enjoy an intimate tour of the museum led by one of the knowledgeable directors or docents. With over 2,000 five-star reviews, it’s an experience not to be missed!
“Real Pirates” offers an authentic glimpse into the life of the wealthiest pirate, Sam Bellamy. Visitors can explore genuine pirate artifacts and treasures, as well as remnants of the Whydah, his legendary pirate ship. Enjoy an intimate tour of the museum led by one of the knowledgeable directors or docents. With over 2,000 five-star reviews, it’s an experience not to be missed!
Location
Real Pirates Salem
Derby Street
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.7
(46 Ratings)
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Aliciakz3173fv
Sep 9, 2025
The Real Treasure of Salem - If you’re looking for the real treasure of Salem, forget the overpriced tourist traps... Johnny Depths is the gold. In a town that sometimes feels more like a postcard than a living, breathing story, Johnny is the heartbeat we didn’t even know we were missing. His passion is infectious, his stories are vivid enough to make you smell the salt on the sea breeze, and his knowledge dives deeper than Davy Jones’ locker.
He’s exactly what Salem needs when commercialism threatens to sink the experience. The Pirate, the man, the myth, the legend... Johnny doesn’t just guide you; he pulls you aboard and makes history feel alive. I can’t say enough good things except that if you leave without booking him for the directors tour you might as well be walking the plank! :)
Review provided by Tripadvisor
N8543elshawns
Jul 14, 2025
I cannot recommend the Real Pirates Salem Museum enough! - Amazing tour. Although it was self guided, this museum was amazing. The signs were easy to read and the exhibits were incredible. One of the best experiences I have ever had.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Curtis_s
Jun 13, 2025
Great for children and families looking to learn about real pirates - This was a lot of fun, especially if you want to learn and see a real treasure of pirates. I highly recommend.
Review provided by Viator
Traveller928
Dec 30, 2024
Pirates of Salem experience - It was excellent. Our guide, Josh, aka Pirate Herbert (or was it Norbert) was very knowledgeable of the Whydah and Captain Sam Bellamy and Blackbeard too.
He made the tour fun and enjoyable. And the most commendable part is he was supposed to go home early but he extended the stay so he can give us all the details.
The exhibits were also great. It was a worthwhile visit.. Highly recommend.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Neighture
Nov 5, 2024
Gem of a Museum! - This is a gem of a museum located just down the way from the visitor’s museum! We chose the Guided Tour, and it was interesting to get a bit more backstory on the items they have on display and learn more about the pirate Black Sam Bellamy, his lover Maria, and his crew. I currently have a book written this year in their bookstore, and they asked me to sign them, which was awesome, and I loved spending time with the “crew” working there. They are very engaging and knowledgeable! This museum is a sister museum to The Whydah Pirate Museum down in West Yarmouth, where explorer Barry Clifford showcases his finds and his story of how The Whydah Galley was discovered. Black Sam is not very well-known, but his story is full of many adventures, including sailing with Blackbeard!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Lakegurl88
Sep 29, 2024
This museum was an unexpected highlight of our trip! - We visited Salem and our guided tour included this museum. We are from Charleston, SC so we were interested in pirates to begin with! The introduction to the tour is really informative and even our teenagers enjoyed walking through the museum. Pretty cool story and you get to see real artifacts!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
21chrystalm
Aug 12, 2024
Cool place full of Pirate History! - This place was so cool! Carolyn(I think her name was) the owner was so friendly. Checked us in and really made sure we enjoyed our experience. Seeing all the real artifacts was so neat. I will definitely recommend to others!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Kevin
Aug 7, 2024
Highly Recommended - We took the Director's Tour and would strongly urge everyone to take it. Our Director for the first half was actually one of the principals and was absolutely fantastic. She switched us to one of the staff for the second half. This was his first tour and it showed. He was ok but needs some guidance on effective lecturing. In any case, it was a great experience. Well worth the price.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
318donl
Nov 3, 2025
If you are really bored stop on in - Short on Pirate lore and long on the subject of what a great treasure hunter the guy who found this ship wreck is. While he certainly found more treasure than I, I really wasn't looking for a story about him, was interested in Pirates. When the tour guide started to compare this to Oak Island and how 90% is based on facts, she lost my interest.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jendanm
Sep 28, 2024
Great display - too detailed with a guide - The museum was amazing with so much history and real life coming to life. The only reason this is average, is we signed up for the Director's Tour. With this tour, we were told it was 1 1/2 hours long. 1 hour into the tour, we were barely 1/3 of the way thorough the museum. The tour guide was great, but went into too much detail to the extent that my spouse and I left and finished the museum on our own after 1 hour.
This is well worth the visit, but maybe not the guided tour if you do not want to listen to hours of stories and college level detail about Pirate history.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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