San Francisco Bay Cruise

One of my favourite things that we did with my parents on their recent visit from Australia was a San Francisco Bay cruise. We actually went on two boat rides in the bay with my parents. The first was a Ride the Ducks ride which took us in the water close to AT&T Park (and which you can see here) and the second was a Red & White Fleet cruise which took us under the Golden Gate Bridge and past Alcatraz.

Our bay cruise with Red & White Fleet departed from Fisherman's Wharf and headed out towards the Golden Gate Bridge. We were lucky that Karl the Fog (yes, it has a name!) kept away for the most part and we had beautiful blue skies. The views over the city were absolutely stunning, especially with the flag flapping perfectly behind the boat.

As we approached the Golden Gate Bridge we were met by windsurfers who came close to ride on our wake.

No matter how many times we see the bridge we're all absolutely in awe. We can see it any time we like from our roof top deck yet each time it still feels new and exciting. It's funny how that happens with famous landmarks. Kim and I felt the same about the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House during the five years that we lived in Sydney. We could see them both from one of the apartments we lived in, I drove across the Harbour Bridge almost every day for work and I could see the Harbour Bridge from my desk at work, yet it always stunned me that something so famous was really just there. I feel exactly the same about the Golden Gate Bridge. How lucky we are to have such an amazingly beautiful landmark so close.

Cruising underneath the bridge was pretty exciting. I loved seeing it from such a different vantage point.

A container ship cruised underneath the bridge as we were leaving. When I see such a huge ship I always feel as though there's no way it could possibly fit under the bridge. But sure enough it does, and with plenty of clearance. It really opens your eyes to just how high the Golden Gate Bridge really is.

From the Golden Gate Bridge our boat ride cruised past another San Francisco Bay landmark: Alcatraz. We toured Alcatraz with my parents during their last visit (you can see our day at Alcatraz here) this time around we didn't stop at the island but it was nice to see it up close from the water, and from a different vantage point to what we're used to.

Mathilde slept during the entire 60 minute cruise. When she's wrapped in her Boba wrap she sleeps like, well, a baby! She so snug and relaxed that she just sleeps and sleeps and sleep. Her little hands popped out the side at one point and started grabbing onto my fingers. It was so adorable!

Arriving back at Fisherman's Wharf we had a great view of the USS Pampanito (a World War 2 submarine)  and the other ships that make up the Maritime National Historic Park.

Our bay cruise with Red & White Fleet was fantastic. Ava and my parents made use of the complementary audio tour and headphones to learn a little more about San Francisco. I was happy just to soak in the views.

We went on the Golden Gate Bay cruise which lasts for an hour. Red & White Fleet also offer longer cruises as well as packages.

If you're in San Francisco and you're looking for a different way to take in the views over the city you can't go past a bay cruise. It really is special.