San Francisco's ferries do not all leave from one place, and the two you are most likely to hear about, the boats to Sausalito and the boat to Alcatraz, are different kinds of trip. Our San Francisco ferry hub lists the routes; this guide explains how to tell them apart and what to check before a port day.
1. Two piers, two kinds of ticket
Golden Gate Ferry says its boats to Sausalito, Larkspur or Tiburon leave from a terminal "located behind the historic San Francisco Ferry Building along the Embarcadero at the foot of Market Street". Its riding page says "All Golden Gate Ferry departures out of San Francisco currently leave from GATE B", and it describes a separate Tiburon gate arrangement, so read the gate on the day.
The Alcatraz boat is different. The National Park Service says "all access to the island is through a private ferry company under contract with the National Park Service", Alcatraz City Cruises, and says Alcatraz Landing is at Pier 33. Its hours page says the ferry is "located at Piers 31-33 (cross streets of Embarcadero & Bay Street)". A visit is a tour of an island, not an ordinary ferry crossing, so you will plan it as an outing.
2. Getting to the piers
We could not read the Port of San Francisco's cruise terminal pages today (the pages returned no content), so we do not describe walking distances from the cruise terminals. Ask your cruise line which pier your ship uses, then check the route to the Ferry Building or Pier 33 on the Port's site or a map. The National Park Service says public transit is the preferred way to reach Pier 33, that the Muni F Line stops nearby, and that Alcatraz Landing at Pier 33 "is fully accessible". If you are flying in before your cruise, our flights index covers the flight leg.
3. Sausalito, Larkspur and Tiburon
Golden Gate Ferry says it "operates daily service on three separate routes", with no service on New Year's, Thanksgiving and Christmas days. On its history and routes page, which carries no date, it gives these figures:
| Route | What the page says |
|---|---|
| Sausalito | "The 30-minute trip (one way)"; served by a 715-passenger Spaulding class vessel. |
| Larkspur | "The one-way trip takes 30 to 50 minutes depending on the vessel." Weekdays use three high-speed catamarans; weekends use a high-speed catamaran or the Spaulding class vessel. |
| Tiburon | Service "on weekdays only"; "one-way trip takes 30 minutes". |
The timetables are on separate pages: Golden Gate's schedules page lists four routes (Larkspur, Sausalito, Tiburon and Angel Island State Park) with an effective date of April 13, 2026, but shows no times on that page. Use the individual route schedule for the day you travel, and check the holiday calendar it links to. The riding page says the vessels have indoor and outdoor seating and room for bikes. It does not mention luggage, wheelchairs or weather, so ask the operator.
San Francisco Bay Ferry also runs services from the Downtown S.F. Terminal, including to Vallejo and Richmond. Our hub gives the crossing times and boarding gates its pages listed when we checked; this guide does not repeat them.
4. Alcatraz: what to book and check
Alcatraz City Cruises says the trip over "is 12-15 minutes each way and is factored into the suggested time of 2.5 to 3 hours", and that return ferries leave the island "roughly every half hour from the time of arrival". It asks guests to arrive half an hour before departure to check in, and says tours frequently sell out "a week or more in advance" and that it strongly recommends booking in advance. The National Park Service says hours vary with the season and, on a page last updated April 27, 2021, that departures are about every half hour from 8:45am, with closures on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. Because that page is old, treat the operator's departure schedule as the live source.
The tour operator says that "tours operate rain or shine", that it will notify guests if a tour is cancelled for unsafe conditions, and that guests are usually offered a reschedule, with full refunds if they decline. Do not book a tight return to the ship around a timed island tour.
5. Accessibility, luggage and comfort
- Alcatraz City Cruises lists the dock area, the prison building's main floor, museum displays, the island theater and all vessels as completely wheelchair accessible, and says visitors needing mobility help can ride the S.E.A.T. Tram from the dock to the prison building.
- The same page says luggage, coolers, oversized backpacks and packages are not allowed on the island, with a maximum backpack size of 16 x 20 inches. Plan to leave bags on the ship or elsewhere.
- The National Park Service advises comfortable walking shoes with grip-type soles.
- Golden Gate Ferry's page does not describe wheelchair access; it links to a separate accessibility page that we did not read.
6. Keeping your margin
Work backwards from your ship's all-aboard time, using the last return time on the operator's page and allowing for the walk back to the pier. Our guides on why separate tickets need a buffer and the all-aboard worksheet show how, and the San Francisco hub lists the sources for each route.
Checked on 30 October 2026: Golden Gate Ferry's history, riding and schedules pages, the National Park Service's Alcatraz planning and hours pages, and Alcatraz City Cruises' FAQ. This guide does not use San Francisco Bay Ferry's pages (our hub covers its routes), and the Port of San Francisco's pages returned no content, so nothing here describes the cruise terminals. Golden Gate's timetables load by script. No prices are given; check them with each operator.