Maritime Museum of San Diego

Despite this being my first visit to the Maritime Museum, I'm already a little biased in its favor, for one very simple reason: they have the HMS Surprise, the ship built and used for filming one of my favorite movies of all time, "Master and Commander". I paid the admission fee to see this ship alone. Everything else was just icing on the cake.

I'm going to contain my exuberant enthusiasm for the aforementioned ship above, and point out that there are at least six other ships docked here that can be toured, including a submarine (not for the claustrophobic), as well as other multi-masted sailing vessels of various eras and nationalities, a steamboat (which also serves as the main "building" of the museum, including the gift shop).

If you're lucky, stick around for period-accurate actors and re-enactments and guided tours, and keep an eye out for large groups of lucky students learning the ropes (literally) of operating the ship during their overnight adventures. Man, I would go back to school just for an opportunity like this!

If nautical nonsense is something you wish...this museum is something you don't want to miss!

Our family of 9 had a great time exploring the Museum exhibits and the San Diego Bay boat tour. Our adventure at the Maritime Museum was in the month of October. October is the month of free admission into San Diego' museum venues.
The weekend we visited happened during a special event downtown so there were large crowds and annoying traffic. Finding parking for two vehicles was terrible. We decided to drop all passengers off at waterside just north of the Museum and the drivers fight for parking. With little choices we settled for paid parking, where the prices were double for special events, about a 15 minute walk to the museum.
Parents of little children, disabled or elderly will have to navigate cautiously. The boarding ramps/walkways, decks to/thru some exhibits are very narrow with steep angles to maneuver through. Exploring the levels of the sailing ships, below decks of the steamship and especially the submarine "Dolphin" have extremely steep ladder wells and found them better to be traversed facing towards the steps like you would a ladder.
Again, everyone had a great time. The cruise aboard the "Pilot" at the end of our visit was worth the extra fee, the tour guide with the Australian accent was very knowledgeable and he answered all the questions from my overzealous, need for knowledge, intelligent grandson. Most of all we got to see points of interest along the bay from a great perspective and allowed everyone to wind down.

The maritime museum is one of the best ways to spend half a day in San Diego, and it's one of the best deals in the city. For an incredibly low entry price, you can see some of the coolest historic ships that span an age range of 500 years. Of course the star of India, Dolphin, and Surprise are the main attractions, but they have a plethora of smaller craft which are just as interesting-and less crowded! The staff here love their job and it shows-they are so nice! I'd call ahead to make sure all the boats you want to see are open and in dock, as sometimes they take them for a spin or have a movie crew occupying them.

The bathroom situation can be limited, so be prepared!

I can't even begin to tell you all how much fun i had going through all the pirate ships and especially the submarine. I was excited to crawl down inside the hull and see all the controls and stuff. My wife is a US Marine Veteran and so we got in for 18.00 each in which is thought was allot of money until we were done with our walkthrough 2 hrs later and I realized 18.00 was way worth it. Super fun and very informative.

We've been talking about going here for almost 18 years now; FINALLY went!!

It was fun, several diff. vessels to explore, some of them with more 'stuff' than others. The submarine was the best in both my and hubby's opinion.

We were there about 2 hrs., staff is very friendly and docents/employees were leading 2 diff. elementary kids around. Lots of info to learn and great maps/models/interactive tools for learning. Well worth the $20 they charge for admission, I'd recommend it to anyone looking to learn about San Diego (or military) history.

It was an interesting experience. Personally, I haven't been on a real boat or ship. So this experience was amazing and educational. You get to see the submarine which was really cool! This is highly recommended, specially for kids, they will really learn a lot from this tour. For only $20 per person and I think kids are less. Highly recommend it. And there's a lot of replicas of different ships on display along with it's history.

Take the 45 min harbor cruise and hope you get Kiki as your guide. Kiki's ability to describe the area, inject great humor, and provide some context & food for thought is amazing. Truly a highlight of our trip to Aam Diego. Thank you Kiki!!

I'm not big into boats or anything, but this was actually fun to see! They have a couple of replicas and a couple of actual boats to explore and learn about. It is all very well organized, and there is a lot of information to read about as you walk through. We paid a little extra to get a boat tour of the bay which was also a great way to see and learn about the city of San Diego. Would definitely recommend! This was included in the GoCity pass as well.

San Diego maritime museum is a whole lotta fun. One nice thing is you pay for your admission and you can return that same day if you have to go get lunch or go to another venue/activity.
The volunteers are all very helpful, informative and friendly.
I was lucky enough to meet Bob in the engine room of the ferry, and he gave me a very nice demonstration of the motors and pumps that he has rigged to run on hydraulic pumps and or pneumatic air. FYI: Bob is only there on the weekends.
They have a nice discount for seniors on admission $18.
All in all, I think it's a great place for a visit, and you get to see some very interesting ships. One of the most beautiful insides, and out was the Star of India.

The museum is a must when in town . It's amazing all the boats they have that you are able to explore and see how life is on each boat !!