San Francisco Ferry Terminal: Which Pier for Which Boat

Each ferry terminal in San Francisco sells its own tickets, and three places cover most visitors. Start with where you want to go, then use the table to find the pier. When you are still working out how the rest of the city connects, read our guide to San Francisco public transport.

Step 1: Find the right ferry terminal in San Francisco

The right ferry terminal in San Francisco depends on where you are going. Sausalito, Oakland and Vallejo boats use the Ferry Building. Angel Island and a second Sausalito boat use Pier 41. The Alcatraz boat uses Pier 33.

The table below shows the match. Times are the ones the operators publish today, and the operators can change them.

Key Takeaway Three piers cover almost every visitor ferry, and Pier 33 sells only the Alcatraz ticket, so a Sausalito or Angel Island rider should never go there.

A ferry ride is the cheapest way to see the city from the water.

Step 2: Use the Ferry Building for Sausalito, Oakland and Vallejo

The Ferry Building at the foot of Market Street is the terminal for Golden Gate Ferry, San Francisco Bay Ferry and the commuter boats. The boats board at the back of the building, on the water side, and the Ferry Building Marketplace says it serves the Vallejo, Oakland, Alameda, Larkspur, Sausalito, Tiburon and Treasure Island ferries.

Golden Gate Ferry to Sausalito leaves from Gates B and C, and its ticket machines are at Gate C. The crossing takes about 30 minutes. An adult fare is $8.50 with a Clipper card or a contactless bank card, and $14.00 for a paper ticket, according to the Golden Gate Ferry fare page. Each rider needs their own card, and a bank card is charged the adult fare with no discounts.

Paper tickets come from machines that are open 24 hours. They stay valid for 90 days on any Golden Gate Ferry sailing, but they cannot be refunded or exchanged. Golden Gate Ferry has no online booking and no reserved seats, so you simply buy a ticket and board.

Boats run daily except New Year's Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas. The gap between sailings ranges from 15 to 120 minutes depending on the time, the day and the season, and weekends have fewer sailings than weekdays. Blue & Gold's Sausalito fare is not published in the text of its page, so Step 3 sends you to its ticket store. Check the Golden Gate Ferry general information page for today's times before you leave your hotel.

To reach the terminal, BART's Embarcadero station is about one block away, and the F Market and Wharves streetcar stops in front, according to the SFMTA Ferry Building page. Muni's E, N and T lines and the California cable car serve it too.

A Sausalito ride works well as one half of a day. Ride the Golden Gate Bridge on a bike rental with a ferry upgrade, from €19.34 per person, and the boat brings you back. The rental is run by Unlimited Biking San Francisco, rated 4.4 from 584 reviews. If you would rather skip the riding, the Muir Woods and Sausalito tour with a ferry option from Gray Line San Francisco costs from €67.65 per person for 5 to 8 hours.

Pro Tip Tap a contactless bank card on the Golden Gate Ferry reader instead of buying a paper ticket. The ride costs $8.50 instead of $14.00, a saving of $5.50 each way.

Step 3: Use Pier 41 for Angel Island and a second Sausalito boat

Pier 41 is the terminal for Blue & Gold Fleet, which sails to Angel Island and to Sausalito. Its address is Pier 41, San Francisco, CA 94133. The box office is at Pier 39 West Marina, open seven days from 10:00 AM until dusk.

Blue & Gold's Angel Island ferry takes about 20 minutes, according to the Angel Island State Park page. It runs all year, with reduced service from October to March. You can buy tickets online, where service charges apply, at the Pier 39 box office or on board, and the fare includes park admission.

Angel Island has a second ferry, but it does not leave from San Francisco. The Angel Island-Tiburon Ferry crosses from Tiburon in about 15 minutes, and you pay when you board, with no credit cards. Golden Gate Ferry also lists a San Francisco to Angel Island route from Gate B, which SFTravel puts at about 30 minutes, with reduced service from November to March. Because tickets are not sold on that island, buy a round trip before you board.

