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Photo: Sanfranman59, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
The Visitor Center has an information desk and a bunch of small craft and hands-on exhibits that depict San Francisco's rich maritime heritage, with a special focus on the region's economic history. It provides some information about the boats that line Hyde St Pier.
The San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park is located in San Francisco, California, United States. The park includes a fleet of historic vessels, a visitor center, a maritime museum, and a library/research facility. Formerly referred to as the San Francisco Maritime Museum, the collections were acquired by the National Park Service in 1978. The San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park was authorized in 1988; the maritime museum is among the park's many cultural resources. The park also incorporates the Aquatic Park Historic District, bounded by Van Ness Avenue, Polk Street, and Hyde Street.
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Built in 1907 with its award-winning architecture, the Cannery overlooks San Francisco Bay and once upon a time was the largest peach cannery in the world. Today it's a bustling marketplace featuring three levels of restaurants, shops, offices, and live entertainment. In the middle it has a secluded courtyard with outdoor bars and cafes.
A museum all about the eye: anatomy, vision, eye disorders and treatment, the history of ophthalmology, and rotating exhibitions. Run by the American Academy of Ophthalmology, it's well worth a visit if you're in the area and at all curious to learn about how eyes work.
Take a 2½-hour tour of Fisherman's Wharf on a segway
Don't forget to go and see the real fishing boats at what's known as Fish Alley — after all it is "Fisherman's Wharf". If you want to see them actually hauling in their catch, you'll have to be there around 6AM to 7AM.
A great place to take a break from the bustle of Fisherman's Wharf. There is a small beach at the foot of the park where you'll see kayakers, kite fliers, and swimmers from the nearby swim clubs. At the end of the park is Municipal Pier — the closest you could get to Alcatraz on foot or bike, until continuing deterioration and damage forced it to close to the public in late 2022.
San Francisco Maritime NHP
Prior to the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge and the Bay Bridge, this historic ferry-pier was the primary automobile ferry terminal that connected San Francisco with both Marin County and the East Bay. A fleet of six historic vessels are on display on the pier. Some are available for a self-guided tour, others by docent-led tours. Accessing the pier and boarding ships requires an admission fee. If seeing the ships is your main interest, be sure to ask which ships are open before you buy your ticket as maintenance issues frequently make ships inaccessible. Tides can also prevent access to some of the ships. Among the ships you can see are the Balclutha, an 1886 steel-hulled square rigged sailing ship, the Eureka, an 1890 steam ferryboat (which also has an exhibit of antique cars on board) as of 2022 the Eureka is in accessible because a winter storm in 2020 damaged the gangway, the C.A. Thayer, an 1895 lumber schooner, and the Hercules, a 1907 steam tug (though access is limited to mid-range tides as the gangway is short and steep).