Discover history and family fun on San Diego Bay
Our beautiful San Diego waterfront provides numerous exciting family activities. Combining San Diego history with shipboard fun provides a perfect family adventure.
USS MIDWAY
The USS Midway was America’s longest-serving aircraft carrier and is now a major attraction in San Diego. It’s possible to spend an entire day on board without seeing everything. Self-guided audio tours narrated by Midway sailors and aviators bring this majestic ship to life, much to the delight of visitors, young and old. Midway veteran docents regale visitors with their own adventure tales. The immense hangar bay offers ship models, flight simulators and numerous military exhibits. Piped sounds of the ship add realism, and it isn’t hard to imagine what life was like aboard this floating “city at sea.” Kids are eager to climb in ship’s bunks where sailors slept, visit the massive galley kitchen, and explore the squadron ready rooms where fighter pilots gathered. The flight deck—one of the most fascinating parts of the Midway—houses 25 aircraft and offers stunning views of the harbor. Atop the flight deck stands the island and bridge where the Captain controlled the vessel on the high seas. Cockpit access to some of the aircraft allows people to imagine being naval aviators for a brief moment in time. The Fantail Café provides food and drink. At the end of the tour, kids can pick up Junior Pilot Wings at the information booth on the Hangar Deck.
MARITIME MUSEUM OF SAN DIEGO
A great place for kids to learn about the sea! Housing an impressive collection of ships and submarines, the museum offers a little something for everyone. One admission grants access to all vessels in the museum’s collection. Featured attractions include:
Star of India is the queen of the waterfront. Built more than 150 years ago, this tall ship hails as the world’s oldest functional merchant sailing ship. With her wooden decks and towering masts, she harkens back to the days of high sea adventure, skimming through the water under huge billowing sails. Unlike many other preserved vessels, the Star of India’s hull, cabins and equipment are nearly 100 percent original. Kids interact with the captain and his mates, learning basic seamanship like tying sailor’s knots and nautical language, “Aye, aye, Captain.”
HMS Surprise. Boarding a 1750s 28-gun replica of the Royal Navy frigate featured in the movies Master and Commander and Pirates of the Caribbean is guaranteed to bring out the swashbuckling buccaneer in all of us. The Surprise boasts cannons, crows nests and plenty of authentic 18th-century furnishings. A gentleman visiting from Boston exclaimed while coming aboard, “I played on this ship as a child. And now, I totally feel like a kid again.”
The Californian, a replica revenue cutter from the gold rush era and the state’s official tall ship is open most weekends and provides optional afternoon excursions into San Diego harbor.
San Salvador. A new addition to the Museum’s flotilla is the long-awaited replica of the Portuguese galleon—and the first European vessel to reach the California coast in 1542 commanded by Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo. Home-ported in the San Diego harbor, San Salvador makes her first public appearance at the Festival of Sail on September 4!
USS Dolphin and B-39. For those fascinated by the “Silent Service” the museum also offers tours of the USS Dolphin, a deep diving Navy nuclear research submarine and B-39, a classic Soviet diesel submarine and a veteran of the Cold War. Like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, young sailors can conduct missions under the waves as they look through periscopes and explore the control rooms of these “guardians of the deep.”
CITY CRUISES BY HORNBLOWER One of the best ways to explore the San Diego Bay is to take a San Diego harbor cruise. Hornblower Cruises offers excellent, informative one- or two-hour narrated tours north and south of the Embarcadero. San Diego is a Navy town, so go explore the tremendous naval heritage of our city. South itinerary features a sail under the Coronado Bridge past Seaport Village, Petco Park and the massive Navy base with its amazing array of ships. North itinerary showcases North Island, Harbor and Shelter Islands, Point Loma and the boisterous sea lions that have taken up residence here. Both tours offer stunning views of the North Island aircraft carriers and the majestic San Diego skyline. The two-hour tour combines both itineraries. Don’t forget your binoculars!
When You Go
Tickets can be purchased at ticket booths on the San Diego Waterfront Embarcadero. For additional information, contact individual ticket offices.
USS Midway Museum
910 N. Harbor Dr.
619-544-9600
www.midway.org
Maritime Museum of San Diego
1492 N. Harbor Dr.
www.sdmaritime.org
City Cruises by Hornblower
Pier 2
970 N. Harbor Dr.
855-253-7943
Noreen L. Kompanik is an independent travel writer, photographer and San Diego resident. She has a passion for travel, cooking and especially her family.
Published: July 2015
