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The Embarcadero
a walking tour by Carol Mendel
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This self-guided walking tour begins at Embarcadero Marina Park, where you are surrounded by the bay on three sides. After passing the shops of Seaport Village, you walk by the piers of commercial fishing boats. Next you can visit the USS Midway Museum. Passing the harbor cruise boats, you arrive at the San Diego Maritime Museum, where there are several historic ships to explore.
When you have finished the route, you might want to return to the Broadway Pier area to take one of the harbor cruises for an extensive, personally conducted tour of the many sights and activities of San Diego Bay.
Distance: One and a half miles, one way. Time: An hour or more, depending on how much is going on and how much time you spend at the museums. Allow extra time if you take a harbor cruise. Be careful of your time if you have a car parked at a location with metered parking.
MAP of the walking tour
Terms of Use
Begin your walking tour of the waterfront at the tip of Embarcadero Marina Park. If the day is windy, you may find some avid kite flyers here.
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Another minute or so brings you to Tuna Harbor. This is the center for San Diego's commercial fishermen. On the inner sides of the piers are slips for the bait boats and gillnetters that offload at the dock you just passed. The bay side of the outermost pier is large enough to accommodate tuna seiners.
At one time San Diego was home to the world's largest tuna fleet, dominated by the descendants of the Portuguese immigrants who founded the industry in 1911. The fleet grew until during the 1970's it had approximately 200 boats. Today, many families of tuna fishermen still live in San Diego, but the seiners are seldom seen here. With the increased fishing activity in the far Western Pacific and the closure in the early 1980's of both San Diego tuna canneries, fewer and fewer boats need to come to San Diego. Instead they are using canneries and getting their repairs and provisions at such places as Samoa and Puerto Rico. Mostly it is only the crews that return to San Diego, to visit their families here.
On the north side of Tuna Harbor, be sure to stop at A National Salute to Bob Hope and the Military to see the group of sculptures showing Bob Hope, complete with audio, entertaining World War II servicemen. A little farther on, the sculpture Embracing Peace is based on the famous photograph of a sailor kissing a nurse in Times Square, New York City, during a celebration of the war's end.
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In 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt's Great White Fleet stopped at San Diego. It was returning from a round-the-world tour whose purpose was to demonstrate U.S. naval strength. Since then, naval installations have become a major presence in the San Diego area. Today they include a Navy hospital, naval station, Marine Corps recruit depot, Marine Corps base, ocean systems research center, and two naval air stations. There are approximately 100,000 sailors and Marines on active duty in San Diego County, and dozens of ships make San Diego their home port.
Continuing along the Embarcadero, you next come to the harbor cruise boats of Flagship Cruises and Hornblower Cruises. Both companies offer excellent one- and two-hour tours around San Diego Bay, as well as dinner cruises in the evenings and brunch cruises on Sunday mornings.
Docking along with the cruise boats is the Coronado Ferry. This pedestrian and bicycle ferry leaves on the hour for Coronado, from early morning to late evening. In Coronado it docks at the Old Ferry Landing, near the foot of Orange Avenue. Return trips from Coronado leave on the half-hour.
Near the Flagship and Hornblower ticket booths is a Visitor Information Center run by the San Diego Tourism Authority. It offers information about all of San Diego County.
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To the north lies the Cruise Ship Terminal. Some cruises originate here, while others are making San Diego a port of call on their itinerary. Many cruises heading from Los Angeles to Mexico make San Diego their first-night stop.
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Launched in 1863, the Star of India saw a lot of sea before she came to rest at San Diego. At first the iron, square-rigged sailing vessel carried cargo between England and India, then she carried emigrants from England to New Zealand and Australia on a route that led her to circle the globe 27 times. She next transported timber from Puget Sound to Australia, and finally, from 1902 to 1923, carried salmon from Alaska to the West Coast. Then, after many years of retirement, she was restored and opened in 1961 as a maritime museum in San Diego.
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When you have finished visiting the Maritime Museum, you need to decide how you want to return to your starting point. One way, of course, is to return by the way you came, perhaps stopping on the way to take one of the bay cruises.
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Enjoy this walking tour?
Check out the others in this series Balboa Park Cabrillo National Monument Downtown San Diego The Embarcadero La Jolla La Playa Mission Bay Park Mission Beach Old Town Shelter Island Sunset Cliffs |
Enjoy full-color illustrated maps? Check out the ones below. Some can be purchased as laminated maps, some as folded maps, some as wooden trays, and some as all three. San Diego Los Angeles Palm Springs Santa Barbara San Francisco Bay Area Las Vegas Salt Lake City Oregon Washington DC |
