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Historic Bay Tour: San Diego's Chief Pilot Craft
4.6
9 Ratings
San Diego
Experience a historic bay cruise aboard the 1914 Pilot boat, a National Register of Historic Places vessel. Enjoy a self-guided tour and learn about San Diego’s maritime history.
Experience a historic bay cruise aboard the 1914 Pilot boat, a National Register of Historic Places vessel. Enjoy a self-guided tour and learn about San Diego’s maritime history.
Duration:
45 minutes
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
- San Diego Bay - The 45-minute Bay tour takes guests out on the water in a large loop first heading toward North Island and the Aircraft Carriers, then stopping at buoy 22. Tour continues down along Coronado. Guests head just under Coronado Bridge and make a port (left) turn around one of the bridge pillars. The vessel heads back towards the…
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San Diego Bay - The 45-minute Bay tour takes guests out on the water in a large loop first heading toward North Island and the Aircraft Carriers, then stopping at buoy 22. Tour continues down along Coronado. Guests head just under Coronado Bridge and make a port (left) turn around one of the bridge pillars. The vessel heads back towards the Maritime Museum along the downtown side of the waterfront. Guests will see a mixed history of the area and certain attractions within sight. Also, combining lessons in our local ecology and economy.
Attractions generally talked about include: Lindbergh field, the Coast Guard station, North Island, Carrier(s), City of Coronado, Coronado Bridge, Naval Amphibious Base Coronado, Tijuana/border, 24th Street Marine Terminal, Naval Station San Diego, the three big shipyards, 10th Ave. Marine Terminal, Convention Center, library, Petco Park, various buildings of interest in downtown, Seaport Village, Tuna Harbor, USO Park, the Midway, cruise ship terminals,
What's Included
- Self-guided museum tour with general admission ticket
- 45-minute scenic pilot cruise
- Self-guided museum tour with general admission ticket
- 45-minute scenic pilot cruise
Additional Information
From its launch in 1914 until its retirement from regular service in 1996, the Pilot served as San Diego’s primary pilot vessel, aiding nearly every major commercial ship entering or exiting the bay during that period. Guests can enjoy a narrated historical bay tour on this vessel, one of the select few in the nation recognized on the National Register…
From its launch in 1914 until its retirement from regular service in 1996, the Pilot served as San Diego’s primary pilot vessel, aiding nearly every major commercial ship entering or exiting the bay during that period. Guests can enjoy a narrated historical bay tour on this vessel, one of the select few in the nation recognized on the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior.
- Not recommended for public with limited mobility.
Location
1492 N Harbor Dr
North Harbor Drive
Check in at the Maritime Museum of San Diego Ticket Booth first. Then make your way inside the Museum to the outdoors waiting area at the aft-deck end of the 1898 Victorian-era steam ferryboat Berkeley.
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
4.6
(9 Ratings)
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Rosapdx13
Mar 19, 2025
One of our favorite activities and so much for the price! - Best surprise great activity! So much for one price! Go aboard the deepest diving submarine, 6/7 boats, museum and a boat ride to view the military use of harbor plus go under the great bridge! Tour guide on boat was SO knowledgeable about so many different details- she has done extensive research on the bridge, sea lions, each boat in the harbor and shares so much enthusiasm it's contagious! Plus one boat was in a movie- great military models, steam engine rooms, ...!!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Carrie_l
Mar 1, 2025
Ideal Harbor Cruise for Convention Attendees - While in town for a conference, I had a couple of hours free between sessions. This 45-minute tour on a historic pilot boat was an ideal way to see the highlights of the San Diego harbor and learn a bit about its history when I didn’t have a lot of time. Our guide was knowledgeable and engaging, and we saw great views of the city skyline, the Coronado Bridge, Coronado Island, and the aircraft carriers—including a better view of the USS Midway than you can get from land! The ticket price for the harbor cruise includes admission to the Maritime Museum, which is definitely worth exploring as well. Highly recommend this fun and informative tour, especially if you’re short on time but want to check out the San Diego harbor and enjoy the fabulous weather before you’re back inside the convention center for your next session!
Review provided by Viator
Al_a
Feb 20, 2025
Floating Fun House - Many different types (steam, sail, ferry, pilot, swift) ships to explore with the feeling of being in a floating piece of history. Much exercise for active and mobile people
Review provided by Viator
Liz_r
Jul 29, 2024
My fantastic boat tours - Just being out on the water was fantastic. I went on the boat tour to times, and both guides were incredibly knowledgeable about the area and provided a lot of history about what we saw during the tour
Review provided by Viator
Ncmeyn
Apr 27, 2024
Fascinaitng narration of the San Diego Bay by very knowlegeable Staff on Pilot Boat Cruise - My husband and I took a great sail on a Pilot Boat, an option add on when visiting the San Diego Maritime Museum. The excursion is a 45 minute ride in and around the San Diego Harbor. John M was the Captain and a very professional and friendly one at that. Our narrator onboard named Ki Ki, was extraordinary in knowledge and enthusiastic in her presentation as to what we were experiencing. To be frank, we have been on San Diego Harbor tours on many occasions- but never on one have we encountered such a well informed crew- who enhanced our tour with historical and detailed information of the Harbor.
Although the day was grey and overcast - our experience was brightened by these two members who were so enthusiastic and added such colorful commentary to what we were seeing and experiencing.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Joyce_w
Dec 7, 2025
Wonderful bay trip - It was too short & the seating for short people was hard to sit. We enjoyed our narrator very much, he was very knowledgeable about the bay.
Review provided by Viator
Tommy599
Dec 29, 2022
Well maintained museum ships - WOW this maritime museum is 10 X better than the one in San Francisco, With 9 WELL MAINTAIED ships for us to visit; Star of India (LARGE steel sailing ship that plied all the oceans of the world) / HMS Surprise (used in the Johnny Depth movies “ Pirates of the Caribbean, and most noteworthy “Captain and Commander” with Russel Crow) this was the only craft we could not go on as she is getting ready to go into dry dock / Large steam-driven Ferry Berkley, that was used in between Oakland and San Francisco before the Oakland bridge was constructed. The ferry’s insides are immaculate and filled with all sorts of ship models and nautical things --Tom even got down into the engine room to operate the engine on the hydraulic jack with the help of a volunteer X submariner that volunteers to work at the museum.
A most excellent replica of a Spanish galleon / Media (private steam yacht, very similar to the shipwreck Glinda up in lake superior / Vietnam Swift river boat still with her guns / Pilot boat / AND The Navy deep diving research test vehicle SS 555 Submarine Dolphin (bult in 1968 and capable of reaching depths of 3-4 thousand ft.
Most of the ships in the fleet are fully operational (excluding the submarine and ferry) and are taken out on weekends with paying guest manning the stations.
We went out on the 1914 Pilot Boat for a 45-minute cruise in the harbor. Our female tour guide was from Italy and was quite the entertainer.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Phil-the-badger
Aug 6, 2022
Reasonable - It was reasonably interesting. Spent about 2 hours looking around the ships , which have been very well restored / maintained.
Staff were all very pleasant.
Reasonable value for money.
The pilot boat add-on to cruise around the marina is definitely recommended - a very interesting narative and saves spending 4 times the amount going on a specific harbour tour.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
