Alcatraz Top History and Facts
We’ve listed the Top 25 historical facts on Alcatraz Island and included some great photos too. Learn the history of the Island from the glacial period – to a maximum security prison – to life as a park again.
We’ve listed the Top 25 historical facts on Alcatraz Island and included some great photos too. Learn the history of the Island from the glacial period – to a maximum security prison – to life as a park again.
Alcatraz has always been one of San Francisco’s most loved attractions. The combination of a beautiful boat cruise out to a desolate island – with a troubled history attracts millions of visitors per year. The limited capacity of the boat tours has unfortunately created an after-market for the tickets that is leveraged by tour companies looking to make a quick buck. Shown below is one of many examples we’ve found on the internet. Our advice: watch out, and make sure you are buying your tickets from the direct source for Alcatraz tickets so you don’t get ripped off.
AlcatrazCruises.com – Day Tour – Adult Ticket – $26 (Official Vendor for Alcatraz Tickets)
AlcatrazTickets.com – Day Tour – Adult Ticket – $41 + a $3.95 “processing fee” per order.
Looking through both sites, we found no differences in what you would receive for your money – you’ll just be paying more at the “reseller” ticket vendor. Make sure you buy your Alcatraz tickets early, in advance, and directly from the official ticket / boat company.
There are also numerous “bundled” tours which combine a basic bus ride with the Alcatraz tour to make it more difficult to compare the price. Same concepts apply – and many of the bus tours are rushed affairs which make it difficult to enjoy your day.
Alcatraz now has Hornblower tours with a fully green boat. The boat uses wind turbines, solar panels, and hybrid batteries to power many of the ship’s functions. With over 1.4 million people visiting Alcatraz every year – this is a great step to keeping San Francisco Bay clean and pollution free. Many other boats such as the Red & White already use bio-diesel for their Bay cruises.
The new Hornblower boat carries around 160 people and when it is idling – it runs off its hybrid batteries powered by wind, solar, and plug-in. The interior uses LEED approved recycled content as a nice additional touch. Keep in mind – this is just one of the Hornblower fleet in San Francisco to Alcatraz – but a great first step in keeping the Bay green and clean.
sfTravel calls on all of the boat tour companies that tour into or around Alcatraz to adopt reasonable practices to keep San Francisco Bay clean – Blue & Gold, Red & White — what do you have in the works?