Anytime I visit a place next to or near a large body of water, I try to include a boat tour of some sort. When I visited the San Francisco area, I knew well that the city was surrounded by water on three sides and began to search for a boat tour of the bay. A short time later, I booked a boat tour of the San Francisco Bay aboard the Red and White Fleet.
Red and White Fleet offers several different tours, running from 60 to 90 minutes in length. The tours take you underneath the famed Golden Gate Bridge and they offer a view of Alcatraz that can only be described as the next best thing to being there. There is also a cruise option that continues to the San Francisco/Oakland Bay Bridge plus a sunset cruise for those who want to add additional color to the skies.
These boats are large and can hold a couple hundred people, or at least that is how it looked. There are multiple levels and when I toured, most people went to the top of the boat, which is open- air and offers the best view. If you don’t want to deal with the wind and cool temps, you can head inside and sit on the middle deck. If you get thirsty or need a snack, just make your way to the lower level and grab something to eat or drink.
The tour provided by the Red and White Fleet is a good one and it lets you see/view several of San Francisco’s landmarks. You also get to learn much about the history of the area from the narrator. The narration isn’t that of a live tour operator- it is conducted through a recording. But the good thing about a recording is that it’s loud, crisp, clear, and informative. If you still have questions, they have people on board who can help you. From the narration, I discovered many things about San Francisco that I didn’t previously know, and I loved the view from the water- it casts an entirely new angle on things when you can see them from a bench seat on top of a boat.
Boat tours are great fun and the Red and White Fleet is one of the best in the San Francisco area. I like the different levels, including inside and outside decks, and I loved the great views of the bridges, Alcatraz, Angel Island, and much more. I recommend it to anyone who wants some time on the water while they soak up the scenery and history of this magnificent city.