For Sausalito, the Blue & Gold crossing also takes about 30 minutes, according to its visitor information page. Its tickets are valid on any date up to a year after you buy them, and a round trip needs two one-way tickets. Arrive at least 15 minutes before departure. Blue & Gold does not publish a Sausalito adult fare in the text of its page, so check its ticket store for the price.

Step 4: Use Pier 33 for the Alcatraz ferry

The Alcatraz boat leaves from Pier 33, and you cannot board it without an island ticket. Alcatraz City Cruises runs the only ferry that the National Park Service allows to land on the island, so no other operator offers a seat on that boat. Visiting Alcatraz prison always means buying the ticket first and then going to the pier.

The National Park Service lists the adult Day Tour at $47.95 and the Night Tour at $59.65 on its Alcatraz fees page. Tickets go on sale up to 90 days ahead, and the Park Service strongly recommends booking early. Resellers sell the same ticket. The Alcatraz ticket with ferry and self-guided app is from €68.92 per person, is rated 4.5 from 4,589 reviews and lists Pier 33 as its meeting point. It takes 3 to 5.5 hours, and its listing says it does not include a live guide. The ticket covers the island entry, the ferry and the self-guided app, and the listing gives no group size. Compared with booking on your own, the same boat is sold by Alcatraz City Cruises at the National Park Service price above, so a reseller ticket is worth it only if it fits your date or app preference. The listing shows free cancellation.

The island is closed from 26 October to 18 November 2026 for dock repairs. Check the NPS notice before you buy a ticket for those dates. A cruise that does not land is a different product, and a Bay Discovery Cruise from the operator takes 90 minutes without docking.

Angel Island and Alcatraz are not linked by any ferry, and neither operator publishes the distance between them. Plan them as two separate trips.

Step 5: Buy the ticket the way each operator sells it

Each operator sells tickets in its own way, so check before you stand in a line. Golden Gate Ferry sells at terminal machines and takes Clipper or a bank card. Blue & Gold sells online, at the Pier 39 box office or on board for Angel Island. Alcatraz sells only as an island ticket.

For Oakland and Vallejo, use the San Francisco Bay Ferry schedule, because this guide does not quote its fares. Clipper works on its boats. There is no Berkeley ferry at the Ferry Building, so ride BART or the Oakland boat from there.

Seasickness and cold are real on open water. Bring a jacket on every boat, because the Park Service warns that Alcatraz weather can turn from sun to fog and wind in a day.

A commuter ferry is the wrong choice if you want a narrated sightseeing trip. Golden Gate Ferry takes you across the bay, not around it, and weekend sailings are fewer than weekday ones. For a loop past the bridges and the island, book a cruise.

Step 6: Book a cruise if you only want the view

If you want to see the bridges and Alcatraz from the water, a boat tour San Francisco visitors book is usually simpler than a commuter ferry. A cruise starts and ends at the same dock, so you do not plan a way home.

The Golden Gate Bay Cruise takes 1 hour and costs from €34.72 per person. Its operator is San Francisco Cruises, the Red and White Fleet, and it is rated 4.7 from 4,085 reviews. The listing offers free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead, and the audio commentary comes in 16 languages. The listing gives no group size. Doing it yourself costs less: the Golden Gate Ferry to Sausalito is $8.50 with a card, but it carries no commentary and does not loop past the bridges and Alcatraz. The Bridge to Bridge Cruise takes 1.5 hours and costs from €42.73 per person, rated 4.7 from 1,126 reviews, run by the same operator. It passes under both bridges and shows Alcatraz and Sausalito up close.

Things to Do in San Francisco's count of GetYourGuide listings in October 2026 found 28 boat listings on San Francisco Bay.

Cruises are not a swap for the commuter ferries. When you need Sausalito, Angel Island or Alcatraz as a place to go, use the piers above. If you only want the view, the cruise is the shorter way to get it.