Specialties
Welcome aboard our floating fleet of adventure and history! Admission to the “Maritime Museum of San Diego” gives you access to one of the world’s finest collections of historic sea vessels and exhibits. Once on board our museum ships, you will find that we offer something for people of all ages. You not only explore Maritime Museum vessels from sail to steam to submarine, the museum displays permanent and temporary exhibits on art, maritime history, ship models, commerce and exploration. You can take a self-guided tour or schedule docent guided tours and host family friendly events regularly. 45-minute narrated Historic Bay Cruises run daily and can be added on to the price of admission for only $10.00. OR on the weekend, join the crew of the PCF 816 Swift boat for a 75-minute narrated Naval History Bay tour for only $15.00 more. There is no better way to spend the day than on the bay! Most weekends the Museum hosts public adventure sailing experiences aboard the galleon replica San Salvador and tall ship schooner Californian. Admission included with ticket purchase. See sdmaritme.org for tickets and availability. Note: H.M.S. Surprise is closed for restoration.
History
Established in 1948.
Founded in 1948, the museum grew out of the earlier efforts of a group of local historians and maritime enthusiasts who acquired the sailing ship Star of India in 1927. Now fully restored, the Star of India is maintained by a dedicated group of volunteers and skilled craftsmen and sailed at least once a year. Today, the Maritime Museum of San Diego includes a fleet of ten historic vessels. Guests have the opportunity to explore tall ships including historic landmarks such as the 1898 steam ferryboat Berkeley, steam yacht Medea, USS Dolphin and Soviet-era Foxtrot submarines, art galleries, naval history exhibits, maritime history exhibits, and much, much more. You can even head out on a San Diego bay cruise on our 1914 pilot boat or take a naval history bay tour aboard the Museum’s US Naval PCF 816 Swift boat.
- Website: https://sdmaritime.org/
- Address: 1492 N Harbor Dr, San Diego, CA 92101
- Phone: (619) 234-9153
Highest Review
We had a great time on pilot tour and viewing beautiful well kept boats and submarine and enjoyed learning history of each one. Our tour Italian tour guide was the best! She had so much information about our ports, navy, marines and San Diego living.
Lowest Review
Horrible experience and not worth the money at all. My family and I went yesterday because my son was super excited to see a pirate ship. When we went to get the tickets, the guy at the front was extremely rude to my mom about her putting on her mask. Ticket purchase is outside, she’s fully vaccinated, and the way he demanded her to put it on could have been handled a lot nicer. I also watched this same man yell at two children for being too far away from their parents (they were right behind them). Anyways, we got our tickets and were told that we could only tour the decks and not below deck. Totally fine. We go in, and there was only submarine to view that should be closed due to the floor falling in on itself. I stepped on one part and my foot fell in. Two of the boats you get to tour were closed as well. There was trash, tools, and construction equipment everywhere. So basically, we paid full price to see a ran down trash can. I normally don’t leave reviews but I wouldn’t want someone to have the experience we did and be paying full price.
